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Gurman: 'Apple Reality Pro' to Be First of Three Apple AR/VR Headset Devices
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In a word, no.
Apple will be leveraging technologies they've already employed for the data links between iPhone and glasses; ie very low power UWB (ultra wideband) which exists in recent iPhones/iPads that in a proprietary communications mode can easily support the required bandwidths and short range for multiple bidirectional video and data streams between iPhone and glasses, in addition to providing fine grain spatial awareness. The glasses themselves will be the result of Apple's collaboration with Stanford University's AR/VR laboratory that goes back 6+ years. Stanford U recently disclosed their low power glasses concept at last month's Siggraph conference. I suspect Apple's version will be very similar, and more polished for the mass market. Again... a user's iPhone with A-series cpu/gpu and relatively large battery will be doing the AR processing.
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It will be a VR headset with better video passthrough, perhaps with 3D reconstruction of your real environment that can be displayed display within your VR environment. Apple may call it AR, but it won’t be fundamentally different than the Quest Pro that is releasing next month.
It won’t have a transparent display like the HoloLens. That technology isn’t good enough to be shrunk down to a form factor that people would wear everywhere, and it has some other technological hurdles to overcome, such as a very limited FOV when compared to VR. If you’re getting a device to use at home or office, you might as well get a device with much better visuals.
Maybe they’ll release some kind of smartglasses in the not too distant future, but I think those would basically be more comparable to smartwatches in functionality.
They're going to announce this thing on Tuesday. Launch video and all. Get ready.
TV spots in later months. Launching early 2023.
TV spots in later months. Launching early 2023.
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Excited to see the AR/VR device. Hopefully Apple can release the AR glasses in the next 24 months.
Even pass through or “3D reconstruction of real environment” isn’t good enough and VR is still the butt of many jokes.
Always keep expectations of niche technologies real and don’t try to aggressively push them for use cases outside their niche.
I can honestly see this. although patents began popping up for the iPhone around this time I think before the January debut.
When trying to come up with a product name, or anything else, you have to spitball a lot of different options even really bad names, as they all ultimately help you work out what you don't like in terms of sound and messaging and lead you to what is the best choice.
I think the weirdest part about these rumours is the idea that they’re going to target a premium, high end market.
I know that Apple does typically DO that, but it would be very very difficult for a company with basically no AAA gaming titles to do with what is basically a gaming device.
They’ll come out with a “b grade” Apple Arcade experience, and expect to be in a premium market?
Well. It will be interesting to watch, I’ll say that.
I know that Apple does typically DO that, but it would be very very difficult for a company with basically no AAA gaming titles to do with what is basically a gaming device.
They’ll come out with a “b grade” Apple Arcade experience, and expect to be in a premium market?
Well. It will be interesting to watch, I’ll say that.
This naming doesnt really make sense to me marketing wise. From what I understand, Apple are not interested in taking people away from reality or replacing it, (especially since the impact of Iphone). They want to reinforce reality, to enhace it, hence the AR focus. Calling it Apple reality (pro) will leave the exact opposite impression of this in everyones minds when they hear it. Like Apple want to replace reality with their own, I really dont see that happeneing.
Apple Vision still seems more likely to me, especially as the patents suggest the main feature of this product will be automatically fixing a wide range of vision problems without glasses. I think these trademarks probably have something to do more with the component naming / trademarket blanketing.
Apple Vision still seems more likely to me, especially as the patents suggest the main feature of this product will be automatically fixing a wide range of vision problems without glasses. I think these trademarks probably have something to do more with the component naming / trademarket blanketing.
That's my feeling as well, this will be something that augments the real world with information and the ability to act on that information. VR's Achilles heel, IMO, is just as you say, the isolation. I like playing a VR game occasionally, it's a neat experience, but just being walled into that hot, heavy headset unable to interact with physical people next to me makes it so that I don't look for that experience often. It seems like in today's world of massive social media integration/communication we are actually more isolated than ever, and VR takes that isolation to an exponentially higher level. I have a feeling that for Apple it's not only the headset, but some sort of social ecosystem built around it so users can interact with each other, maybe in games, maybe in walking maps, etc.
What we see (or hear rumors about) now is just the technology being distilled into a smaller more palatable and less expensive form over time. $3k will be for industrial uses and to showcase the technology, but in 4 or 5 years when they are smaller and maybe $1k Apple will have built up some sort of ecosystem and functionality that most are aware of. It will be fascinating to see which direction Apple will take the market.
I did, but people didn't really see the post. It's out of date now though and I'd do things a bit different now.
I don't think it's aimed at gamers, at least initially. I'm thinking the first run is on architects, CGI studios, maybe mechanical engineers, structural engineers, anybody who needs to see a detailed and significant structure that isn't there as part of his/her job.
Also my usual reminder that gaming ≠ AAA gaming.
Unmarketable name? Their most successful product of all time, a phone, was called a phone. What would you call this new product? Given that the device will supposedly incorporate both virtual and augmented reality, calling it “reality” makes perfect sense.
That being said, the name will not determine interest. I don’t believe Apple is speculating here — they want to define the market.
That is what Apple claimed about AR years ago now. I have not seen that tech establish a useful & unique presence in everday life iphoning, ipading, AppleWatching, and computing. It still is a niche application to me. I can see how the VR device can significantly enrich gaming but at ~$3k it will be a niche market.