Rumors of an Apple Inc. mixed-reality headset have swirled for years. Now, they’re getting very real.
Last week, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple demonstrated an AR/VR (augmented and virtual reality) device to its board of directors and has a “consumer release planned for 2023.” Whenever the headset does come out, Apple is well-placed to win the mixed-reality battle.
The leading competitor in the space is Meta Platforms Inc. (aka the artist formerly known as Facebook). CEO Mark Zuckerberg renamed the company and committed to spending $10 billion a year to bring to life his vision of a VR-enabled metaverse.
And there’s been serious progress: Sales of Meta’s Quest 2 hit 8.7 million units in 2021, twice as much as in the prior year, and the company owns 80% of the market.