Apple is poised to charge us an arm and a leg to contribute to the VR headset field. Of course, this company has the gall to charge $3,000 for a mixed reality headset (opens in new tab) that, by the looks of it, is not going to be able to handle the latest games at all.

An exclusive article from Bloomberg (opens in new tab) delves deep into how Apple's yet-to-be-announced headset will actually work (via Digital Trends (opens in new tab)). In it, the headset will offer two ultra-high-resolution displays (not sure what this means), a pass-through mode that lets you see your surroundings through "multiple external cameras" (specifics), and something called a "digital crown" that can switch between VR and AR modes We're told. In other words, a knob.

It will also offer a battery life of just two hours, a cooling fan, and a small unit attached to the headset that will fit in a pocket.

What people are most excited about, of course, is the hand tracking and eye tracking capabilities that such a VR headset is bound to tout. This should see advanced gesture recognition, such as users pinching their thumbs or making other totally radical hand movements to control the headset.

In addition, Apple's mixed reality headset will support what Bloomberg calls "realistic avatars." Whether that means photorealistic or realistic like Mass Effect Andromeda (open in new tab) is unclear. What we do know is that its use will be quite limited.

Those expecting to pay $3,000 to move to Apple's version of the Metaverse will be disappointed to learn that, to conserve processing power, the headset can only render realistic avatars during one-on-one meetings. Otherwise, they will be rendered as nightmare-inducing Memoji characters designed by the company to be welcomed by the Apple cult.

All of this will be done with a variation of the M2 chip in combination with something called the Reality Processor.

Just remember that these are still rumors and much of this could still change; there is even the possibility of a feature coming along that would be worth $3,000. However, Apple is working on a lower-priced version that will cost around $1,500 and should be available between 2024 and 2025.

From what we can see, the device is unlikely to offer much more than the $399 Quest 2 already does with hand tracking and pass-through mode. And it doesn't seem likely to add much to the still-struggling field of VR gaming. Sure, Apple will do it in style, but what's inside is ....... I am not convinced.

In reality, Sony's PSVR2 is more likely to have a tangible and genuine impact on the virtual reality ecosystem. If it works, it may encourage more game developers to get serious about VR and more titles to be converted into higher quality PC VR experiences.

But if Apple does well... If Apple gets it right, that's it.

In any case, Apple's mixed reality headset will go into production in February, with the first U.S. release coming this year.