Announcement of an Apple mixed reality headset at WWDC 2022 is ‘unlikely’

You know what they say… If something is too good to be true, it probably isn’t. Many tech enthusiasts were hyped at the prospect of Apple announcing a mixed reality headset at the 2022 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference.

Based on a tweet shared by prominent tech and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, you should not be holding your breath. According to Kuo, because it will take ‘some time before Apple AR/MR headset enters mass production’. Apple will hold back on the official announcement at least for now.

Kuo’s reasoning is that by delaying the announcement, the tech giant will try to prevent competitors drawing inspiration or straight out copying their take on augmented reality.

At this point, we are certain that Apple is gearing up to enter the mixed/augmented reality market with a headset of their own. While the device is still probably in its development stage, Apple is also hard at work on the software that the headset will run - “RealityOS”.

Earlier this month, trademarks for the name “RealityOS” were registered in a number of countries. This was, for all intents and purposes, the culmination of a long streak of indications that an Apple augmented reality headset was on the horizon.

Previously, references to “RealityOS” were found in some App Store logs and Bloomberg’s Mark Gruman reported that an augmented reality headset was demoed in front of Apple’s board of directors. This combined with the trademark registration made many certain that the device will make its debut in 2022.

However, many tech pundits like Mark Gruman and Kuo himself seem to agree that the likeliest launch date for Apple’s prospective mixed reality headset is sometime in early 2023. If these predictions hold true, it makes little sense for Apple to unveil the device so early on.

It is simply not in Apple’s style to spill the beans while the dish is still cooking. Hence, regardless of how hungry we are for Apple’s (pun intended) products, we will simply have to wait.