According to TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple’s rumored mixed-reality headset will arrive in the second quarter of this year, more specifically, alongside the launch of this year’s flagship iPhone 15 lineup.
Analyst says Apple’s mixed-reality headset is facing software issues
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has previously claimed that Apple would debut its first-generation mixed-reality headset at WWDC 23 in order to give developers extra information and resources about the device.
In a new tweet, Kuo says that the mass shipment schedule for Apple’s mixed-reality headset remains the same. However, a WWDC release for the device is becoming increasingly unlikely.
The prediction for the mass shipment schedule is unchanged, but the likelihood of Apple’s 1st-gen AR/MR headset release at the spring event is decreasing. Meanwhile, the probability of the headset launch alongside iPhone 15 in 3Q23 is rising.
In January 2023, Kuo said that the development of the headset is behind schedule due to a number of software and hardware-related issues.
Apple’s AR/MR headset development is behind schedule due to issues with mechanical component drop testing and the availability of software development tools, meaning that mass shipment of this device may postpone from the original 2Q23 to the end of 2Q23 or 3Q23.
This can be corroborated by Gurman, who revealed earlier this year that Apple was still working on resolving some issues with the headset even though it had set out prototype hardware for testing to a limited group of developers.
Kuo anticipates that components will be manufactured in the first half of 2023, most likely in the second quarter. It will “likely be less than 500k units,” as opposed to the industry expectation that Apple would ship between 800,000 and 1.2 million headsets in 2023.
Read more:
- 2nd-gen Apple mixed reality headset to debut in 2025 with high and low-end models
- Apple’s mixed-reality headset expected to drive growth in AR/VR devices market
- Samsung developing its own mixed-reality headset, Apple may have serious competition
- Apple’s first AR/VR headset may end up flopping in the market, says Gurman
- How Apple’s mixed reality headset will switch between VR and AR, video streaming, calling and more
