Apple to begin mass production on AR & VR headset in early 2023

A new report suggests that Apple may start producing its mixed-reality headset as early as March 2023 and that it could be officially announced the following month.

In May, it was reported that Apple had shown its upcoming mixed-reality headset to members of its board of directors.

Now, a report from DigiTimes spotted by MacRumors suggests that the device will enter production in the first quarter of 2023. The device could be unveiled as soon as April of the same year.

The first run is anticipated to be limited, with rough estimates at about 0.7 million units for the year. Allegedly, Pegatron will be the exclusive partner for the final assembly.

The production date falls in line with analyst Ming-Chi Kuo's predicted timeline, who said that he believed Apple could introduce the device somewhere between January and the second quarter of 2023.

Kuo also believes that the headset will be capable of switching seamlessly between augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences.

5 Comments

jumpingcoco 104 comments · 7 Years

About 2 years ago

bad timing, people's pockets are tight these days...

jdw 1442 comments · 18 Years

jumpingcoco said:

bad timing, people's pockets are tight these days...

Spot on!

But even if pockets were loaded, to whom does such a device really appeal? I don't see it appealing to me, unlike most other Apple products.

Don't get me wrong. I want Apple to try new things. I just need to be shown why I need this. :smile:

blastdoor 3567 comments · 15 Years

jdw said:

jumpingcoco said:

bad timing, people's pockets are tight these days...

Spot on!

But even if pockets were loaded, to whom does such a device really appeal? I don't see it appealing to me, unlike most other Apple products.

Don't get me wrong. I want Apple to try new things. I just need to be shown why I need this. :smile:

If they are truly going to only produce 700k then I think it’s safe to say they don’t think it will appeal to you either. 700k is less than 1 percent of 1 percent of humans on earth.

It’s larger than the number of billionaires but far smaller than the number of millionaires (it’s too easy to be a millionaire these days — I think technically even I’m one).

I think the potential utility of such a device is obvious (“I need your clothes your boots and your motorcycle”), but weight+comfort are key.

starof80 19 comments · 4 Years

Digitimes, one of the least accurate sources around.

williamh 1045 comments · 13 Years

AppleInsider said:
The first run is anticipated to be limited, with rough estimates at about 0.7 million units for the year. Allegedly, Pegatron will be the exclusive partner for the final assembly.

0.7 million units for the first year or 0.0007 billion units - sounds much worse than 700,000 units. In any event, that's more than the iPod starting out and people knew right away what that could do. I think Apple is repeating a plan they and others have used before of shipping the product for early adopters and developers and ramping up as the content and product evolve.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Ipod_sales_per_quarter.svg

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