Extensive details of Apple’s upcoming ‘Reality Pro’ headset, which looks set to be its biggest release in years, have been revealed in a lengthy new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
Apple’s AR headset project has been the tech industry’s worst-kept secret for years, and it’s widely believed that 2023 will be the year we finally get to see it, likely at a special spring event. But until now, the details of the product have been relatively vague.
Gurman elaborates on what he calls Reality Pro. Presented as a summary of everything we know about the device, it necessarily covers familiar territory: probable branding aside, we’d already expected the price to be somewhere in the $3,000 range (with a $1,500 version being next year), and much of the information related to the cameras and displays has been reported before. But there’s enough to interest even the jaded student of Apple’s AR plans.
For example, he discloses that users can switch between the AR and VR modes of the product by using “a so-called Digital Crown”. That’s the name Apple gives to the pressable dial on the right edge of the Apple Watch, but it’s not clear how close this one Digital Crown will follow that design; if the controller’s job is to switch between two modes, a freely rotating dial would make less sense than a more conventional switch, but it could also serve for volume control. Speaking of sound, another intriguing tidbit Gurman offers is that Reality Pro’s speakers won’t be nearly as impressive as the screens and users will need to wear a pair of AirPods (presumably bought separately) to get the full spatial audio effect .
The aluminum and glass design is said to be reminiscent of the AirPods Max. “The product has a curved screen on the front that allows the wearer’s eyes to see out, with speakers on the sides and a headband that helps the device fit around a user’s head,” explains Gurman. “That will differ from the predominantly plastic design of competing products, which typically attach the device to the wearer with multiple straps.”
Foundry
As for specs, the device will be equipped with “a variation of the M2 chip found in the company’s latest Macs,” the report said, but will be complemented by a dedicated “Reality” processor for graphics and mixed reality images. . Gurman notes that this processing setup will be so hardcore that overheating has been a concern for the engineers. For this reason, the battery is shipped separately (connected by a wire, which doesn’t sound optimal from a comfort and convenience point of view), and a cooling fan may be on board.
That battery – said to be good for about two hours of use – won’t be light, by the way. About six inches long and more than half an inch thick, Gurman says it will be “about the size of two iPhone 14 Pro Maxes stacked on top of each other.” Confusingly, however, he adds that some prototypes have been made with a built-in battery.
Gurman also shared that the headset can act as an external monitor for your Mac and “have a special video-watching feature that can make viewers feel like they’re watching a movie on a giant screen in a different environment, like a desert.” or a space.” He also says the interface “will be virtually identical to that of the iPhone and iPad, with a home screen featuring a grid of icons that can be reorganized.”
Overall, in fact, the report is surprisingly pessimistic about the device, which is beset by headaches and compromises. “Apple has recognized those challenges internally,” notes Gurman, “and is trying to set realistic expectations for the product.” The company might even think of the headset as an interest generator that lures people into its stores, he says, before they buy anything else. But in the long run, Apple hopes to break into a new and lucrative market it previously couldn’t access.
Gurman usually knows his stuff, and while he cautions that pre-launch plans could still change — that handy caveat used by speakers across the industry — it’s likely his report is at least fairly accurate. Either way, we should find out concrete details later this year: While it’s still “months away from the headset’s release,” Gurman says Apple plans to begin production in February and plans to launch the new device to launch during a special spring event or as part of the WWDC keynote in June.
