The Apple headset is the most complex hardware product ever

Apple’s mixed reality headset is, by all accounts, particularly difficult to manufacture, but Apple believes it has something special and unique to offer.

This is the message of the latest report by The Informationwhich he describes in detail how elaborate and expensive the production of the headset was.

Journalist Wayne Ma chronicled what is happening behind the scenes in the Apple world throughout the development process of the headset, detailing the complexities that are contributing to increasing costs and limiting production.

For example, elegant headphone design is particularly difficult to achieve:

The headset is the most complicated hardware product Apple has ever created due to its unconventional curved shape, thinness and ultra-light weight, resulting in an expected price tag of around $3,000. Several digital renderings of the device, which The Information has viewed in recent years, show a curved piece of glass with its edges wrapped in a smooth aluminum frame that appears to be slightly thicker than an iPhone.

That curved glass design it could also be a major pain point when it comes to durability over time. A challenge for Apple has been balancing the durability of the curved front glass with thickness and weight. That could mean the headset is even more fragile than iPhone displays, which aren’t immune to damage, and engineers have worried about eye safety if broken glass becomes a problem.

The viewer is also said to be very difficult to assemble:

People familiar with the headset’s manufacturing also say its curvature and very compact electronics have made life difficult for assembly workers because they have little room to maneuver tools and have to install components at awkward angles. Most Apple products, including headsets, are largely hand-assembled.

Requesting a motherboard bent into a thin bezel didn’t help, but Apple needed to develop “a motherboard bent to fit the curved outer shell of the headset – the first of its kind for Apple – along with solutions for fit the lenses and displays into its thin bezel”.

As for manufacturing, The Information says Apple hopes the headset will be as successful as the AirPods. The company is targeting half a million headsets sold in its first year.

The report confirms that the viewer will be presented on Monday 5 June, but the sale will only be activated in a few months. There mass production hasn’t started yet, but things could change as early as July. This would suggest a fall or winter launch date as Apple typically takes several months to ramp up production of its products. There have been design changes recently, Ma says, in an effort to streamline the manufacturing process.

However, all this complexity could translate into a unique viewer of its kind, capable of revolutionizing the entire sector.