Apple has sent out official invitations to select media to attend its WWDC 2023 keynote in person at the company’s Apple Park headquarters in Cupertino, California. The keynote is set to take place at 10 a.m. PDT / 1 p.m. EDT on June 5. It’ll also be live streamed at the same time for anyone to watch from home.
The WWDC keynote is the kick-off event for Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, and typically includes a number of software announcements, including the reveal of major new updates to iPhone’s iOS, iPadOS, macOS and more. This year, the headline rumored announcement is said to be the unveiling of Apple’s augmented reality headset, a long-awaited device (which Apple has not officially acknowledged, of course) that marks the company’s first major foray into the world of “mixed reality,” which is the term many use to describe both AR and VR.
The AR headset is thought to run a new version of Apple’s mobile operating system potentially known as “xrOS” and could carry “Reality One” branding. Rumors suggest it’ll be relatively slim and light compared to most competitors on the market, use OLED displays inside and feature a display outside for communicating with others IRL, and run a variant of the M2 processor. It should support iPad apps to some extent out of the box, and cost around $3,000 when it eventually goes on sale.
There are still many question marks around the headset — including whether it will actually break cover at this event, but the graphics around this event are suggestive of some kind of mixed-reality announcement, and developers will need time to build with this new platform if Apple wants it to be ready for consumers at its eventual launch.
