WWDC: Apple expected to announce mixed reality glasses today – 05/06/2023 – Tech

Apple will present a mixed reality headset, capable of blending reality with virtual images, at its annual software developers conference (WWDC) on Monday (5).

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg are battling it out over how consumers will utilize technology where the real and digital worlds blend.

Meta has already invested billions of dollars in Zuckerberg’s vision of what he calls the “metaverse,” a digital world where users come together to work and play, and the company has had related products for years.

Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak, by contrast, recently said that “metaverse” “is a word I will never use.” So far, Apple’s device is just a rumor.

Until now, Apple has limited augmented reality efforts to technology that works on existing devices, for example allowing retailers’ apps to display virtual furniture in a customer’s living room.

Analysts say the device to be unveiled by Apple next week, which Bloomberg said could cost around $3,000 and looks like ski goggles, is something of a replacement.

The company’s goal remains to produce transparent glasses that superimpose digital information on the real world and that can be used in everyday life, analysts say. However, in the face of competition, Apple has already decided to launch its own glasses.

“Meta and Apple are competing with each other. The difference is that Meta is doing it publicly while Apple is doing it privately,” said Anshel Sag, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.

Facebook’s parent company announced a new virtual reality (VR) device on Thursday. Meta Quest 3 hits the markets in the third quarter and will cost US$ 499 (about R$ 2,500).

Sought, Apple did not comment on the matter.