Report: Apple targeting 2022 for launch of a high-end VR headset

Apple is getting ready to launch its first ever VR headset in 2022, according to a Bloomberg report. The new headset will precede the widely rumored Apple AR glasses that Apple has been working hard to refine. As you would expect from Apple, the new VR headset isn’t going to be cheap -- Bloomberg tips pricing as high as US$1,000 which will make it one of the most expensive VR headsets on the market. 

Despite its pricing, Apple is said to be aiming to compete with other VR headsets on the market, including those from Oculus, HTC, Sony PSVR and others. It will support content including games, watching video and will be able to be used for communicating in meetings, for example. It would also be capable for use with enterprise apps and even game development. However, priced as it will be, the headset is unlikely to sell in high numbers.

In fact, according to Bloomberg’s sources, Apple is anticipating annual sales that would amount to around just 180,000 units. Compared to Apple’s iPhones, which sell in the tens of millions annually, this would make Apple’s purported VR headset a particularly niche product for the company. Part of the reason for the high pricing is that Apple is said to be including a processor with more power than the recently released Apple M1 SoC. This suggests it will be a standalone device and will not need an external Mac to power it.

Whether Apple will be able to entice enough developers to the product will be interesting to see unfold. The company has decent developer tool kits which could make it relatively easy to port existing VR titles across the Apple ecosystem. At the very least, company insiders suggest that the Apple VR headset will serve as a potential gateway to Apple’s AR glasses, which is taking longer to perfect than Apple had hoped.