Asian Tech Press (Dec 27) -- Apple Inc. has hired Andrea Schubert, head of public relations for augmented reality and research projects at social networking giant Meta Platforms, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

The report said this is Apple's preparation for the official release of mixed reality (MR) or augmented reality (AR) hardware products to the public next year.

Gurman mentioned in the report that next year is likely to see Apple's first major new product category in seven years, a powerful and expensive mixed reality headset.

Job platform LinkedIn shows that Schubert is still working at Meta, and from public sources, he specializes in crisis communications, corporate PR, management, publicity and social media.

In addition to his more than five years of experience at Meta, Schubert has also worked as a communications manager at Oculus, a VR headset maker that was acquired by Facebook.