Apple’s mixed reality headset is coming – and what else?

On Monday, June 5, 2023, at 7 p.m. Central European Summer Time, Apple’s WWDC 2023 will start with the keynote. During the event, which is expected to last more than two hours, Apple boss Tim Cook and his management team around Craig Federighi, John Ternus, Eddy Cue and others will announce the most important innovations for iOS and iPadOS 17, macOS 14 and watchOS 10.

While some announcements are considered set, there are indications that the group will have a lot more up its sleeve. According to Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of global developer relations, WWDC 2023 will be “Apple’s largest and most exciting event to date.” The main attraction will probably be the group’s first mixed reality headset.

It is rumoredthat the announcements of iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and macOS 14 may play a minor role this year. Instead, Apple is focusing on its first mixed reality headset and new Macs.

Apple has confirmed that the 2023 WWDC keynote is scheduled for Monday, June 5, starting at 7 p.m. ET. It will take place as a digital and on-site event at Apple Park in Cupertino, California. Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to open the event. The complete WWDC program you can see at Apple.

Apple will stream the WWDC keynote live on its website and YouTube channel. If you can’t follow the keynote live, you can also watch it later in a recorded version, which Apple will post both on YouTube and on its own event page after the broadcast will publish.

It was rumored last year that Apple could give a first look at the mixed reality headset along with the dedicated operating system RealityOS (or xrOS) at WWDC 2022. This was obviously not the case – among other things, the group had to contend with various technical challenges. This year, however, it finally seems to be happening.

Apple boss Tim Cook, among others, recently agreed on the advantages of AR and VR in a long interview. Despite internal skepticism, including from the design department, not to release the headset yet, there are indications that the company’s first new product category since the Apple Watch is likely to be unveiled in June. “Anyone who dares to innovate will encounter skeptics” – with this statement in an interview he took the wind out of the skeptics’ sails.

Even if the headset could be shown at WWDC 2023, according to the latest reports, the market launch should take place much later. This is not unusual for completely new Apple products. Apple also took a lot of time between the announcement and the start of sales for the modular Mac Pro presented in 2019, the first Homepod and other products.

The first headset is probably not planned for the general public. The headset should be quite heavy and have a price point of 3,000 US dollars. When it comes to purposes, there is talk of virtual video meetings, 3D videos in virtual rooms and more.

Latest reports about the MR headset state that Apple has made massive progress over the past year and has knocked over the first testers: “The leap Apple has made since [Ende letzten Jahres] made is gigantic. I was so skeptical; now I’m blown away in a ‘take my money’ fashion. It goes on to say that Apple will provide many customized apps at launch.

In addition to the expected announcement of the MR headset, other tangible hardware is also expected. Among other things, Apple is to announce its first larger Macbook Air with a 15-inch display. Contrary to the hopes that the notebook could be released with a new M3 chip, there are increasing numbers the reportsthat it will continue to be delivered with the M2 chip in two versions with a different number of cores.

An announcement of the new notebook was originally expected in April. With regard to the design, it is certainly based on the Macbook Air with M2 chip (test) introduced in 2022, which should also receive an M2 processor update in the course of WWDC 2023. There are now indications that the first Macs with an M3 chip will appear towards the end of 2023 at the earliest.

Apple actually wanted to be finished with the transition from Intel processors to its own M chips by the end of 2022. One product in the Mac portfolio is still waiting: the professional computer Mac Pro, which is still sold with Intel chips for a lot of money, but lags behind the cheaper Mac Studio (test) presented in 2021 in terms of performance.

We do not expect a market launch for the Mac Pro with an M-series chip at WWDC 2023. However, Apple could at least tease the computer and make it available in the fall.

So far it was expected that the new Mac Pro could be equipped with a powerful M2 Ultra processor. Recently it was said that the professional computer should be in the same housing as the Intel Mac Pro. However, due to the ARM architecture, the new Mac Pro will no longer be as modular as the current model. It can be expanded to include graphics, media and network cards, they say.

The “medium” desktop computer, Apple’s Mac Studio, should also have a processor upgrade for WWDC 2023 receive. The compact desktop computer is still running on a first-generation chip, while even the Mac Mini was equipped with M2 chips (test) in early 2023. Likewise, the 24-inch iMac could get a processor upgrade.

After the big iOS 16 update in 2022, no big leap with too many innovations is expected this year. Nevertheless, iOS 17 is said to have all sorts of new functions on board, including features that users would have liked.

The innovations probably include a revision of the control center, which had recently undergone major changes with iOS 11. Apple could possibly allow users to customize the control center more according to their own habits.

There is also talk that Apple could react to the EU’s Digital Markets Act with the update and introduce support for alternative app stores and sideloading. However, this feature is only expected for the European market.

On the other hand, iOS and iPadOS are predicted to open up to alternative browser engines. Chrome, Safari and other browsers would no longer have to rely exclusively on Apple’s own Webkit engine.

The update is also intended to prepare iPhones for support for the upcoming MR Reality headset and the major Carplay 2.0 update. Apple teased the latter during WWDC 2022. With Carplay 2.0, Apple wants to access more car data and take over all screens in the vehicle.

The update to watchOS 10 will bring “notable user interface updates,” according to a fairly reliable source.

A major UI update would be welcome, as watchOS’s design hasn’t changed much over the past few years. Over the past few years, Apple has made more iterative improvements, such as activity tracking and a handful of new watch faces.

Not known for revolutionary design changes, Apple is cautious about updating due to the large user base of its operating systems, so we’re very excited to see what will happen with watchOS 10.

macOS 14, tvOS 17, homepodOS 17 …

The two other operating systems for Macs, Macbooks, the set-top boxes and homepods are also guaranteed to be updated. There are no concrete details about possible innovations to report.

With macOS, however, it is conceivable that Apple will move its desktop operating system closer to iOS and iPadOS and will continue to support models with Intel processors, but will miss fewer new functions than computers with in-house chips.

We will find out what Apple will actually present in the end on June 5, 2023. We will provide you with all relevant news in a timely manner and accompany the event with a live ticker.