Apple’s AR/VR Headset May Be Powered by an M2 Chip for High Performance

The newest MacBooks may not be the only place we see Apple’s new M2 chip make an appearance. Rumour has it that this will be the brains behind Apple’s much-rumored mixed-reality headset.

We began hearing that the headset would be powered by some form of Apple Silicon early last year; around the same time, it became apparent that Apple was working on a high-end premium device for the first-generation model. Think “Mac Pro” more than “MacBook Pro.”

This information was first shared by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, and a few months later, another highly reliable analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, backed up those reports, suggesting that Apple was working on a chip that would be “similar to the M1” — but even more powerful.

At the time, many assumed that Apple was designing a custom chip for its mixed-reality headset, but now it seems that this “more powerful” chip sources were pointing to may have just been Apple’s next generation of M1 silicon; that is, the M2 chip that’s just been unveiled as part of Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro and redesigned MacBook Air.

In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says he’s been told that the current working prototypes of the headset are using the standard M2 chip with a 16GB memory configuration.

Outside of the Mac and iPad Pro, there’s another place I expect the M2 to appear: Apple’s mixed-reality headset. I’m told the latest internal incarnations of the device run the base M2 chip along with 16 gigabytes of RAM. Mark Gurman

If true, that’s pretty impressive since it suggests that the new headset will be every bit as powerful on its own as Apple’s entry-level Macs.

However, this also shows Apple’s desire to stick to a single family of chips across most of its product lineup. We saw the first hint of this when the M1 chip came to the iPad Pro last year, followed by the iPad Air earlier this year. The mixed-reality headset will be next to join the family, but it leaves us wondering how long it will be until M-series chips find their way into some of Apple’s other products.

The iPhone will likely stick with A-series chips for the foreseeable future. Unlike the iPad, which Apple is slowly transforming into a laptop-class device, an iPhone doesn’t need the power to drive external displays, connect high-speed Thunderbolt devices, or render complex graphics workflows.

When Is Apple’s Headset Coming?

Despite this additional peek into the headset’s internals, we likely won’t hear anything official from Apple until next year.

If Apple planned to release the headset later this year, it likely would have given us at least a sneak peek at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) earlier this month. However, while plenty of hints pointed to the “realityOS” software that’s expected to power the headset, Apple was dead quiet about any new products in that space.

Our sources have suggested Apple may hold a special event in January 2023 to announce the AR/VR headset, although when it goes on the market is still an open question. It’s unlikely to hit shelves until sometime after WWDC 2023, and it’s still expected to be a premium product, priced between $2,000 and $3,000.

It’s not even a sure thing yet that the current M2 chip will power the headset. Gurman only says that’s what the “latest internal incarnations” are using, but Apple could choose to move to an even more powerful version like an M2 Pro before the design is finalized.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]