What to Expect From WWDC 2023: AR/VR Headset, 15-Inch MacBook Air, Mac Studio, iOS 17, xrOS, macOS 14 and More

[dwaite]

I don't think that's true. I think the headset needs to come in below $1K before the average user buys in (a game-changing use case notwithstanding). $2K is a lot of money. $3K is a lot a lot of money. Apple has a built-in hardcore fan customer base who will buy this product at whatever price. But, once all of those are sold, I think the headset will be a pretty tough sell at a higher price point. I doubt the Watch would be selling well if it were priced at $2K.

Apple doesn't just sell consumer products. They also find ways to justify making products that they just think should exist (as long as they don't lose money on them).

The rumor mill are the ones who think Apple will try pitching a $3k headset to the same people who are on a four year phone upgrade cycle. That is because they don't see a way it could work, but they'd LOVE to see Apple pull that off.

A $3k headset is targeting the same audience as the Pro Display XDR - people who need the features or have disposable income.

Likewise, the story is that Apple has some five year plan to turn this into some broadly accepted, iPhone (or at least Watch) level consumer product success. But thats all speculation. They could be working on a port of Fitness+. Also, they could be trying to sell this as a product that could be used to perform remote medical procedures. We won't know until tomorrow.

 

[dwaite]

Am I the only one who wants and waits for a wow 27"+ iMac that will get me to put my money on the table to get one?

I don't think it will happen - the 27" falls in the cracks formed between the people who use a computer enough to want a 27" monitor, and the people who don't want a larger screen because they spend most of their time staring at their phone anyway.

And, I know, I would love the 27" to exist too. I was also shocked when a family member sold off their 27" to buy a smaller iMac back in the day because it "took up too much space in the room."

 

[SoldOnApple]

Maybe I should sell a kidney to buy one. You only live once?

 

[_Spinn_]

I’m so pumped! Only a few hours to go!

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Not going to miss it.

 

[dwaite]

So what? If the special use cases don't sell the headset in volume, something has to or the whole endeavor fails...which takes us back to the question, what is the use case that drives millions and millions of people to spend several thousand dollars on this headset?

You have to think of it as whether the Mac Pro is a failure, or the Pro Display XDR is a failure.

Not everything is a consumer product.

The real surprising thing will be if they go pro/trade oriented with an entirely new platform, because that means its "App Store" is going to be mostly specialty training and CAD apps.

For that reason, my suspicion is actually that 'xrOS' or whatever is closer to being a fork of iPadOS.

I don't see the Newton analogy. The Newton was cool. My friend had one and I remember playing around with it. But how did the Newton pay off a decade later? The Newton was a total flop and Palm paved the way for future hand-held devices like the iPhone. I'm curious to know how you think the Newton paid off for Apple.

Oh I can take a stab - a lot of the Newton learning (and some bits of technology) were used to kill off Palm a decade later via iPhone.

Sometimes great ideas just can't be executed well enough to really click at a given point in time. Palm's WebOS is an example of that - it would be years until the computing power you could put into phones could really satisfy a web-first UX. Heck, some Chromebooks have trouble with it today.

Adding the ability to place calls wouldn't have made a Newton phone a success. iPhone was actually pretty painful to use in spots until the iPhone 4.

Every structural engineer...how many units will that sell? A few hundred thousand? You're just throwing out more fantasy special use cases.

How many Mac Pro units do you think Apple sells? XDR displays?

How much of a dent do you think that makes in the numbers they give to shareholders vs say the MacBook Air or the base AirPods?

Yet those products exist. Sure, they don't get yearly updates, but for the people who use them they are very important.

Plus who is going to develop all of these apps for the structural engineers (or whatever other special use case you dream up)? These apps will have very limited appeal, so what's the incentive for a developer to devote time and resources to an app with a very limited potential customer base?

People who charge $1k per seat (well, per head) per year

 

[Jensend]

i predict we will either be happy, or be disappointed 😅

I predict that I will be both.

 

[dwaite]

As far as anything new, I predict new emoji's and new multicolored watch bands and watch faces.

I'd wager none of the three.

 

[dwaite]

When has Apple ever released a product and then dramatically dropped the price? Never.

The iPhone, within months actually.

 

[dwaite]

I just need to know if new AirPods are coming out because mine just crapped-out on me and I need to replace them.

Unlikely now, I would predict base AirPods to be released in the fall for the holiday season, possibly announced alongside new iPhones.

Also suspect a slight revision to the pro line at about the same time to have a USB-C charging case (available for separate purchase too).

 

[Velin]

I've said before, don't be too quick to call a new product a failure. For example, I panned the first Apple Watch before and during its release, said it was useless. But with Series 7, I bought one to try it out. Now I love the damn thing, Apple Watch is my go-to watch, and likely will be forever.

Since that learning experience, never again will I say a new Apple product is a failure, has no "use case," or can't possibly work, because Apple have proven time and again they can reinvent entire product categories into successful franchises.

 

[Surf Monkey]

Tim Cook has been an executive at Apple since 1998.

And? I think you know I was talking about his tenure as CEO.

 

[Born Again]

So excited for WWDC23. I'm speechless and don't know what to say about it anymore.

I wonder if this is going to be the last time seeing this AR/VR Headset Render. Believe it or not we have come a very long way. Ready to see an actual thing!

Speechless for VR? How does VR fit in your day to to day life style?

 

[Born Again]

I've said before, don't be too quick to call a new product a failure. For example, I panned the first Apple Watch before and during its release, said it was useless. But with Series 7, I bought one to try it out. Now I love the damn thing, Apple Watch is my go-to watch, and likely will be forever.

Since that learning experience, never again will I say a new Apple product is a failure, has no "use case," or can't possibly work, because Apple have proven time and again they can reinvent entire product categories into successful franchises.

Apple airpod max is considered a failure.

 

[Surf Monkey]

I've said before, don't be too quick to call a new product a failure. For example, I panned the first Apple Watch before and during its release, said it was useless. But with Series 7, I bought one to try it out. Now I love the damn thing, Apple Watch is my go-to watch, and likely will be forever.

Since that learning experience, never again will I say a new Apple product is a failure, has no "use case," or can't possibly work, because Apple have proven time and again they can reinvent entire product categories into successful franchises.

Apple Watch. Don’t want one, never will. It’s all well and good to have a tech toy on your wrist but I have mechanical watches that live there and they aren’t moving out any time soon. For men watches are one of the few items of jewelry that they can wear. An Apple Watch isn’t jewelry. It’s a fitness tracker.

 

[Surf Monkey]

Apple airpod max is considered a failure.

Not surprisingly. The market for both gaming and audiophile headphones is white hot. Headphones and IEMs that blow AirPods, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max out of the water in terms of both audio quality and price are readily available. The only thing the AirPods Max bring to the table is above average noise cancelation. On virtually every other metric you can get better phones for less money.

Another ready example is the HomePod. A failure compared to the rest of the smart speaker market.

Apple can make mistakes. Big ones.

 

[Sir Ruben]

So excited for WWDC23. I'm speechless and don't know what to say about it anymore.

I wonder if this is going to be the last time seeing this AR/VR Headset Render. Believe it or not we have come a very long way. Ready to see an actual thing!

You going to get the headset? I am a hard no, but I have said that about products before and Apple has a way of winning me over lol.

 

[flofixer]

Apple doesn't just sell consumer products. They also find ways to justify making products that they just think should exist (as long as they don't lose money on them).

The rumor mill are the ones who think Apple will try pitching a $3k headset to the same people who are on a four year phone upgrade cycle. That is because they don't see a way it could work, but they'd LOVE to see Apple pull that off.

A $3k headset is targeting the same audience as the Pro Display XDR - people who need the features or have disposable income.

Likewise, the story is that Apple has some five year plan to turn this into some broadly accepted, iPhone (or at least Watch) level consumer product success. But thats all speculation. They could be working on a port of Fitness+. Also, they could be trying to sell this as a product that could be used to perform remote medical procedures. We won't know until tomorrow.

As someone who has done many robotic surgical procedures, I can tell you that this product will not be used for remote medical procedures. Not unless a very complicated separate machine to interface with your hands is developed to go along with the device. (Similar to what Intuitive Surgical now builds)

 

[Davelfc]

I’m still waiting for Cleaning Cloth 2 to be released.

 

[nikaru]

It would be funner if a 2023 iMac 27" M2 Pro & M2 Max was announced after 34 months of waiting.

It will be even funnier if we dont see any Mac Pro which was hinted more than 2 years ago by Apple themselves.

 

[tiimmbe]

I'm not able to tune in to the live stream as from start. Any way to start watching from the beginning while event is still ongoing? Thanks

 

[Motorola68000]

As far as pre press comments go they are unlikely to be valid. I worked on calibration as there were so many problems with the CMYK conversions, but in the main there is no real problem now, except for creators who don't understand colour or pre press. As for the comment about Apple not providing any means of calibration on their monitors. Open up Displays/display preferences/colour/calibrate.

Some monitors already have self calibrating sensors.

 

[MVMNT]

I'll just be happy to never see this again. Ever.

 

[fpnc]

I'm not going to take much interest in anything from Apple until the M3 Apple silicon ships. And, I suspect we won't have a consumer version of the Apple headset until it comes with the M3. The same, apparently, for the Mac Pro.

So, it's M3 or bust for Apple.

That said, I do plan on watching the WWDC keynote and most likely I'll be renewing my developer license for yet another year.

 

[nikaru]

You going to get the headset? I am a hard no, but I have said that about products before and Apple has a way of winning me over lol.

For me it all depends on how immersive is the experience and the quality of the content. If it is super fun device to play with and the whole family could enjoy it for long hours, I can afford and will be willing to pay even 1500$. If it is just am OK device, with some nice tricks but nothing out of this world, I will probably spend my money on for example PS5 games and streaming services content and probably get a lot more entertainment for my family. It all boils down to the equilibrium between how much fun this device can provide you and money Apple wants to charge you i.e. is it worth it, all things considered. Most people have limited access to money and limited time for entertainment, so everyone are looking for the best entertainment they can afford with the money they are willing to pay. If the initial rumors are true, and this headset costs north of 2,500$, it should be truly magical, even more than the iPhone or any other product in Apple history, in order to sell in large quantities and be attractive for mass-market customers.