Reports are circulating that Apple has hired Andrea Schubert away from Meta. Schubert has been the head of communications and public relations for Meta’s AR products since 2016. The move could signal that the unveiling of the first Apple AR headset is right around the corner.
Helping Fuel the Success of Oculus
Communications and PR are crucial to product success, and Oculus has tons of that. On both Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2021, Meta’s Oculus Quest 2 was one of the top-selling products. On Christmas Day, the Oculus app topped the iOS App Store in the US and made it to the number one spot on the Google Play store.
Schubert’s LinkedIn profile makes no mention of a move. It does, however, say that she is the lead of the “Augmented Reality (AR), XR, Portal and Research comms teams at Reality Labs (Meta’s consumer hardware division)”. She was also in charge of leading strategy for events like Oculus Connect, F8, and CES, among others.
Bringing the Apple AR Headset to Life
Executives in Cupertino are still silent when it comes to the Apple AR Glasses. However, rumors abound and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has predicted the first headset to launch in 2022.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman broke the story of Schubert’s hire in his most recent “Power On” newsletter (via The Verge). One insider predicts the software development kit for the headset will be released as early as the first half of 2022. Gurman, too, believes Apple will release the first headset in late 2022.
Ahead of that launch, Apple is starting to get its ducks in a row. I’m told the company has hired Andrea Schubert, Meta Platforms Inc.’s communications and public relations head for its augmented reality efforts.
The first Apple-branded AR/VR headset may come with a hefty sticker price. Rumors suggest it will feature a pair of 8K displays and feature advanced 3D sensors to detect objects in a scene as well as identify hand gestures the user makes. That could drive the retail price as high as $3,000 USD.