Apple WWDC23 Preview: In addition to the $3000 MR, what progress has been made on AI products?

Source: Tianfeng Securities Kong Rong Li Zeyu

The Apple Developer Conference WWDC23 will be held from June 6th to 10th Beijing time. This conference may release a brand new IOS17, OS system, Mac computer, and the next generation of MR headsets.

It is expected that in addition to MR, Apple may also release AI-related products and progress at this WWDC, and from MR to AI, Apple is expected to reshape the entire mobile content ecosystem.

A $3000 MR headset is coming?

The MR headset device that Apple may release this time is a brand new category released in nearly 10 years. In terms of hardware, it is speculated that it will adopt a Pancake optical scheme, a single-eye 4k MicroOLED display, and a dual SoC chip design with M2.

The price of Apple MR may be close to $3000, mainly targeting developers and high-end MR markets, and will be equipped with a rich content ecosystem (games, fitness, collaboration, sports) and adapt to a large number of iPad applications. In addition, it realizes the fast switching between the real and virtual worlds through full-color perspective function and hardware knob.

Although the price of Apple MR headset may be relatively high, Apple's leading position in the content ecosystem may attract a large number of content creators to participate in MR content creation, which is expected to greatly optimize the current MR content ecosystem and experience.

It may drive the comprehensive upgrade of MR from software ecosystem to hardware configuration, thereby accelerating the rapid penetration of consumer-level MR. We may glimpse the interaction mode of the next generation of hardware platforms.

Apple MR is expected to become the starting point of the multi-modal AI revolution in the iOS ecosystem.

How does Apple make efforts in AI

Apple is still a strong competitor in the field of AI, and under the wave of AIGC, Apple pays more attention to privacy and localization:

From the embryonic intelligent voice assistant Siri, image, FaceID, Apple avoids privacy issues by deploying algorithm models locally, and the Neural Engine in Apple's bionic chip is also a prerequisite for local computing. Compared with ChatGPT and other generative AI, Apple is more sensitive to the compliance of training and collection data and the protection of user data privacy.

Therefore, we believe that Apple's AI products may focus on improving user hardware experience and may still adhere to localization, and Apple's entry into generative AI may exceed existing expectations. We still firmly believe in Apple's layout in AI applications and AIGC fields.

Investment advice

1. We are optimistic about the comprehensive upgrade of the interaction of Apple's next-generation MR hardware platform after its release, and the comprehensive layout of its content ecosystem will promote the attention of consumer-level MR and the prosperity of MR content ecosystem;

2. We believe that MR hardware may be released to accelerate the consensus of USD format as a 3D content base, and the efficient 3D content personal creator tool combined with USD format and AI may become the biggest promoter of MR content ecosystem.

3. In addition, we believe that Apple is still a strong competitor in the AI field. Unlike OpenAI, Apple's AI products may focus on improving user hardware experience and may still insist on localization under privacy and efficiency constraints.

We still have confidence in Apple's layout in the AI application and AIGC fields. We recommend paying attention to: Apple, Nvidia, Unity.