Apple did not take advantage of WWDC 2022 to discuss its mixed reality projects. Noticeable absences that leave no room for doubt as to the release date of his helmet and realityOS.
There were many announcements at WWDC, both in terms of software and hardware. Apple presented the novelties of its future operating systems as iOS 16, macOS Ventura and iPadOS. There was also talk of an update to Apple Car Play, M2 chip and new laptops. The MacBook Pro and especially the new macbook air are the stars of this edition where mixed reality was conspicuous by its absence.
Rumors have been swirling for months about Apple’s interest in its promising field. The weeks that have preceded WWDC have also been marked by various noises from the corridors, even though Cupertino remains silent on this subject. The culture of secrecy reigns in Cupertino and even wandering the aisles of Apple Park, you won’t find anything about the upcoming mixed reality headset.
A noticeable absence, but ultimately unsurprising and in line with the predictions of specialists. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had showered the last hopes by explaining at the end of May that Apple should not be expected to risk presenting its headphones or realityOS at WWDC 2022. “I’m sure that if Apple announces the AR/MR headset and its operating system at WWDC, competitors will immediately launch imitation projects and happily copy Apple’s great ideas, to hit store shelves before the launch of Apple in 2023 »he indicated.
A presentation in January 2023?
The analyst spoke again this week to deliver the Apple’s precise calendar. The famous analyst evokes 5 steps which will lead to the formalization of this highly anticipated helmet: 1 – EVT, a technical validation test phase, from the third quarter of 2022; 2 – a media event of the keynote or special event type in January 2023; 3 – the delivery of development kits (SDK) to developers, within 2 to 4 weeks following the event. 4 – the start of pre-orders in the second quarter of 2023; 5 – the marketing of the helmet before WWDC 2023, i.e. at the end of May.
Ming-Chi Kuo takes advantage of this announcement to indicate that the helmet is finally late. While it was rumored that it was going to be released in the first quarter of 2023, the situation in Shanghai would have prompted Apple to postpone the release to the second quarter. Indeed, the largest city in China has just emerged from two months of very strict confinement.
The analyst is not the only one to think that 2023 will be the year of mixed reality for Apple. Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman has been banking on a release next year for many months.
Apple remains silent, but until when?
Without fully revealing his plans, it was expected that Tim Cook and his team prepare the ground by evoking realityOS. WWDC is an event dedicated to software and realityOS promises to be the future operating system for virtual and augmented reality from Apple. The firm has not even made an allusion to this new platform, despite multiple clues that tend to confirm its existence. This situation contrasts sharply with that of Meta, which multiplies the announcements, going so far as to change its name to accompany its transition to the metaverse. Different strategies, but the same desire: to imagine the connected world of tomorrow.
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