More from WWDC 2023 news: Apple Vision Pro, Mac Pro, iOS 17, and more
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is here, and rumors suggest a brand-new virtual reality headset will get top billing.
Certified augmented reality enthusiast Tim Cook would like to remind you (in case our list of top stories allowed you to forget) that Apple will have an event later today, complete with a brief and conveniently loop-friendly musical interlude.
Just press play, and come back here at 10AM PT / 1PM ET for all the news from WWDC 2023.
While many are champing at the bit to see Apple’s new AR headset, some investors are more interested in potential AI announcements at WWDC, according to a tweet today from supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
As Kuo explains it, the headset “may not be a substantial revenue and profit contributor for suppliers in the next two years compared to AI.”
We may not know until after WWDC, but Apple’s mixed reality headset probably won’t address every AR issue right out of the gate. As pointed out by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his Power On newsletter today:
I expect that future versions will fix problems in the first model — such as nausea complaints, performance hiccups, overheating concerns and a lack of cellular connectivity — and bring down the price.
That’s not surprising, and doesn’t paint the “Reality Pro” as doomed, just a first attempt likely aimed at developers and very early adopters. As Casey Newton writes for The Verge, whether Apple’s new platform succeeds depends more on its evolution than on tomorrow’s device.
‘This is the single greatest thing that could happen to this industry.’
Late last year, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said Apple would change Siri’s invocation phrase to just “Siri” but was unsure about how long that shift might take. Now he says the change will be announced along with everything else we’ll hear about at WWDC next week.
Apple’s recent focus on accessibility in its devices includes features like the upcoming Personal Voice and Assistive Access mode. Now, according to Mark Gurman, Apple’s considering including warnings that people with specific health conditions should not buy or use the headset that it’s expected to reveal next week.
That includes people with Meniere’s Disease, past traumatic brain injuries, post-concussion syndrome, migraines and vertigo.
A similar notice (PDF) for Meta’s Quest notes the risk of seizures and possible interference with medical devices. In another tweet, Gurman said Apple could add additional warnings for ADHD, anxiety, pacemakers, pregnancy, and more.
Meta’s got a new headset. Apple’s almost certainly got a new headset. Can I interest you in a headset? What do you look for in a headset? When I say “headset,” what do you think of? What’s it gonna take to get you into a headset today?
We also spend a lot of time previewing WWDC. But let’s be real: this is the year of the headset.
iOS 7 brought a bold new design, but much of what was introduced in that release still serves as the foundation for what we see on our iPhones today.
The game just came out on Mac, already supports VR, and he tweeted about a surprise in the “VERY near future” and what appears to be a picture of the game’s Steam page with the Windows logo, Apple logo, and the words “VR Supported.”
With Apple’s WWDC keynote in the very near future, it looks like we might see No Man’s Sky as a featured game during the show.
A new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple is testing new computers with M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips. Given that the Mac Studio is now more than a year old and runs on the M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips... I’ll let you connect the dots.
Next Monday is going to be a really big show, isn’t it?
Apple certainly seems to be hyping the debut of something big at WWDC — perhaps a high-end mixed reality headset? We’re expecting a few other big things as well. We’ll be covering everything out of the show, which kicks off on June 5th at 1PM ET / 10AM PT.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman already wrote up a detailed prediction in April for what’s coming at Apple’s WWDC. And in a new tweet today he’s reiterating his predictions.
He’s expecting it to be a big year for hardware, with Apple’s new mixed-reality headset debuting alongside “several” new Macs, and annual updates to Apple’s range of operating systems.
Apple has a little AR teaser for WWDC (spotted by MacRumors). To see it, visit the Apple Events website using Safari on your iPhone or iPad and tap “AR Experience,” point your camera at a wall, and you’ll get a colorful animated logo with June 6th, 2023 — the WWDC keynote date — printed inside.
Apple’s mixed reality headset is expected to be the biggest announcement at this year’s WWDC.
UploadVR editor Ian Hamilton says he received his first-ever invite from Apple to attend its WWDC keynote on June 5th.
Sure, such a thing could simply be a coincidence. But if you’re Apple and going to unveil your first mixed reality headset, it would certainly make sense to have someone from one of the leading VR publications in the audience!
At the exact same time as Microsoft’s Build developer conference kicked off, the folks at Apple released schedule details for their own developer event, WWDC.
The updated page also has a small embedded video that, if you look at it with a designer’s eye, either shows a clear lens moving over the 3D logo, causing it to animate, or a pass-through transition. Our list of anticipated announcements has been adjusted accordingly.
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