It’s not the first time we hear that Apple plans to replace the iPhone with its Mixed Reality headset – or ultimately with its AR Apple Glasses product counterpart. Back in 2021, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that the iPhone would live for another ten years before the Cupertino firm replaced it with AR.
Even though the iPhone still represents more than 50% of Apple’s revenue, Kuo believed AR headsets could exceed “at least one billion pieces in ten years.” That said, the analyst warned at the time, “If the AR headset is positioned only as an accessory for the Mac or iPhone, it will not be conducive to the growth of the product.”
Two years later, with Apple’s first Mixed Reality headset being just around the corner with a WWDC 2023 announcement, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that some of the company’s executives believe the device will have a “slow start but eventually has the opportunity to replace the iPhone.”
While it’s still unclear if the Mixed Reality headset will live up to its hype, recent rumors indeed show this product will have a slow start – slower than when the first iPhone was announced. Some of the concerns regard its pricey point (more than $3,000), its poor battery life (reports say it will last for a couple of hours out of the plug), and incomplete software (the first version won’t come with all the expected features and some others won’t work 100% as intended).
With that in mind, rumors already say Apple is working on a second generation that will dramatically improve the price of this device while fixing issues with the first generation. While it doesn’t seem like a typical Apple launch, the company’s CEO, Tim Cook, sounds confident that Apple’s next breakthrough is related to Mixed Reality or Augmented Reality technologies.
Saying that the Mixed Reality headset will be responsible for the end of the iPhone is a big bet, but in 2007, who would have thought the iPhone would revolutionize the industry? The time will tell, and the clock is ticking.
