Two of the most prominent analysts on the web have come out in sharp criticism of claims that Apple will release its mixed reality headset at WWDC next week.

Ming-Chi Kuo, a widely respected expert who has been dubbed “the world’s most accurate Apple analyst” – though AppleTrack’s 72.5% accuracy rating suggests that’s an exaggeration – tweeted today a brief train of thought related to the headset’s long-awaited launch. Based on the time it takes to get a product into mass production, and the dangers of competitors copying its specs and OS design, Kuo concluded that it won’t be released at WWDC next week or even anytime in 2022.

This follows Sunday’s revelation that two trademarks for the term “realityOS” were filed last year by what appears to be a shell corporation, and that those trademarks expire just two days after this year’s WWDC keynote. Considering we know realityOS is the term Apple used for its virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) projects, this seemed to suggest that the headset-related announcement would happen that night.

Perhaps the announcement will still take place, but Kuo does not believe that it will be a headset, and more often than not, he is right. One of the alternative launch plans was proposed yesterday by another well-known expert, Robert Scoble.

Scoble is an accomplished blogger and tech evangelist who specializes in AR and VR and is still well known in the field. (It’s important to acknowledge that he was significantly more visible until 2017, when he backed down after allegations of sexual harassment that his partner said were “mostly true.”) Scoble, like Kuo, thinks Apple’s headset won. won’t launch until 2023 – he predicts June of that year – but offered some thoughts on how the company will pave the way for that launch over the next 12 months.

WWDC will announce “a new development environment for a new type of photorealistic 3D scenes, avatars and more,” Scoble predicts. He expects the headset to be unveiled in January 2023 and finally go on sale in the summer of that year.

This double prediction (or anti-prediction) is a blow to Apple fans who were hoping to finally see the mixed reality headset they’ve been waiting for since 2017. But it looks like we’re slowly getting closer to disclosure and we should find out more at WWDC 2022.

We can’t wait to hear what Apple has in store for AR/VR. To learn more, join us next Monday as we cover WWDC 2022 in depth.

The main image is a conceptual illustration courtesy of Antonio de Rosa.