There have been a number of speculations and leaks suggesting that Apple is developing a mixed reality (MR) headset over the course of the previous few months. Apple has been working on an MR headset for quite some time. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo made the announcement back in June of this year that the headset would ultimately be released somewhere in the first quarter of the next year, with bulk shipments following in the second quarter of 2023. However, Kuo has recently indicated in a series of tweets that the headset may be subject to a considerable delay owing to “software-related concerns.”
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My latest survey indicates that the mass shipment schedule of Apple's MR headset may delay to 2H23 because of software-related issues (vs. the previous estimate of 2Q23).— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) December 4, 2022
In light of the findings of Kuo’s most recent study, it appears that widespread distribution of Apple’s MR headset may not get underway until the second half of 2023 due to unidentified software problems. Because of this, it is possible that overall shipments of the headset in 2023 will be less than 500,000 units, which is significantly less than the previous market estimate of 800,000 to 1.2 million units.
Because of the delay in shipments, it is currently unclear whether Apple will postpone its reported media presentation for the headgear that was scheduled for January 2023. However, Kuo believes that Apple may postpone the event because it may be detrimental to the company’s ability to promote and sell its products if there is too much time between the media event and the mass shipment of the final product.
Leaks have suggested that Apple has already displayed its mixed reality device to corporate executives and board members, despite the fact that the tech giant has not yet publicly disclosed any details regarding the product at this time. It has also been brought to our attention that the headset will most likely have iris scanning as a kind of biometric identification, foveated rendering, a structure made of aluminum and glass with a distinctive design, and a number of cameras.
