Report: Apple CEO Tim Cook Ordered Headset Launch Despite Designers Wanting to Wait for AR Glasses

[nt5672]

I feel I'm too old for this AR/VR thing.

But I bet generation z/zoomers are going to love it.

Only if they can get virtual coffee, soft drink, energy drink, etc., then they never have to leave the couch.

 

[AndiG]

The above doesn’t track. First he is a product guy with a string of successes. “Product guy” is a term thrown around here without any real meaning anymore. Second what is this “agenda” you speak off. And third unless one is apples biggest shareholders it will be what it will be.

Steve would never have released a product before it was ready. Jobs' worst decision was Cook - he will bring the company down in the long run. That's exactly what happened when Jobs left the company, and it will happen again.

Cook is not capable of developing products the way Jobs did. He is the man who will make the outlandish profits Steve warned about.

"Product guy" means Jobs cared about every single pixel on the screen. The stories about him running and raving furiously through the aisles are legendary. Tim only cares about "time to market" - which, by the way, is a well-known anti-pattern.

Hope Tim steps back, when VR googles fail (and takes Phil and all the other grandpas with him). Apple needs a Nadella like person, who led MS into the future.

 

[I7guy]

Steve would never have released a product before it was ready. Jobs' worst decision was Cook - he will bring the company down in the long run. That's exactly what happened when Jobs left the company, and it will happen again.

Steve had his fair share of failures so yeah he would release a product before it was ready.

Cook is not capable of developing products the way Jobs did. He is the man who will make the outlandish profits Steve warned about.

Apple is doing well because people are buying their products and services in droves.

"Product guy" means Jobs cared about every single pixel on the screen. The stories about him running and raving furiously through the aisles are legendary. Tim only cares about "time to market" - which, by the way, is a well-known anti-pattern.

How do you know cook doesn’t care about pixel perfect? Or are you just reiterating a common meme?

Hope Time steps back, when VR googles fail (and takes Phil and all the other grandpas with him). Apple needs a Nadella like person, who led MS into the future.

All I can say is the board and management know what apple needs. Not a MR poster.

 

[Sweeney196788]

And that’s the start of the sources working on their escape plan from this rumour. Next month the story will emerge the head set has been delayed for late 2023. Tim Cook never ordered headsets that were not ready even stevie wonder could see that’s juts BS , since Tim Cook has never launched a product that was never ready. Apple classic , maps , iMac and pro models all not shown till they was ready.

Apple are not brining out AR/VR classes it’s a fake ass story, AR/VR is dead in the water and already shown with massive price drops in the brand new meta VR sets that have failed to ship, PSVR 2 has failed to even ship a million so far , and AR headsets are not being used in business ..

Honestly gullible internet fan boys who believe this rumour. Remember this post cause next two weeks the rumours site will post it’s been delayed till 2023 late early 2024

 

[I7guy]

Slight difference is that Apple is competing in a consumer electronic market, while Ferrari never pretended to be affordable for the masses.

Apple never pretended to be affordable to everyone either.

It is a quality device as an audio speaker, the smart speaker aspect is forgettable because 1) the smart speaker fad is already over and 2) while not nearly as bad as we joke about it, Siri is forgettable due to its limitations and lack of third-party expandability.

For my use case Siri just works. I don’t use any other smart speaker although I have an echo dot that sits in the closet.

 

[AndiG]

Steve had his fair share of failures so yeah he would release a product before it was ready.

Apple is doing well because people are buying their products and services in droves.

How do you know cook doesn’t care about pixel perfect? Or are you just reiterating a common meme?

All I can say is the board and management know what apple needs. Not a MR poster.

You're all money bound. This is part of the story and this is exactly what happens. All those guys leading the company care about money. But in the long term, only products count. And Apples product is now 15 years old - and yes is say "product", since Apple is still a one trick pony.

And yes, I know you say "everything is fine" cause you also just look at the money and the shares.

 

[Sweeney196788]

Steve would never have released a product before it was ready. Jobs' worst decision was Cook - he will bring the company down in the long run. That's exactly what happened when Jobs left the company, and it will happen again.

Cook is not capable of developing products the way Jobs did. He is the man who will make the outlandish profits Steve warned about.

"Product guy" means Jobs cared about every single pixel on the screen. The stories about him running and raving furiously through the aisles are legendary. Tim only cares about "time to market" - which, by the way, is a well-known anti-pattern.

Hope Time steps back, when VR googles fail (and takes Phil and all the other grandpas with him). Apple needs a Nadella like person, who led MS into the future.

And neither has Tim Cook. Steve jobs realised many products that was not ready , heck the first ever iPhone was not even ready and could only be demonstrated on stage in a certain order. Steve jobs was a front he came up with ideas but couldn’t engineer it. Tim is more further in making projects work , under Steve they launched iCloud ( mobile me) which was a mess and flopped, an iPhone that didn’t support flash or use HMTL , iTunes with partnerships like U2 that forced you to have U2 albums.iTunes Match that cost you and screwed up your library , Apple Maps that messed up and gave long locations and was limited to areas. Steve jobs launched many products that didn’t work or wasn’t ready. Tim has a better track record of launching products that work.

And let’s face it the VR/AR headset has been rumoured since 2015, it was supposed to launch then, if the tech wasn’t ready then it sure as hell ain’t ready now

 

[bmark]

Apple Headset will be about as advanced as Siri!

 

[Sweeney196788]

Apple Headset will be about as advanced as Siri!

Apple headset is non existent and will never come out. This rumour is getting old , it’s as bad as when a football team sacks their manager the first name is always a legend of the club returning to take over that never happens

 

[GtrDude]

One word 3x: Money Money Money.
That's what Apple is all about.
They just don't care about anything else since after Jobs.

 

[Sweeney196788]

One word 3x: Money Money Money.
That's what Apple is all about.
They just don't care about anything else since after Jobs.

They are a company even when Steve jobs was there they cared only about money. Haha 😂, if you think they don’t care about money when Steve jobs was there then you’re blinded by fan boy nonsense. Steve jobs was the first to start charging you for services , he made you pay for things mobile me, made you buy iTunes Match to try and keep your music, made you buy upgrades to OS on macs , and made you buy discs drives and attachments for macs because he was changing the ports etc. all companies are about money, no company in the world cares about its customers it’s all about money because that’s how the world works . Money makes the world spin

 

[RichP]

I fully agree, and besides, was the original iPhone "ready" in its first iteration? Or the first ipad without camera?
To let products evolve lateron, you got to start at some point.

I agree. You also need to develop a diverse and matured app ecosystem for this new device category and OS. Launch with a higher priced niche product, work out the bugs and see what use cases come from it from developers, and then refine it so when it’s ready to go mainstream at a “mainstream” price the product has legs.

 

[I7guy]

You're all money bound. This is part of the story and this is exactly what happens. All those guys leading the company care about money. But in the long term, only products count. And Apples product is now 15 years old - and yes is say "product", since Apple is still a one trick pony.

And yes, I know you say "everything is fine" cause you also just look at the money and the shares.

I don’t agree with your line of thinking and I realize others believe along the same lines. All is good, apple will do what it does ignoring MR input yet again.

 

[oneMadRssn]

I can think of many areas where my experience of reality can be augmented [in broad terms as you can use your imagination] -

entertainment
health
shopping
travel
work

We are discussing AR not VR - they are not the same thing.

This is a pretty good example of how people use such broad and circular language when discussing AR that it's basically meaningless. Like trying to build a house out of silly putty - there's nothing solid here.

First, yes of course all those experiences can be augmented by AR. That's like saying water can make things wet. It's an inherent feature of AR to augment things. Its right in the name - augmented reality.

Second, those are very broad areas. The only thing you're missing is "sleep," and then it would be 100% of anything anyone ever does. There's no way to have a specific conversation in this framing.

Third, the question isn't whether something can be augmented. Anything can be augmented. The question is whether it can be augmented for the overall better. Take shopping as one of your examples. No doubt shopping can be augmented with AR. And indeed some aspects of shopping might be augmented for the better - real-time information about what you're looking at will be cool. But it also means more tracking, less privacy, and having yet another data-connected gadget to buy, charge, and upgrade. So balancing the pros and cons, will it be overall better than non-AR shopping? I doubt it.

 

[Sweeney196788]

I agree. You also need to develop a diverse and matured app ecosystem for this new device category and OS. Launch with a higher priced niche product, work out the bugs and see what use cases come from it from developers, and then refine it so when it’s ready to go mainstream at a “mainstream” price the product has legs.

It's different with the iPhone since there's someone, a big product guy, calling the shots, ie Jobs. For example, early versions of the iPhone used plastic screen. Jobs wasn't happy that his iPhone was scratched due to his keys in his pocket, so he decided close to launch date that he wanted a glass screen. Foxconn had to literally wake up their workers at night to go and replace the screen on the produced iPhones. The product was ready to launch, but Jobs made a decision last minute that made the iPhone better.

Tim Cook is not a product guy at all. Yet him "rushing" this means he has other agenda, so I don't know. Have a bad feeling about this.

There is no VR set, Jesus god how dumb are you lot. Just go and actually VR markert it’s non existent, it’s less than 8% it’s a market that will never take off mainstream , apple don’t see value in it. This rumour has

This is a pretty good example of how people use such broad and circular language when discussing AR that it's basically meaningless. Like trying to build a house out of silly putty - there's nothing solid here.

First, yes of course all those experiences can be augmented by AR. That's like saying water can make things wet. It's an inherent feature of AR to augment things. Its right in the name - augmented reality.

Second, those are very broad areas. The only thing you're missing is "sleep," and then it would be 100% of anything anyone ever does. There's no way to have a specific conversation in this framing.

Third, the question isn't whether something can be augmented. Anything can be augmented. The question is whether it can be augmented for the overall better. Take shopping as one of your examples. No doubt shopping can be augmented with AR. And indeed some aspects of shopping might be augmented for the better - real-time information about what you're looking at will be cool. But it also means more tracking, less privacy, and having yet another data-connected gadget to buy, charge, and upgrade. So balancing the pros and cons, will it be overall better than non-AR shopping? I doubt it.

heres the problem yeah we can sit and say AR/VR can be used for shopping , travel , etc etc. but come on let’s live in reality. There’s a thing called social interaction, there’s a thing called life and social places. People don’t want to walk around with headsets on or having friends over and having to put headsets on to see something. Shopping with AR yeah sounds cool but try selling that to half the world and shops when people just want to buy simple things and get shopping done quickly. The thing with technology is yeah it’s great and can be useful but there comes a point where we over complicate it and try to fix things that are not broken. More and more kids are now finding it hard to learn basic social skills because their Version of social skills is sitting texting. More more teenagers are doing stupid stuff and causing harm because they are following trends on the internet or using the internet to bully Harris and cause harm. VR and AR is not needed it’s a pipe in the sky dream and will only ever be used by big business who build things for the public use. Think about it. Why you think 3D faild ? Why you think the first gen VR and AR failed on Samsung and other platforms, why you think MS have never went into AR/VR , and closed their AR projects and meta is now taken price cuts rapidly on their AR devices .. cause they are not selling you can’t sell VR/AR whatever you want to call it to the general public

 

[topmounter]

It's a great time in history to launch a new product segment that further isolates its already screen-addicted users even further from physical reality and direct human interaction. In terms of humanity, this appears to be the Facebook Social Mania Catch-22. success is failure and failure is success.

 

[Sweeney196788]

It's a great time in history to launch a new product segment that further isolates its already screen-addicted users even further from physical reality and direct human interaction. In terms of humanity, this appears to be the Facebook Social Mania Catch-22. success is failure and failure is success.

There’s a reason why apple haven’t launched this product and a reason why it’s been rumoured since 2015 , the reason is simple there is no market for it and the success of it is based on research. Why you think apple have changed the way they are advertising the phones and iPads now. Because the original plan failed. iPad was supposed to replace the way we interact with everything, yet over the last 5 years more and more companies restaurants are going back to basics and using common sense and getting waiters to take your orders with pen and paper only big big chains are using iPads, iPads are now being advertised as educational tools now, iPhones are now being positioned as photo and social media products, and Mac’s and laptops are being aimed at education. Remember when apple first launched the iPhone with a dual camera we heard about AR and they demonstrated, yet after 1 year the AR aspect disappeared and less apps on the App Store are using AR. AR is not a game changer it’s a concept by the human mind, the human mind eventually over takes technology they want the next thing, like I said since 2015 this site have claimed apple will launch a AR headset and never happens, yet the products they have launched are never spoke about ..

 

[4nNtt]

I really did not like the 3D theater experience. I found it very gimmicky and not believable, except in extremely limited moments. Add the fact that the image illumination was hugely reduced as part of the tech implementation itself, and that (for me) was the final straw, I hate a dim picture. Then the cheap uncomfortable glasses at theaters and the added ticket price for a gimmick. I always thought this was just a new way to tack on a price increase for something which added nominal value.
Sure, 3D could be good—at some point—but so far I have not been impressed. I think that ultimately that’s something which true VR will give us. But I think that tech is quite far away for realistic 3D VR.

Movie theaters use the gimmicky stereoscopic 3D. It doesn’t look natural because it is fixed perspective, doesn’t adapt to your eyes, and distorts if your head isn’t perfectly straight. So far most VR content also uses this gimmicky method due to bandwidth constraints.

The tech isn’t far away for true 3D on a headset. Oculus has demoed what it looks like in Henry the Porcupine for stylized video created in a game engine. For actual movies or live events, light-field video would be required. The limiting factor of that is complex camera rigs needed during shooting (and probably AI to erase the cameras) and it is relatively high bandwidth to do well. Probably streamed at close to a gigabit using H.265 style compression. Light-fields can be compressed similar to normal video. I’m not sure if it is possible to improve of the compression for light-fields over standard video. Maybe they could use AI to fill in gaps or break the view up so it doesn’t need to stream what you can’t see to reduce the bandwidth or some other advanced technique. I think cutting it down to a 180 view could reduce the bandwidth too. Both Apple and Meta have been investing in bringing light-field to market. Who knows if they will have something ready for launch.

 

[DMG35]

You're forgetting the AirTag and the AirPods Max. And, arguably, non-hardware products like the Apple Card.

Yeah I for sure forgot about headphones. I don’t really count AirTags as it’s a fringe product that no one really pays attention to. Apple Card is a big NO. It’s not a product and all Apple did was put their name on a Goldman Sachs card.

 

[Curry119]

I just don't buy it, what's the real evidence they are launching this thing? No leaks from the factory, etc. Also I don't think the future is looking to bright for VR right now, Zuckerberg's bet on Metaverse has been a flop so far. We'll see what happens I guess..

 

[Curry119]

Steve would never have released a product before it was ready. Jobs' worst decision was Cook - he will bring the company down in the long run. That's exactly what happened when Jobs left the company, and it will happen again.

Cook is not capable of developing products the way Jobs did. He is the man who will make the outlandish profits Steve warned about.

"Product guy" means Jobs cared about every single pixel on the screen. The stories about him running and raving furiously through the aisles are legendary. Tim only cares about "time to market" - which, by the way, is a well-known anti-pattern.

Hope Time steps back, when VR googles fail (and takes Phil and all the other grandpas with him). Apple needs a Nadella like person, who led MS into the future.

Tech is simply not in the same position it was when Steve was alive. There are no breakthrough products left to build. The iPhone is a mature platform now and the watch is pretty much done in terms of the necessary features. Only thing Apple has left to do is try to expand market share and boost profits.

 

[Sweeney196788]

Movie theaters use the gimmicky stereoscopic 3D. It doesn’t look natural because it is fixed perspective, doesn’t adapt to your eyes, and distorts if your head isn’t perfectly straight. So far most VR content also uses this gimmicky method due to bandwidth constraints.

The tech isn’t far away for true 3D on a headset. Oculus has demoed what it looks like in Henry the Porcupine for stylized video created in a game engine. For actual movies or live events, light-field video would be required. The limiting factor of that is complex camera rigs needed during shooting (and probably AI to erase the cameras) and it is relatively high bandwidth to do well. Probably streamed at close to a gigabit using H.265 style compression. Light-fields can be compressed similar to normal video.

And that’s problems with any VR the limitations due to cost and bandwidth limitations. The thing is this is exactly the same as the technology revolution years ago. We have got to a point in society where the human mind is seeing things in movies and reading information and putting two and two together and thinking that’s the future. When iron man came out and showed the VR experience in the movies everyone started thinking VR headsets and glass free 3D would be a thing. In the early 90s people started claiming things in back to future was going to happen. Hot tub Time Machine too. During the technology revolution the upcoming teenagers starters claiming that cars would run on engines and you wouldn’t need horse and carts, it eventually happened but took years and years but now your talking about a AR experience that will be limited to high end computer. Apple launch the AR headset it’s not going to run with the iPhone , or iPad it will be limited to work with a Mac Pro m3 ultra max max chip and be aimed at movie creators or business it’s not going to be aimed at Joe Public to make selfies and instagram posts.

I will put all my money on it that this headset doesn’t get announced this year and this website will have a delayed story by the end of April. The tech is not there for it, just like the apple fodable phone that was supposed to be out 2020 still waiting and that rumour has now dyed down lastest is 2025 for that

 

[Serqetry]

I just don't buy it, what's the real evidence they are launching this thing? No leaks from the factory, etc. Also I don't think the future is looking to bright for VR right now, Zuckerberg's bet on Metaverse has been a flop so far. We'll see what happens I guess..

Yeah it's crazy how many people have fallen for the rumors for this long with no actual evidence. I assume when nothing happens this year they'll somehow believe Mark Gurman's annual "delayed" announcement again. Lol.

This seems like such a bad idea of a product. I'm just not going to believe it's real until I see something official from Apple.

 

[AndiG]

There’s a reason why apple haven’t launched this product and a reason why it’s been rumoured since 2015 , the reason is simple there is no market for it and the success of it is based on research. Why you think apple have changed the way they are advertising the phones and iPads now. Because the original plan failed. iPad was supposed to replace the way we interact with everything, yet over the last 5 years more and more companies restaurants are going back to basics and using common sense and getting waiters to take your orders with pen and paper only big big chains are using iPads, iPads are now being advertised as educational tools now, iPhones are now being positioned as photo and social media products, and Mac’s and laptops are being aimed at education. Remember when apple first launched the iPhone with a dual camera we heard about AR and they demonstrated, yet after 1 year the AR aspect disappeared and less apps on the App Store are using AR. AR is not a game changer it’s a concept by the human mind, the human mind eventually over takes technology they want the next thing, like I said since 2015 this site have claimed apple will launch a AR headset and never happens, yet the products they have launched are never spoke about ..

Hmm, as far as I remember Apple stopped the development of its original vision - AR glasses. Lightweight and usable as normal glasses, but with AR content. Microsoft demonstrated this 10 years ago (cannot find this video with calendars floating over your desk and aliens breaking through walls anymore).

But Apple itself said that development is paused indefinitely, since the technology to build such a kind of product isn't available. This is the reality, there is a vision but it is far beyond reach. But maybe this is comparable to the Newton and the iPhone. At time the Newton was built, something like the iPhone wasn't possible to do.

​

Development on Augmented Reality 'Apple Glasses' Postponed Indefinitely​

https://www.macrumors.com/2023/01/17/apple-glasses-postponed/

 

[fozzy.bear]

Apple CEO Tim Cook sided with operations chief Jeff Williams in pushing to launch a first-generation mixed-reality headset device this year, against the wishes of the company's design team, the Financial Times reports.

Apple headset concept by David Lewis and Marcus Kane​

The timing of the mixed-reality headset's launch has apparently been a cause of considerable contention at Apple. The company's industrial design team cautioned that devices in the category were not yet ready for launch and wanted to delay until a lightweight AR glasses product had matured several years later. On the other hand, Apple's operations team wanted to ship an early version of the product in the form of a VR-focused ski goggle-like headset that allows users to watch 3D videos, perform interactive workouts, or make FaceTime calls with virtual avatars.

Tim Cook, who served as Apple's operations chief prior to becoming CEO, reportedly sided with Jeff Williams, overruling objections from Apple's designers and pressing for an early launch with a more limited product. Speaking to the Financial Times, former Apple engineers who worked on the device described the "huge pressure to ship."

Upon the departure of design chief Jony Ive in 2019, Apple's design team now reports directly to Williams. While design led the direction of Apple's products under Steve Jobs, employees have noticed that operations is increasingly taking control over product development under Cook's leadership. One former engineer said that the best part of working at Apple was devising engineering solutions to meet the "insane requirements" of the design team, but that has apparently changed in recent years.

Apple's headset has reportedly been in active development for seven years, twice as long as the original iPhone prior to its launch. The device is seen as being tied directly to Tim Cook's legacy, as Apple's first new computing platform developed entirely under his leadership.

The company is still expecting to sell only around a million units of the headset during its first year on sale at a ~$3,000 price point. Nevertheless, Apple is purportedly preparing a "marketing blitz" for the product later this year.

Article Link: Report: Apple CEO Tim Cook Ordered Headset Launch Despite Designers Warning It Wasn't Ready

He couldn't innovate if his life depended on it. Apple is in maintenance mode, milking all the intellectual property developed by Jobs/Ive. Don't look for anything paradigm shifting to come from this bunch.