Apple's Mixed-Reality Headset Now Said to Be in 'Final Sprint' and 'Delivery Stage' Ahead of WWDC

[Surf Monkey]

XR (AR/VR) isn't going anywhere, there are setbacks, mainly because of Meta's extreme overpromising and underdelivering and of others' very poor executions.
XR will be with us, in one form or another, as long as there will be humans. It may exist in a headset, glasses, some kind of holographic projector, or in a straight-up holodeck room.
The tech will have many use cases, from entertainment to productivity, at an extremely low cost - because it will all be virtual.
It will be extremely useful, immersive, productive, entertaining, personal, and social.
If Apple won't make it happen, then (eventually) somebody else will. There is no stopping it. It's a very effective human-machine interaction method, much more than the multi-touch screen.

Pure speculation.

 

[Surf Monkey]

The blackberry is not even remotely comparable to an iPhone. it's a ball mouse on a tiny keyboard. And Palm was very expensive.

Doesn’t rebut my point.

 

[DevNull0]

Of course. That makes a ton of sense...on planet Mars.

I totally agree with you, but I'm glad you're the one who said it.

Unfortunately, that's the Apple that Timmy has created.

 

[X38]

For all of the "solution in search of a problem" posts, this SINGLE deliverable- if it comes- means that Goggle owners will suddenly have a way to use ANY size screen on any Apple device. Want a 17" MB? Ta-dah! How about 20"? Ta-dah! Want a 27" iMac? How about a 32" iMac? How about a 50" ultra-wide? How about an IMAX Mac? 2 screens? 4 screens? 8 screens?

In my imagination, this ONE benefit is "killer app" if the "reality" is good enough to look like actually having such screen(s) with me, anywhere I go. This could be a brand new kind of laptop (with any screen size, minus the weight of actually building a physical laptop with bigger screens), a new kind of tablet (with adjustable screen sizes), a new kind of phone (with adjustable screens).

All of the tech industry is trying to figure out good paths to bigger screens with folding and rollable screens: how can we keep the portability but deliver a bigger screen? How can we avoid adding a lot of weight but deliver a bigger screen? Perhaps Apple's answer to that is: "What if "we" virtualize the screen so it can be ANY size?"

Imagine a new kind of laptop option with basically the bottom half of a laptop plus goggles in the laptop bag. Now anywhere you want to pull out and use a laptop is basically done the same way... only the monitor "half" is a virtual screen... of ANY size (not only limited to up to 16" approx. square). When done with it, put it away, just like we put away our laptops now. When I have to go from my main Mac with a 40" ultra-wide screen to my MBpro, it feels so insanely cramped and requires so much window swapping/moving/adjusting that I find myself dreading it. What if this eliminates THAT problem?

Why would Apple Inc. be interested in this? Instead of paying others in the supply chain for new laptop form factor screens, or foldable/rollable screens, they could summon up any size screen for any Apple product- existing or in the pipeline- in software. A virtual screen won't have a crease to wear out. A virtual screen won't yield a thicker product when folded. A virtual screen won't have the COGS tangibles. Instead of having a cut of every sale paying someone in the supply chain, Apple could fully develop new screens solely in software. Etc.

Obviously, this would not be for everyone. Some will prefer the "as is." But with fixed sized screens like ASD retailing at upwards of $2K with a stand option, is the rumored $3K really too much if you could have ANY size ASD screen (or multiple screens) whenever and wherever you want?

I recently spent $2K for a fixed sized screen that will basically sit in a single location for probably its entire useful life. I love it's 40" ultra-wide usability but it would never be practical trying to make it a mobile, "on the road" screen. Can goggles let me have that same screen anywhere I happen to be? Client location? Hotel? Cramped airplane seat? Etc. Deliver this one, single benefit well, and I'm likely highly motivated at even $3K.

Completely agree!
This seems like a no brainer application and one with huge market potential. Something I’ve been looking forward to for many years and expect I would use extinsively.

But in addition to virtual displays, you also get virtual, software configurable keyboards, trackpad, mice, and auxiliary pointing devices. You also get rid of the cables to connect all those things, or the power bricks and chargers to run them if wireless, the monitor power connections, the laptop sized batteries and power brick sized to also run the large screen, a backpack or bag to carry it all in, and the furniture to set all that up on. Potentially a fundamental shift in workplace portability.

 

[NY Guitarist]

🤿 + 📱

 

[sorgo †]

Tim looks good there…and a whole $1.09! How generous is our dear leader 😍

 

[garranhado]

I think Apple will not launch the Headset on WWDC. There’s no live event and no public for a “major product”. Also don”t make sense WWDC still remote after the end of the covid.

We miss Steve.

 

[svish]

Excited!! Looking forward to seeing it in action at WWDC.

 

[CorporateDrone6410]

Talk is cheap. If you want to put your money where your mouth is, short Apple. Personally, I’m putting money into AAPL stock based on the reactions here, and will be buying the headset. The talk here reminds me of the iPhone back in the 2000s. I bet some of those here decrying how dumb this move is are the same people who disparaged the iPhone as a useless toy.

I think these headsets are the first generation of devices that will be a luxury. The Model S of AR headsets so to speak. I can afford one and have an idea for a new business idea that will bring people together using the new technology. It’s gonna be great. I’m excited.

Then in a few years as Apple’s mobile chips keep increasing in power and efficiency, they’ll be able to sell glasses that also run xrOS. The Model 3 of augmented reality. But to get there you need something for early adopters to pave the way and develop the killer apps that the wider (but still affluent and willing to pay for products) audience afforded by a more mainstream device will attract. I’ll bet money on it.

 

[topdrawer]

i'm more curious to see if apple will update their 3d frameworks (not just m

Talk is cheap. If you want to put your money where your mouth is, short Apple. Personally, I’m putting money into AAPL stock based on the reactions here, and will be buying the headset. The talk here reminds me of the iPhone back in the 2000s. I bet some of those here decrying how dumb this move is are the same people who disparaged the iPhone as a useless toy.

I think these headsets are the first generation of devices that will be a luxury. The Model S of AR headsets so to speak. I can afford one and have an idea for a new business idea that will bring people together using the new technology. It’s gonna be great. I’m excited.

Then in a few years as Apple’s mobile chips keep increasing in power and efficiency, they’ll be able to sell glasses that also run xrOS. The Model 3 of augmented reality. But to get there you need something for early adopters to pave the way and develop the killer apps that the wider (but still affluent and willing to pay for products) audience afforded by a more mainstream device will attract. I’ll bet money on it.

yeah, enjoy talking to furries on vr chat.

 

[aleni]

Interchangeable headband for $99 each.

 

[Lazrhog]

I wouldn't latch too strongly on the rumored $3K price. That's just a speculative number tossed out by a tech journalist with an imperfect track record.

Many people love to cling to that number as it's an easy entry point into giving Apple a good bash and a reason to call it a flop. Even though it's based on essentially nothing.

If it's based on waveguide technology, then they are definitely not cheap to manufacture

 

[StellarVixen]

I can hear this before the iPhone came out. Just replace "headsets" with "full screen phones" and "blocks off vision" with "has no full tactile keyboard"

This thread is rife with weak analogies and survivorship bias.

Cellphones were popular devices even before the iPhone came to the scene. People wanted cellphones, people liked cellphones, iPhone was a different cellphone.

VR market is having a lack of interest as a whole. It's a very niche market, you just can't compare the two.

 

[floral]

You don't want them, so you'd only pay $400 for them?

By that, I mean I haven't tried a headset before and it would be neat, but I'm not investing more than $400 for one.

 

[MacWiz_007]

Talk is cheap. If you want to put your money where your mouth is, short Apple. Personally, I’m putting money into AAPL stock based on the reactions here, and will be buying the headset. The talk here reminds me of the iPhone back in the 2000s. I bet some of those here decrying how dumb this move is are the same people who disparaged the iPhone as a useless toy.

I think these headsets are the first generation of devices that will be a luxury. The Model S of AR headsets so to speak. I can afford one and have an idea for a new business idea that will bring people together using the new technology. It’s gonna be great. I’m excited.

Then in a few years as Apple’s mobile chips keep increasing in power and efficiency, they’ll be able to sell glasses that also run xrOS. The Model 3 of augmented reality. But to get there you need something for early adopters to pave the way and develop the killer apps that the wider (but still affluent and willing to pay for products) audience afforded by a more mainstream device will attract. I’ll bet money on it.

If you are putting money into Apple stock based off of discussions on this forum, I promise you don't do well in the market. Sell every stock you own now and buy Beanie Babies, you'll fair much better.

 

[MacWiz_007]

To the "you can have virtual monitors and a keyboard and a mouse and..." please stop. First of all, most of that is not happening anytime soon, and even when it does I am not going to strap a headset on my head and throw a fanny pack on with a battery in it for 8+ hours a day to access said virtual devices. I'm part of the majority here I guarantee it.

 

[robbietop]

Doesn’t rebut my point.

Yes, it does. You're stating the Blackberry was as advanced as an iPhone, when it clearly wasn't. It was using simplified software to display a basic POP3 email account and maybe a mini-browser with cell phone functionality barely evolved past the STARTAC era. It had a higher resolution screen and colors, but it was as Steve said "baby software".

The Blackberry did not run a desktop class BSD UNIX 03-Certified operating system. It did not have complicated TCP/IP networking, nor the capability to handle large scale web browsing standards such as HTML and at the time burgeoning CSS. It could not run applications beyond the scale of a tiny thin client with barebones JS and Java.

The very fact that Android's competitive attack on iOS wiped Blackberry off the map along with Nokia/Symbian in less than three years is a testament to how far behind that technology was compared with Google and Apple's offerings.

Hell, all the Windows Phone OEMs abandoned WP in favor of Android within a year. HTC was the first, followed by Samsung, LG, and a host of other Chinese competitors popped up overnight with the Open Source Android Alliance. They no longer had to play games with Microsoft or Nokia or RIM. They could just build a slightly modified Linux fork called Android, and then Google would hand it over through GNU.

Apple fired the first salvo and Google came in as a second and the two ate the rest of the market for lunch.
Not even comparable. Where is Symbian or Blackberry or Windows Phone now?

 

[TracerAnalog]

I totally believe the XR hype. Apple needs to make their mark or miss the boat. There are technical hurdles to take for sure, but the promise of overlaying the physical world with the virtual is very, very powerful. It may take 10 years or so, but by then the technique to make it a compelling proposition will be mature. It will be coupled with powerful AI assistants that will make the use of keyboards and mice obsolete for 99% of the use cases. There will be new players for sure (just as ChatGPT disrupted the AI market) and Apple might fail, but they have to try.

/end of salespitch

 

[topdrawer]

This thread is rife with weak analogies and survivorship bias.

Cellphones were popular devices even before the iPhone came to the scene. People wanted cellphones, people liked cellphones, iPhone was a different cellphone.

VR market is having a lack of interest as a whole. It's a very niche market, you just can't compare the two.

not only that but the current vr tech is pretty amazing and to some of the people above, we already have virtual screens in vr.

but even as a gamer and 3d content creator, vr hasn't appealed to me. throw in apple proprietary whatever they are going to do that will limit content greatly on the igoggles and it will be even less appealing. and no, iphone app level of support is not good enough to compete in the vr space. no one is going to pay a lot of money for vr to not experience the great software available on other platforms.

and no people aren't gonna flock to make 3d content for apple - most of the tools are on pc and the creators are heavily biased towards windows.

 

[TracerAnalog]

not only that but the current vr tech is pretty amazing and to some of the people above, we already have virtual screens in vr.

but even as a gamer and 3d content creator, vr hasn't appealed to me. throw in apple proprietary whatever they are going to do that will limit content greatly on the igoggles and it will be even less appealing. and no, iphone app level of support is not good enough to compete in the vr space. no one is going to pay a lot of money for vr to not experience the great software available on other platforms.

and no people aren't gonna flock to make 3d content for apple - most of the tools are on pc and the creators are heavily biased towards windows.

Just imagine the Apple Goggles would be Steam VR compatible… but I safely want to bet they won’t be. Which is a shame.
We’ll soon see what Apple brings to the table… After all, this might be a wholly different beast than regular VR goggles!

 

[Surf Monkey]

Yes, it does. You're stating the Blackberry was as advanced as an iPhone, when it clearly wasn't. It was using simplified software to display a basic POP3 email account and maybe a mini-browser with cell phone functionality barely evolved past the STARTAC era. It had a higher resolution screen and colors, but it was as Steve said "baby software".

The Blackberry did not run a desktop class BSD UNIX 03-Certified operating system. It did not have complicated TCP/IP networking, nor the capability to handle large scale web browsing standards such as HTML and at the time burgeoning CSS. It could not run applications beyond the scale of a tiny thin client with barebones JS and Java.

The very fact that Android's competitive attack on iOS wiped Blackberry off the map along with Nokia/Symbian in less than three years is a testament to how far behind that technology was compared with Google and Apple's offerings.

Hell, all the Windows Phone OEMs abandoned WP in favor of Android within a year. HTC was the first, followed by Samsung, LG, and a host of other Chinese competitors popped up overnight with the Open Source Android Alliance. They no longer had to play games with Microsoft or Nokia or RIM. They could just build a slightly modified Linux fork called Android, and then Google would hand it over through GNU.

Apple fired the first salvo and Google came in as a second and the two ate the rest of the market for lunch.
Not even comparable. Where is Symbian or Blackberry or Windows Phone now?

I did not claim it was as advanced as iPhone. You fail.

 

[Surf Monkey]

I totally believe the XR hype. Apple needs to make their mark or miss the boat. There are technical hurdles to take for sure, but the promise of overlaying the physical world with the virtual is very, very powerful. It may take 10 years or so, but by then the technique to make it a compelling proposition will be mature. It will be coupled with powerful AI assistants that will make the use of keyboards and mice obsolete for 99% of the use cases. There will be new players for sure (just as ChatGPT disrupted the AI market) and Apple might fail, but they have to try.

/end of salespitch

What boat? VR has been a failure for other companies so far.

 

[NY Guitarist]

I can see how VR could make 3D movies a thing again. I enjoyed seeing a few in theaters but hated wearing those silly, uncomfortable glasses.

Oh... wait. 🥸🤿

 

[purplerainpurplerain]

It's a double edged sword. VR will no doubt cause serious addictions and send people into a deep pit of isolation, but on the other hand the interactions people have in VR will be more humane and less combative than social media.

Doubt it. Already there are sexual assaults, scammers, pedos and bullying in all VR social apps.

 

[purplerainpurplerain]

The market was not tiny and smartphones were everywhere in some professional settings. I had one, all my colleagues had them. I had a windows mobile something or other... several of them.

iPhone was the first one with an interface dumbed down enough that stupid people could use it. And here we are.

tbf the iOS interface is just palmOS or Pocket PC 2.0 but with high res graphics and a GPU behind it.