Oculus Rift Won't Support Mac Until Apple Releases a 'Good Computer'

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the more pressing thing here STILL not addressed is the rift's guy diet. he used to be trim and became porky pig. he needs to work on that. little too much time with the gamezzzz there. doesn't help the image for the most obese the population has ever been. vr on a treadmill and I will be impressed.

Because it's no ones business and totally irrelevant to the Rift.
 
Abso-abso-LUTELY! :)

Who wants to wander around pretend "wurldz" shooting things? I've got a creative, inquisitive mind, not a destructive, passive one. PAYING to have some game corporation suck your life away from you as you fester in your chair? Erm, no thanks.

VR is one way people can consume all kinds of creative content from inquisitive minds. What's wrong with art having an audience?

Well that's strange. You mean I can play all of these great 3D games on my old, useless Mac Pro but I can't do VR? Well forget your stupid product, then, because it's totally useless.

Most PCs can't do it either, it just takes the extreme high end of what's available in terms of GPUs to support it. For comparison, NO laptop is supported by Oculus for the Rift, there aren't any that have powerful enough GPUs (there technically might be a couple on the market that can, but they are so rare that it's easier for them to just state that laptops are not compatible).

If it's old enough, *maybe* you can do VR if your CPU is new enough, and you have a GTX 970 or equivalent video card. I actually plan to upgrade my PC with a faster video card, then the 970 goes to my 2009 Mac Pro (with an upgraded CPU) to see if that can also handle VR ;) I guess it'll need a USB 3 card too.
 
You upgrade a PC by replacing it with a Mac. That's easy.

In my case, I upgraded from an 8 core mac pro to a Hackintosh using standard PC hardware.

When it was finally time to replace my aging Mac Pro I tried and tried, looked and looked at the mac lineup for an appropriate replacement.

- I am used to being able to buy off the shelf high end graphics cards every few years.
- I am used to being able to cram an array of large capacity hard drives in my case.
- I am used to being able to push my hardware to the limits without thermal throttling.

When I began to examine what Apple currently offers I was out of luck. No real GPU upgrade path exists on any model, the current Mac Pro starts at $3000 with a graphics card that is a very poor performer compared to my old Mac. The Mac mini's are horribly underpowered and the iMacs, while the specs look reasonable on paper including things like the powerful unlocked i7 4790k CPU, the reality is that the ultra thin form factor that Apple chose to encase it in has no room for a proper cooler meaning the CPU will reach its potential. It will thermal throttle very quickly under any sustained load meaning that the benchmark scores are not much better than the MUCH cheaper models.

So what was I to do? I finally realized I was not part of Apple's core market any longer. I still love OS X but Apple has stopped making a computer that fits my needs. Therefore, I built my own Hackintosh and have been very happy with the results. It's not for everyone, but it definitely scratches that itch that I would have rather Apple provided to begin with.
 
Excuse me. I would myself like to see the baseline GPU's of macs by higher end in general.

But can we just read again "You can a buy $6,000 Mac Pro with the top of the line AMD FirePro D700s and it still doesn't match our recommended spec."

What on earth kind of spec is that?! That would easily exclude the VAST majority of PC users too.

So their only demographic is PC gamers with high end budgets? Get real.
 
Firstly it's a bit rude to tell me I have no place here for an opinion. Secondly where have I mentioned Gear VR. I was mearly saying that the Rift should not require computers to be compatible with niche hardware and instead should be optimised for the average computer. Their language made out that Apple computers are rubbish which is just utter crap.

My apologies - perhaps I read your post as trying to suggest that Oculus should just put the GPU in the headset instead of relying on the actual computer. And that Apple would likely do the latter. Regardless, you are entitled to your opinion. I just think that the computing power shouldn't need to be in the goggles. The googles should be the delivery system. Not doing the heavy lifting.
 
You can buy a $1500 to $2000 PC that is capable of supporting an oculus. The GPU is important factor. I7 CPUs are everywhere.

Excuse me. I would myself like to see the baseline GPU's of macs by higher end in general.

But can we just read again "You can a buy $6,000 Mac Pro with the top of the line AMD FirePro D700s and it still doesn't match our recommended spec."

What on earth kind of spec is that?! That would easily exclude the VAST majority of PC users too.

So their only demographic is PC gamers with high end budgets? Get real.
 
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hmm not sure what to make of that story, yes it's true the iMac has mobile GPU's in it running 5K screens, but those GPU's are pretty damn powerful, and I'll forget the Mac Pro as it was powerful but really isn't top of the game due to it's age, an update would fix that easily enough.
But I would consider the MacBook Pro to be powerful? It's architecture is pretty fast with the SSD design it uses.

Meh I still would choose my Mac e v e r y s i n g l e day of the week over a PC. Not including the Surface range as they are cool tablets.
 
Because it's no ones business and totally irrelevant to the Rift.

It could be relevant, perhaps it made him... chubby. He used to be trim. Looking out for my fellow man's health here is all. :D Even the kid using it on page 1 is chunky. It'll be alright man. It will release soon and be so amazing I may even get fat..... actually I

wouldn't touch that corny thing actually. I'll continue to give that slimy sick games industry the finger for the time being.
 
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You can buy a $1500 to $2000 PC tajt is capable of supporting an oculus. The GPU is important factor. I7 CPUs are everywhere.

Aaand that's my point. Not a lot of people have 2 grand to splash on a gaming rig mate.

I study computer science and have built several PC rigs. Believe me I don't need to be told about the importance of a GPU in 3D rendering.
 
Most PCs can't do it either, it just takes the extreme high end of what's available in terms of GPUs to support it. For comparison, NO laptop is supported by Oculus for the Rift, there aren't any that have powerful enough GPUs (there technically might be a couple on the market that can, but they are so rare that it's easier for them to just state that laptops are not compatible).
The requirements aren't exactly "extreme high end." You can get a 970 for about 300 bucks. That is not on the extreme high end of anything. The i5 is also not extreme high end either. The specs require a mid-range gaming PC. As for laptops, a laptop that meets these requirements costs about the same as a higher-priced MacBook Pro. You can get a 970 or 980 GTX M, Intel i7, etc.. So they're not rare, but they are high-end gaming laptops.

Also, with the type of GPUs coming out in the near future ... these requirements are going to be miniscule.


Excuse me. I would myself like to see the baseline GPU's of macs by higher end in general.

But can we just read again "You can a buy $6,000 Mac Pro with the top of the line AMD FirePro D700s and it still doesn't match our recommended spec."

What on earth kind of spec is that?! That would easily exclude the VAST majority of PC users too.

So their only demographic is PC gamers with high end budgets? Get real.
That has more to do with Macs than PCs. The requirements are for a mid-range gaming PC. It's a pretty average gaming desktop.
 
Aaand that's my point. Not a lot of people have 2 grand to splash on a gaming rig mate.

I study computer science and have built several PC rigs. Believe me I don't need to be told about the importance of a GPU in 3D rendering.

Gamers will find the money.

Expensive today but the price point for Oculus capable PCs will fall quickly.

The price of a PC really isn't a big deal.

( BTW - I used to build all my PCs before I bought a Mac - so I'm very familiar with this)
 
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In my case, I upgraded from an 8 core mac pro to a Hackintosh using standard PC hardware.

When it was finally time to replace my aging Mac Pro I tried and tried, looked and looked at the mac lineup for an appropriate replacement.

- I am used to being able to buy off the shelf high end graphics cards every few years.
- I am used to being able to cram an array of large capacity hard drives in my case.
- I am used to being able to push my hardware to the limits without thermal throttling.

When I began to examine what Apple currently offers I was out of luck. No real GPU upgrade path exists on any model, the current Mac Pro starts at $3000 with a graphics card that is a very poor performer compared to my old Mac. The Mac mini's are horribly underpowered and the iMacs, while the specs look reasonable on paper including things like the powerful unlocked i7 4790k CPU, the reality is that the ultra thin form factor that Apple chose to encase it in has no room for a proper cooler meaning the CPU will reach its potential. It will thermal throttle very quickly under any sustained load meaning that the benchmark scores are not much better than the MUCH cheaper models.

So what was I to do? I finally realized I was not part of Apple's core market any longer. I still love OS X but Apple has stopped making a computer that fits my needs. Therefore, I built my own Hackintosh and have been very happy with the results. It's not for everyone, but it definitely scratches that itch that I would have rather Apple provided to begin with.


If you've got the time, patience, tech support (?) and component warranties to outweigh the HUGE advantage of buying a genuine Mac, then whatever floats your boat. I've used them a few times myself out of curiosity or to do the odd task - in fact, my first EVER Mac was bought because of my experience of Tiger being run on an old Acer laptop, becasue I am an OS geek, and I thought "You know, I've heard of Macs but I've never actually used one" - that was back in 2006. My first reaction was confusion and repulsion, but I'd done a COMPLETE U-turn in 2 days and fell in love with it, so decided to buy a real Mac, which was a 2007 MacBook (I think it was 2007 model.)

Anyway, to do real work, I cannot advise "hackintosh" - it's just not feasible, and besides - I couldn't live with telling my clients I ran a hacked up PC to run Mac OS X, it just feels wrong, and from an aesthetic sensibilities and design mindset, which I am VERY VERY passionate about, it's just a counterfeit experience. Aside from that, I like buying from Apple and supporting them - they make far more than just cold hardware, they build and fuse together the complete experience, the likes of which NO PC EVER can match... EVER.... EVER.
 
Pretty ignorant view.

There are basically 2 groups of people
Group 1, the minority who when a technology is release can't understand why everyone doesn't want it and in a year or so when their unit is gathering dust they wonder why they bought it and are not surprised its discontinued.

Group 2, the majority, can't understand why anyone would want it, and just carry on with life.

3D TVs are an excellent example, so are Google glasses, Curved TVs will go the same way, so will smart TVs as Apple TV, Chromecast etc are far better value. Nintendo Wii, Blue-ray will probably go the same way, Betamax tapes, 8Track,etc etc etc. I suspect "The Cloud" will be here too as people realise they can do it at home + backup at a friends house, all securely encrypted is cheaper and more reliable.

There are somethings we will wonder how we did without in 10+ year time, 3d printing will be right up there
 
Way to fragment your market before you even get started. Also, if VR won't work on your average joe's high end computer, good luck with mass adoption.

Well it's the truth. What good would it be to support a platform that cant' actually run the damn thing? What good will that do?
 
That WAS my point, the oculus rift is just another 3d TV,google glasses technology, etc etc, lots of hype, but in the end no one actually wants it.

There are basically 2 groups of people
Group 1, the minority who when a technology is release can't understand why everyone doesn't want it and in a year or so when their unit is gathering dust they wonder why they bought it and are not surprised its discontinued.

Group 2, the majority, can't understand why anyone would want it, and just carry on with life.

3D TVs are an excellent example, so are Google glasses, Curved TVs will go the same way, so will smart TVs as Apple TV, Chromecast etc are far better value. Nintendo Wii, Blue-ray will probably go the same way, Betamax tapes, 8Track,etc etc etc. I suspect "The Cloud" will be here too as people realise they can do it at home + backup at a friends house, all securely encrypted is cheaper and more reliable.

There are somethings we will wonder how we did without in 10+ year time, 3d printing will be right up there

I still think you're narrow in view. And right now - there are billions of dollars in play that illustrate the commitment that the industry is spending on VR (and AR).

Google glasses is a POC that will grow into its own - whether it's commercially or in the business sector. You say 3D printing will be something we couldn't imagine living without. Pretty sure VR and AR are up there too. What's the timeframe? I can't tell you. But it's not a "fad."
 
Really? How many of the PCs on service are still average-Joe-upgradable? 2%? 5%? Definitely lower than 10%.

Why do you think things are becoming harder to repair ?
All of these companies get a HUGE volume of metrics such as Apps bought, HD replaced, RAM upgraded, Battery replaced etc etc etc.

And from that they will find way less than 10% of users do any hardware upgrades, but the extra costs of making things user repairable gets applied to every machine . So you forget about the less than 10%, and build for the 90%, it makes financial sense.
 
If your experience with a Hackintosh was running it on in Acer laptop in 2006 then you really don't know what the Hackintosh experience is. And honestly, the warranty argument means nothing. You need those things with Apple because almost nothing is user replaceable anymore. You can easily swap components in a Hackintosh or do simple upgrades without much effort. The Hackintosh community has come a VERY long way. The only "experience" you get on a Mac is their design aesthetic, which does absolutely nothing whatsoever for the OS X experience. You're literally just paying for the pretty looks.


And you lost all credibility with this statement. I do all kinds of "real" work in my business on my Hackintosh.



It feels wrong? That's your argument?


It is the same OS. You're paying for a pretty-looking shell around that OS. The experience is exactly the same.


That is horse crap. I understand wanting to support Apple. But the "fusion" you speak of is nothing magical. It sounds like you've been drinking too much of the Kool-Aid to me.

Erm, how do you, a total stranger, know what I know, Captain multi-quote? I do not seek your credibility, please, do not address me again with your jigsaw-esque pieced-together "arguments" as to why you're determined to "prove you're wrong" - I don't care how you feel about MY choices, and I really don't care about yours. If you wanted a gentler reply, maybe you should have practiced that nonsense in the mirror before committing to posting it.

Enjoy your life, no hard feelings, but please - think before you speak.
 
If your experience with a Hackintosh was running it on in Acer laptop in 2006 then you really don't know what the Hackintosh experience is. And honestly, the warranty argument means nothing. You need those things with Apple because almost nothing is user replaceable anymore. You can easily swap components in a Hackintosh or do simple upgrades without much effort. The Hackintosh community has come a VERY long way. The only "experience" you get on a Mac is their design aesthetic, which does absolutely nothing whatsoever for the OS X experience. You're literally just paying for the pretty looks.


And you lost all credibility with this statement. I do all kinds of "real" work in my business on my Hackintosh.



It feels wrong? That's your argument?


It is the same OS. You're paying for a pretty-looking shell around that OS. The experience is exactly the same.


That is horse crap. I understand wanting to support Apple. But the "fusion" you speak of is nothing magical. It sounds like you've been drinking too much of the Kool-Aid to me.

Nope, when I see a PC box opened and see the ugly tangle of wires going everywhere , the cheap and nasty metalwork holding the drives in place as well as the ugly outsides, I feel put off too, and so do the people I support , they appreciate the aesthetics because thats how they try and work too, create stuff that is snot only functional, but is "Nice".

Its like there are left and right handed people, the other side simply can not understand how they others can do anything, because when they try it feels "wrong"
 
There's no two ways about it, the GPU standard across all models of Macs are absolutely pathetic and have been for nearly a decade now.

So ?
Perhaps Apple does not care about the gaming market, its such a small percentage of their users that the extra expense is not worth it.

Its like the Catholic church not pursuing the Gay marriage market, its simply NOT who they are after as customers.
 
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