The WWDC that will be held from 5 to 9 June will be the conference more “big and exciting” of Apple that “I can not wait” to host “this very special event”. These quoted sentences were spoken by Susan Prescott, head of developer relations, to underline the importance of this conference which, probably, will see the announcement of Apple’s first mixed reality headset together with its new operating system, xrOS.
For Apple, as also mentioned in recent months, this viewer will be a risky but potentially monumental launch. At stake is certainly also the reputation of the Cupertino company which often, rather than launching a new product category, has aimed to create something better than what is already on the market. Again, however, this is not a new product category.
There are already several on the market of augmented, virtual or mixed reality viewers, even valid ones. But Apple’s intention, once again, will be to show the world “its” mixed reality viewer that it will have created with the aim of being better than anything else on the market as well as better than devices that others manufacturers will bring to market in the coming months.
However, especially in this case, there is no great optimism. Not so much for Apple’s viewer, but we are referring to the product category in general. Virtual and augmented reality viewers are currently still a long way from conquering the mass market and are certainly still viewed with great skepticism by most consumers.
The PlayStation VR2, for example, despite the excellent premises, would have started so badly that Sony would have halved the sales estimates. Obviously, we are talking about a different product but still a viewer. We will also be able to talk about Ray-Ban Stories, the smart glasses made in collaboration with Meta which after a bit of initial interest have been almost completely forgotten. Again, we are still talking about a different product from what Apple’s viewer should be
All we have to do is wait a couple more months, a period in which the rumors will surely intensify a little more even if we shouldn’t expect them as full-bodied as those that usually arrive when we talk about the iPhone.
Apple’s event, despite the fact that the pandemic is now over, will be streamed, a pre-recorded video that will follow a style that has now become classic and that will allow, compared to the real-time demos that were done in the past, to make everything go in the best way, without any hitches or other problems. The last thing Apple needs for its viewer, in fact, which will also have to try to convince users to shell out over 3000 dollars to get it, is for the demo to fail as happened in 2017 with the FaceID that did not unlock the iPhone .
Nothing will be left to chance, as Mark Gurman also stated in his usual Bloomberg newsletter in which he gave ample space to this Apple viewer and in which he also foresees the possibility of other hardware being announced at WWDC, an event that usually focuses on software. Beyond iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, tvOS 17 And macOS 14, in fact, there could also be room for new MacBook Air models and a Mac Pro with M3 processors. For the Air, in particular, a version with a 15-inch display would also be on the way.
