Apple Rumored To Publicly Announce $3000 VR Headset

According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is set to announce its newest piece of hardware in the form of a $3000 mixed-reality virtual headset. The headset was recently shown to Apple’s top 100 executives at the Steve Jobs theatre, hinting at a possible public announcement in the incoming months. It has also been reported that the headset will launch without any killer apps and require an external battery to be replaced every few hours. 

Mixed reality, for the uninitiated, refers to a combination of augmented and virtual reality. Basically a mix of physical and digital worlds like the AR filters you use on Instagram. I’d give a more detailed explanation on the subject, but this is as foreign to me as it is to you. What I do know, however, is that mixed reality is an untapped market for better or for worse, and Apple seems to be the first to take a major foothold in this technology. 

The headset is reported to be dubbed “Reality Pro” or “Reality One” and is expected to sell about a million units. Apple also expects that the headset will be a commercial failure on launch, with very weak initial reception and sales. It would slowly climb the ranks as Apple continues to update technology with new apps and features until it finds a niche. 

Bloomberg has compared the headset to the Apple Watch, which had a weak initial launch before becoming an essential part of Apple’s business strategy once it found its niche as a fitness tracker and received major updates. Apple expects a similar outcome for this headset, as such executives have reported having modest and realistic expectations for the company’s newest endeavor. 

Apple also plans to introduce two new variants of this headset. A version that will cost half as much as this one, as well as a more improved version of the headset offering significantly better performance. It is interesting to see Apple breaking into the Virtual Reality space, a market that already has strong competition in the first place. Whether or not it will be a success, well, we will have to wait and see.