Apple’s highly anticipated AR/VR headset, expected to be officially unveiled in June at WWDC, has reportedly failed to garner support from all its employees. According to a report by the New York Times, anonymous employees at Apple are expressing their skepticism about the upcoming product, with some leaving the teams due to a lack of faith in the product’s appeal to customers.
Unlike recent product launches, the NYT says that Apple has failed to rally all of its employees behind the project, with some seeing it as “a solution in search of a problem.” The report suggests that the product will be more appealing to businesses than the general public, with Apple pitching the headset primarily as a “copresence” device for augmented reality videoconferencing and meetings.
In addition to this, the headset will also serve as a creative tool for editing images and videos in 3D space, and as a personal cinema with Apple partnering with Hollywood creators to create content for the device.
However, the product is not expected to be a mass consumer product out of the gate, with some reports indicating that Apple expects to sell just one million units in its first year. The headset is seen as the first step in a long journey of augmented and virtual reality experience products.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, a new Apple device was recently demonstrated to company executives at Steve Jobs Theater. The demonstration took place in preparation for the device’s expected debut in June.
The first-generation headset is expected to be state-of-the-art, with high-resolution displays, advanced cameras and sensors, and a powerful Apple Silicon chip all housed in a carbon fiber enclosure. The headset will be made of carbon fiber and expected to be branded as ‘Apple Reality Pro’. However, it will also come with a hefty price tag of around $3,000.
A second-generation headset is currently in development with a target release date of late 2024 or early 2025, which is expected to be cheaper, but still expensive.