San Francisco, Nov 9 (IANS): Apple is reportedly planning to start mass production of its AR (augmented reality)-MR (mixed reality) headsets from March next year.

The iPhone maker is "moving forward on development" of its MR headset and Pegatron is the sole partner for the final assembly, reports MacRumors.

The mass production of the headset will probably start in March 2023 and may be unveiled in the following month.

The initial production is rumoured to be very limited with a high price tag, which will restrict the tech giant's first headset mainly to commercial customers.

Despite the headset's low profitability, the tech giant's manufacturing partners are reportedly prepared to collaborate with the company on the project to demonstrate their technical skill and position themselves for future AR and VR (virtual reality) devices, the report said.

In June this year, it was reported that the company might release its AR-MR headset in January next year.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had said that the vast potential demand in the Chinese market and "Apple AR/MR, which would likely release in January 2023, would also favour the continued rapid growth of the headset sector".

"Although Apple had repeatedly reiterated its focus on AR, I believe Apple AR/MR supporting video see-thru could also offer an excellent immersive experience," Kuo had predicted.