In a report from Bloomberg’s Apple (and weirdly, Peloton) news boy, Mark Gurman, we’ve learned that Apple’s Reality Pro headset has been pushed back again, let’s see how bad the damage is!
Gurman explains early on in his report that Apple has decided to push the headset’s announcement back from April-ish to June:
Apple Inc. has postponed a planned introduction of its first mixed-reality headset from around April to June, according to people familiar with the matter, marking the latest setback for the tech giant’s next big initiative.
Mark Gurman
Mark says that the delay is due to Apple’s further internal testing of the Reality Pro headset, and finding that there are still a handful of hardware and software issues that need to be fixed before unveiling.
This marks the 135th time this headset has been delayed (not actually 135 delays, but pretty much), with its initial planned introduction around mid-2022 being followed by a delay until January of 2023, and so on and so forth until now.
Gurman goes on to say that some of the issues Apple is keen on fixing are directly related to the hand and eye tracking/control functions. The rumor mill has been vocal about the Reality Pro’s ability to be controlled by eye movements in combination with hand gestures – think being able to select an app by looking at it and then launching it via pinching your fingers.
This delay isn’t a total tragedy; however, because we’re expecting the launch price point of the Reality Pro headset to be roughly around $3,000 USD and as it turns out, people like products that cost $3,000 to work fairly well.
Apple taking more time to refine the features and iron out bugs will only help this product’s initial landing strength with customers.
In the wise words of one of the biggest video game icons, Shigeru Miyamoto:
A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.
Shigeru Miyamoto
Take your time, Tim. We want the Reality Pro now… but we’ve already waited a frickin’ year so what’s another month or two? Just, please, make it not suck buttholes.
