According to a new report from The New York Times, citing persons familiar with the matter, Apple has been forced to postpone the introduction of its long-rumored AR/VR headset until next year due to thermal difficulties with the chipset.
Despite rumors that Apple might reveal the headset during WWDC, multiple reports in recent months have indicated that it will not be released this year.
"Apple hired an engineer from Dolby Technologies, Mike Rockwell, and tasked him with leading the [AR/VR] effort. His early efforts to create an augmented-reality product were hobbled by weak computing power, two people familiar with the project said," according to The Times. "Continuing challenges with its battery power have forced Apple to postpone its release until next year, those people said."
WWDC 2022 begins on June 6 and concludes on June 10. On June 6, the annual keynote and State of the Union videos will be released. The keynote video is the more public-facing of the two, whilst the State of the Union film is primarily oriented toward developers.
The keynote invitation includes silhouettes of five people in the colors of the Apple logo, as well as the phrase "Swiftly Approaching." a play on the Swift programming language, which developers use to create things for Apple's many software programs.
Apple has placed an easter egg on its events website, where tapping on the memojis on the page on your iPad or iPhone will bring up AR cards with various memojis. Apple's focus on mixed reality initiatives at WWDC this year could be hinted to by the AR cards.
WWDC, like prior Apple events, will be streamed live online. When it comes to guessing what significant new features Apple may introduce in 2022, this announcement is essentially the starting pistol.
Apple will not only disclose the next main features of its new software, but it will also provide developer betas for each major OS upgrade shortly after the presentation. More solid public betas will be issued in the coming months and weeks, and the final versions will be launched alongside new hardware in the fall.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said in January that the headset could be delayed until 2023 due to performance and thermal difficulties.
Apple's board of directors has apparently received a demo of the mixed-reality headset, hinting that the device is nearing completion despite claims of development setbacks.
According to the report, Apple will not introduce the headgear at WWDC on Monday, but it will announce iOS 16 and new tools for developers to create hands-free experiences, as well as extended use cases for Shortcuts and QR codes.
