Extensive details about Apple’s upcoming ‘Reality Pro’ headset, which looks set to be its biggest release in years, have been revealed in a lengthy new report by 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 dedicated spring event. But until now, the details of the product have been relatively vague.
Gurman discusses what he refers to as Reality Pro in considerable depth. Presented as a summary of everything we know about the device, it necessarily covers some known ground: aside from the likely branding, we already expected the price to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $3,000 (with a $1,500 version to to follow next year), and much of the information regarding cameras and displays has been reported before. But there’s plenty to interest even the dullest student of Apple’s AR plans.
He reveals, for example, that users will be able to switch between the product’s AR and VR modes by using “a so-called Digital Crown.” That’s the name Apple gives to the pressable dial on the Apple Watch’s right edge, but it’s not clear how close this The Digital Crown will follow that design; if the control’s job is to switch between two modes, a free-rotating dial would make less sense than a more conventional switch, but it can also serve volume control purposes. Speaking of audio, another intriguing thing Gurman offers is that the Reality Pro’s speakers won’t be nearly as impressive as their screens, and users will need to wear a pair of AirPods (purchased separately, presumably) to get the full spatial sound effect.
The aluminum and glass design will reportedly be reminiscent of the AirPods Max. “The product will have a curved screen on the front that can outwardly show a user’s eyes, with speakers on the sides and a headband that helps fit the device around a user’s head,” explains Gurman. “It will differ from the mostly plastic design of competing products, which typically strap the device to the carrier with multiple straps.”
Foundry
On the specs front, according to the report, the device will be equipped with “a variation of the M2 chip found in the company’s latest Macs”, but this 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 will be carried separately (connected by a wire, which sounds sub-optimal from a comfort and convenience point of view) and there may be a cooling fan on board.
That battery – which is said to be good for around two hours of use – will not be light, by the way. About 6 inches tall 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 created with a built-in battery.
Gurman also shared that the headset will be able to act as an external display for your Mac and could have “a dedicated video viewing feature that can make viewers feel like they’re watching a movie on a giant screen in another environment, such as a desert or outer space.” He also says the interface will be “almost identical to that of the iPhone and iPad, with a home screen with a grid of icons that can be rearranged.”
Overall, the report is actually surprisingly pessimistic about the device, which seems to be plagued with headaches and compromises. “Apple has recognized these challenges internally,” notes Gurman, “and it has tried to set realistic expectations for the product.” The company might even consider the headset an interest generator that gets people into its stores, he says, before they buy anything else. But in the longer term, Apple hopes to break into a new and lucrative market that it has not previously been able to access.
Gurman usually knows his stuff, and while he cautions that plans may yet change ahead of launch — the handy caveat used by insiders throughout the industry — it’s likely that his report is at least reasonably accurate. Either way, we should find out concrete details later this year: While the headset is still “months away from release,” Gurman says Apple intends to begin production in February and plans to launch the new device at a dedicated spring event or as part of the WWDC keynote in June.
