Apple is potentially moving away from launching augmented-reality glasses and is looking to launch a mixed-reality device.
Key Details
- Apple is possibly launching a mixed-reality headset this year, according to Consumer Electronics firm HTC.
- The company has paused plans of launching its augmented-reality glasses, which were set to debut by 2025 and focus on a mixed reality headset.
- Mixed reality, also known as XR, combines augmented and virtual reality and blends the physical world with the virtual world.
Why it’s news
Virtual reality has been extremely popular in the last few years, with many companies trying to cash in on the favored products, but in true Apple fashion, the company has waited to see if the popularity lasts and to create a good product that will disrupt the market.
Apple is expected to step into the virtual-reality sector with plans to launch a mixed-reality headset sometime in the year.
The company has not officially announced the launch of its mixed reality headset, but the CEO of consumer electronics firm HTC Cher Wang thinks that Apple will launch the product before the end of the year.
“Apple is always more cautious. I think the market is now big enough [that] they probably will enter,” says Wang.
Mixed reality combines virtual aspects with the physical world allowing users to see virtual things in their own space. Many think a launch from Apple will take the already popular XR sector and send it into overdrive.
The combination of virtual reality and the real world will allow users to enter the metaverse, which Facebook’s Meta has long been bullish on, or another form of an augmented reality universe.
The popularity around the metaverse had slowed down significantly as the idea was still fresh, and customers were not overly excited about the concept, but many expect the idea to rapidly gain popularity if Apple does launch a new XR product.