Apple’s Mixed-reality Headset may be the First Step to Appleverse

Apple Inc’s mixed-reality headset, the company’s next major product, might be the first step to creating Apple’s version of the “metaverse.”

The tech giant, despite its aversion for the term “metaverse,” have been working on the mixed-reality headset for years. At one point, there was even some speculation about a possible release in 2020 even though Apple had not released any specific announcement regarding the device.

However, according to recent reports, Apple’s may begin the production of mixed-reality headset in early 2023.

Although it’s hard to say the tech giant’s exact plan for its headset, the latest report about the company’s job listings and supposed development of a “3D mixed-reality world” point out to the possibility of an Appleverse that will be designed to blend with real-world elements, which is slightly different from the metaverse.

Jobs Listings for Virtual and Augmented Reality Devs

Apple’s job listing for the past few months suggests that they were looking for software producers to create game asset pipelines and visual effects for augmented and virtual reality environments. Similarly, job postings for engineers were also geared toward developing AR and VR.

According to the job listings, “We are looking for a software engineer who will work on the App Intents framework to help design and implement solutions to unlock deep system intelligence, enable new developer tools, and facilitate novel user interactions from application data models which are leveraged by a variety of system services such as Shortcuts, Siri, Search, and more.”

“You will work closely with Apple’s UI framework, human interface designers and system capabilities teams—pushing you to think outside-the-box, and solve incredibly challenging and interesting problems in the 3D application space,” the job listings further described.

Apple’s new product will be equipped with a Mac-level M2 chip, more than ten cameras inside and outside, and a high-resolution screen that has never been offered for a consumer helmet device.

Given all these features and specs, the headset is expected to cost around $2,000 to $3,000 per device.