Apple ‘Reality Pro’ Headset Manufacturing Cost Revealed: Report

Summary:

• Apple’s upcoming AR/VR headset will reportedly cost about $1,500 USD to manufacture.
• Supposedly dubbed the “Reality Pro,” the headset is widely rumoured to be unveiled at WWDC 2023.
• The mixed-reality headset is expected to enter mass production sometime in Q3.

With the rumoured unveiling of Apple’s “Reality Pro” mixed-reality headset only weeks away, the latest reports coming out of Asia indicate that the device will cost about $1,500 USD (approximately $2,000 CAD) to manufacture (via MacRumors).

One report from China’s Minsheng Electronics offers a full cost breakdown for the headset’s components, suggesting a total component cost of $1,400. With shipping, Minsheng Electronics went on to conservatively estimate the bill of materials (BOM) for the headset at around $1,600.

According to the report, the headset’s most expensive components are the 4K microOLED displays, which cost about $280-320. Apple’s headset will have 14 camera modules, which together cost $160, and two processors that will supposedly cost $120-140. The report estimates assembly costs at $110-120.

Another report from Wellsenn XR claims that Apple’s headset will cost a total of $1,509 to manufacture, while a separate Chinese report pegs the device’s BOM at $1,290-1,300 (without shipping).

Apple is expected to unveil the “Reality Pro” headset at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, and these reports added that mass production could begin sometime in Q3. This lines up with a recent report that slated the device for mass production in the fall.

Accounting for packaging, shipping, and marketing costs, the Reality Pro headset could still end up with a significantly lower retail price than the previously rumoured $3,000 USD (a little over $4,000 CAD), depending of course on how much of its R&D costs Apple plans to recoup. The company is believed to have spent more than $1 billion per year to develop its first AR/VR headset.

Even though early testers of Apple’s AR/VR headset were “blown away” by it, a report from this week noted that the final product is far from what company CEO Tim Cook had originally envisioned.