Apple will announced its long-awaited mixed-reality headset on June 5, with an asking price of more than double the price of the Meta Quest Pro.

According to a Bloomberg report, the Apple Reality headset will be launched with a A$4,500 price tag, compared to the A$1,729 Meta charges for its high-end Meta Quest Pro mixed-reality headset, released last October.

Apple has poured over seven years and billions of dollars into creating this headset, with numerous design shifts over the period, moving from Tim Cook’s original vision of ordinary-looking eye-glasses (below), to be worn all day, to the current goggle-like design.

The glasses will be powered by an iPhone-sized battery pack that attaches to the googles by a power cord, which was reportedly to stop overheating and to reduce the overall weight.

This brick-like appendage is unlikely to be popular with users already carrying around a phone-sized device (namely: their phone) and will initially rely upon third-party software support to bolster its use.

The headset will run on a completely new operating system, dubbed xrOS.

According to previous Bloomberg reports, mass production begin in February in China.

“The headset will have several external cameras that can analyse a user’s hands, as well as sensors within the gadget’s housing to read eyes,” Bloomberg columnist Mark Gurman reported last month.

“That allows the wearer to control the device by looking at an on-screen item — whether it’s a button, app icon or list entry — to select it.

“Users will then pinch their thumb and index finger together to activate the task — without the need to hold anything. The approach differs from other headsets, which typically rely on a hand controller.”