Apple Under Pressure to Release AR/VR Headset, Resulting In Delays

According to a recent report from the Financial Times, Apple’s long-awaited mixed-reality headset will hit the market later this year. This comes despite objections from the design team, who seek more development time to ensure a more impressive launch.

The much-anticipated device has been in the public eye for quite some time. There have been ongoing discussions over its release date reportedly occurring within Apple since the project’s initiation in early 2016.

However, a former Apple engineer in the VR/AR project shared with the FT that the company faces immense pressure to ship the headset. This has led to multiple launch postponements over the past few years.

Possible Implications

It doesn’t appear to be overly optimistic for a business looking to develop the following consumer hardware due to the general decrease in the smartphone industry. A correction is now occurring in the smart home industry as well. Apple has sold almost 200 million smartwatches worldwide, entirely dominating the market. Yet nothing seems to come close to the billions of iPhones the company has sold.

Apple seems to have anticipated the demise of the smartphone industry and has successfully switched significant income sources to its content business. It is reasonable to question if the gear will only serve as a marketing gimmick for the business in the future. Some within the firm feel that the headphones might one day compete with the iPhone,” according to the FT story. While many individuals have previously placed bets on Apple, there are reasons to be suspicious, given the nature of the industry.

The Apple AR/VR Headset

Originally, Apple’s operations team had planned to release a condensed gadget model. This model would let users view 3D films, help with exercises, and provide virtual reality social environments similar to Meta’s Horizon Worlds. It will have more natural avatars.

But, the design team insisted on delaying development until it was technically feasible to create a lighter gadget that more closely resembled their vision. Apple CEO Tim Cook has disregarded the objections of the company’s best designers. Hence, the company will release a bigger gadget. The headset will arrive this June.

Sources: Tim Cook is pressing ahead with the MR headset debut this year, overruling designers' objections, and Apple expects to sell ~1M units in the first year (Financial Times)https://t.co/L24XvnpT76https://t.co/TRVTKc5eWQ

— Techmeme (@Techmeme) March 12, 2023

The Reality Pro

The mixed-reality headset, which is said to be dubbed Reality Pro, is likely to include an excellent selection of hardware features still. Internal cameras will provide eye-tracking according to the PSVR 2 specifications. The exterior cameras will detect the movement of users’ hands and fingers. This feature enables them to explore applications and make on-screen choices without using external controllers.

While Apple increased the number of game developers working on its mixed-reality headset last year, the Reality Pro is not a gaming platform. It seems like it will target both business and consumer markets, putting it more in line with the Meta Quest Pro than the PSVR 2 or the impending Meta Quest 3.

The featured is from bbc.com