Even for Apple $3,000 is a lot to charge for what's looking like some pretty standard VR

Our Mollie's Memoji looking shocked about Apple VR
(Image credit: Apple)

Here comes Apple, poised to charge us an arm and a leg for its own contribution to the VR headset space. Of course this company has the gall to charge $3,000 for a mixed-reality headset that, by the looks of things, isn't going to be able to handle modern gaming at all.

An exclusive Bloomberg article has gone into great depths about how the as yet unannounced Apple headset actually works (via Digital Trends). In it, we're told that the headset will offer two ultra-high-resolution displays (which could mean anything), a pass-through mode so you can see your surroundings through "several external cameras" (specific), and something called a "digital crown" so you can switch between VR and AR mode. You mean, a knob? It's called a knob, Apple. 

It'll also offer just two hours of battery life and a cooling fan, as well as a little unit attached to the headset that goes in your pocket—no playing in the nude for us then (waiting on the inevitable $400 Apple Nudity Strapping accessory -Ed).

The thing people are most excited about, of course, is the hand- and eye-tracking capability a VR headset like this is bound to come touting. With it, we should see some advanced gesture recognition, involving users pinching their thumbs together and making other totally rad looking hand movements to control the headset, just like super cool sci-fi characters they've always wanted to be.

What's more, Apple's mixed reality headset will support what Bloomberg refers to as "realistic avatars". Whether that means photorealistic or Mass Effect Andromeda realistic, is unclear. What we do know is that its application will be sorely limited.

In order to save on processing power the headset will only allow you to render a realistic avatar in one-to-one meetings.

If you're expecting to pay $3,000 and move into Apple's version of the Metaverse, you'll be disappointed to learn that in order to save on processing power the headset will only allow you to render a realistic avatar in one-to-one meetings. Otherwise you'll be rendered as whatever nightmare-inducing Memoji character the company makes you design to be welcomed into the cult of Apple.

All this will run off an M2 chip variation, paired with something called a Reality Processor, which is what Apple is actually calling its dedicated graphics chip for the project.

Your next upgrade

(Image credit: Future)

Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD
Best gaming motherboard: The right boards
Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits
Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest

Just remember that these are still rumours, and a lot of this is still subject to change. We could even see some feature crop up that actually makes it worth $3,000, though we're not holding our breath. Oh, but Apple is working on a cheaper version for around $1,500, which should launch between 2024 and 2025 some time.

From where we're standing, the device seems not to offer anything more than the $399 Quest 2 has already achieved with hand tracking and pass through mode. And it's unlikely to add much to the still struggling VR gaming space. Sure, Apple will likely do it with some style, but the substance... I'm not convinced.

In reality, Sony's PSVR2 has more chance of having a tangible, genuine impact on the virtual reality ecosystem. If that does well more game developers will take VR seriously, and we may see more titles translate into more high quality PC VR experiences. 

But if Apple does well... Apple does well and that's kinda it.

Either way, we should see Apples mixed-reality headset start production some time in February, with an initial US launch imminent this year.

Katie Wickens
Hardware Writer

Screw sports, Katie would rather watch Intel, AMD and Nvidia go at it. Having been obsessed with computers and graphics for three long decades, she took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni, and has been rambling about games, tech and science—rather sarcastically—for four years since. She can be found admiring technological advancements, scrambling for scintillating Raspberry Pi projects, preaching cybersecurity awareness, sighing over semiconductors, and gawping at the latest GPU upgrades. Right now she's waiting patiently for her chance to upload her consciousness into the cloud.

Read more
Pimax Dream Air VR headset on a grey background
This upcoming Micro-OLED VR headset has absolutely everything and weighs less than 200 grams but of course it costs nearly 4x the Quest 3
Meta Horizon OS on a box.
The upcoming Asus VR project is rumoured to have eye and face tracking, yet the thing I'm most excited about is its OS
The best VR headsets from Meta on a grey background with the PC Gamer Recommends badge in the upper right corner.
Best VR headset in 2025: my top picks for stunning virtual reality experiences
A Meta Quest 3S, alongside a Quest 3 and Quest 2, on a stack of PC Gamer magazine.
I'm still waiting for a high-end VR headset good enough to make me ditch my Quest 3
Mark Zuckerberg pretends the metaverse is cool
The metaverse could be a 'legendary misadventure,' Meta executive says, if Reality Labs doesn't turn things around in 2025
An image of a Meta Quest 3S VR headset and two hand controllers against a teal background and a white border
Be the Batman in your bedroom with this Meta Quest 3S deal, saving $50 on the 256 GB model
Latest in VR Hardware
Varjo Aero
Varjo Aero VR headsets seem to be not working on RTX 5090s, and its community is opting for strange solutions while waiting for an Nvidia driver release to fix it
A still from a YouTube video showing The Swedish Maker cutting a piece of wood with power tools while wearing a Meta Quest 3 VR headset.
YouTuber The Swedish Maker wears a Meta Quest 3 VR headset for his entire woodworking project and miraculously emerges with all fingers intact
The HTC Vive XR Elite front three quarter angle
Google is bulk buying HTC Vive engineers to help Android XR become a platform that can rival Meta's VR/AR dominance
Meta Horizon OS on a box.
The upcoming Asus VR project is rumoured to have eye and face tracking, yet the thing I'm most excited about is its OS
An image of a Meta Quest 3S VR headset and two hand controllers against a teal background and a white border
Be the Batman in your bedroom with this Meta Quest 3S deal, saving $50 on the 256 GB model
Pimax Dream Air VR headset on a grey background
This upcoming Micro-OLED VR headset has absolutely everything and weighs less than 200 grams but of course it costs nearly 4x the Quest 3
Latest in News
Crying laughing emoji with disturbing realistic elements for REPO
REPO's first update will add a new map and a 'duck bucket' so we can finally give that pesky quacker a time out
Man facing camera
The Day Before studio reportedly sues Russian website for calling infamous disaster-game a 'scam'
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers
Sony, which is making a Helldivers 2 movie, is also making a new Starship Troopers movie, but it's not based on the Starship Troopers movie we already have
Assassin's Creed meets PUBG
Ubisoft is reportedly talking to Tencent about creating a new business entity to manage Assassin's Creed and other big games
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
'It really truly changed my life in every possible way': Lady Dimitrescu actor says her Resident Evil Village role was just as transformative for her as it was for roughly half the internet in 2021