Oculus Rift won't support Apple's Mac anytime soon, co-founder says

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in Current Mac Hardware
In an interview on Wednesday, Oculus co-founder and head of Rift operations Nate Mitchell said that while support for macOS is not currently on the company's roadmap, it might revisit the topic of Apple integration in the future.




Mitchell told TechCrunch that Oculus would like to offer support for macOS devices as it does for Windows PCs, but the Facebook-owned company is "just not there quite yet."

"We do want to do OS X (macOS) support for Rift, it's not something that's currently on the roadmap for -- I can even say -- the next six months," Mitchell said. "We will continue to revisit it, the real challenge for us is just how much we invest into that space because it does require a lot of our time and energy to get it right and to deliver a great experience."

For now, the company is focused on delivering VR to the masses as part of Facebook's ten-year plan to mainstream the technology. In an effort to further adoption, fo example, Oculus today slashed the price of its Rift and Oculus touch controller bundle to $598.

Oculus initially experimented with OS X -- and Linux -- support for the Rift headset during early development, but ultimately "paused" the project in 2015. The company offered no information as to when, or indeed if, the Mac initiative would continue.

Co-founder Palmer Luckey later said a Mac version of the VR hardware would only arrive when Apple released hardware capable of driving Rift's power-hungry components. Luckey specifically referenced Apple's preference to exclude top-tier GPUs from Mac build options.

At the time, Rift required a PC with a Core i5-4590 processor or better and an Nvidia GTX 970 or AMD R9 290 video card. Software optimizations relaxed those requirements, meaning Rift is now compatible with machines running at least an Intel i3-6100 or AMD FX4350 processor and an Nvidia GTX 960 or AMD Radeon R9 290 GPU.

Apple's latest hardware, including high-end MacBook Pro with Touch Bar models, boast comparable specs. Still, Oculus has yet to dedicate the resources to developing a Mac software suite or compatible APIs.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 25
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Hooray! And... no one cares!
    lollivermacplusplusjahbladeleavingthebiggwatto_cobrajony0baconstang
  • Reply 2 of 25
    baconstangbaconstang Posts: 1,103member
    I'm just crushed.....NOT.
    lolliverwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 3 of 25
    Great. Now I'll never be able to run Mac ports of VR ports of PC ports of console games.
    lolliverbestkeptsecretiqatedochiaStrangeDaysSpamSandwichwlymwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 4 of 25
    evilutionevilution Posts: 1,399member
    People don't buy Macs to play games on, so no loss.
    watto_cobrajony0baconstang
  • Reply 5 of 25
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,564member
    In about a year Simon Fuller and ABBA will release a groundbreaking Virtual Reality product, specifically, "a groundbreaking venture that will utilize the very latest in digital and virtual-reality technology ... which will enable a new generation of fans to see, hear and feel Abba in a way previously unimagined". I sure hope that I won't have to buy Windows or Xbox or Playstation in order to view that product. There's only one thing I like more than Apple, and that's ABBA. If there's no VR for Apple I may have to sing to Apple, "So long, see you honey. You can't buy me with your money."
  • Reply 6 of 25
    DonvermoDonvermo Posts: 61member
    evilution said:
    People don't buy Macs to play games on, so no loss.
    VR can be used for more than just gaming though.
    Roger_Fingasxzulolliver
  • Reply 7 of 25
    EsquireCatsEsquireCats Posts: 1,268member
    Just over 350,000 Rift's were sold in 2016, much less than Sony and HTC. Oculus have now cut prices - but this isn't going to make VR more attractive, VR is still too limited and vendors such as Oculus just keep painting themselves into tighter and tighter corners. Late hardware, absurd system requirements, high cost, few titles, minimal functionality and nearly zero reasons to upgrade over time.
    lolliverwatto_cobrabaconstang
  • Reply 8 of 25
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,299member
    Donvermo said:
    evilution said:
    People don't buy Macs to play games on, so no loss.
    VR can be used for more than just gaming though.
    And whichever tech company works that out and pays more than lip service to the idea will be the ones who make VR mainstream.
    baconstang
  • Reply 9 of 25
    The high-end iMacs using 4.0Ghz quad-core i7s and AMD R9 395X GPUs should easily be able to run Oculus Rift. However, I'm not sure how many Mac users have that configuration. As far as I'm concerned there's no loss for me because as of yet I'm really not interested in VR. I don't do much gaming and I'm not sure what other types of useful applications it can be used for. I do like to play Gran Turismo so I might like to see how that would work with VR. I'm just not sure it would be worth the extra cost until I had a chance to try it. I hope Apple sticks with AR for the time being and makes that useful for iPhone and iPad users.
    baconstang
  • Reply 10 of 25
    michelb76michelb76 Posts: 612member
    VR is still cutting edge and for pro's, creatives, and researchers, currently underserved markets by Apple. I've long given up gaming on the mac, except for some fun indie games that don't require a decent gpu. But it would be great to experiment with VR, not just for gaming.
  • Reply 11 of 25
    FatmanFatman Posts: 513member
    A bulky, ridiculous-looking, uncomfortable, nausea inducing device that causes headaches and requires attached hardware with specs so high you can cook eggs on it. And although the experience is cool, it's not truly convincing - I have to hold joysticks? Really?
    Google was closest with Glass to a usuable form of altered reality. I don't see full-VR as the path forward. I agree with Tim Cook on this one - Augmented Reality or some variant is where development efforts should be.
    SpamSandwichwlymlolliverwatto_cobrabaconstang
  • Reply 12 of 25
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    VR is a fad thats going to die anyways...no loss there. 
    edited March 2017 watto_cobrabaconstang
  • Reply 13 of 25
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    evilution said:
    People don't buy Macs to play games on, so no loss.
    To be honest, being a big kid, I very carefully selected my 2013 Mac Pro 6 core precisely because it could both crunch 4K video and slice through massive Photoshop images but also because it could run Steam in Windows better than most PCs out there.  A genuine twofer.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 25
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    AI: slashed the price from what?
    lolliverwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 25
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    michelb76 said:
    VR is still cutting edge and for pro's, creatives, and researchers, currently underserved markets by Apple. I've long given up gaming on the mac, except for some fun indie games that don't require a decent gpu. But it would be great to experiment with VR, not just for gaming.
    Several years ago I was gaming, played Bioshock 3, PayDay, Left4Dead 2. On a 2011 iMac. These are big studio games. 

    Also, i'm a pro and a creative, and VR is not a cutting edge part of my job. At all. 
    edited March 2017 SpamSandwichwatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 25
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member

    Donvermo said:
    evilution said:
    People don't buy Macs to play games on, so no loss.
    VR can be used for more than just gaming though.
    Yes, this:


    wlymbaconstang
  • Reply 17 of 25
    When Oculus initially announced it would not support the Mac, I voted to not support Oculus. Call it even?
    watto_cobraMacProbaconstang
  • Reply 18 of 25
    VR is not ready for mainstream so there is no real reason for Apple to care about this. VR continues to be a nitch (although a cool one that I enjoy) and has limited content.
  • Reply 19 of 25
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member

    Donvermo said:
    evilution said:
    People don't buy Macs to play games on, so no loss.
    VR can be used for more than just gaming though.
    Yes, this:


    Bill Clinton really seemed to like it.
  • Reply 20 of 25
    Fatman said:
    A bulky, ridiculous-looking, uncomfortable, nausea inducing device that causes headaches and requires attached hardware with specs so high you can cook eggs on it. And although the experience is cool, it's not truly convincing - I have to hold joysticks? Really?
    Google was closest with Glass to a usuable form of altered reality. I don't see full-VR as the path forward. I agree with Tim Cook on this one - Augmented Reality or some variant is where development efforts should be.


    Glass was NOT VR even remotely. It wasn't even AR! To top it all off. It was deemed useless by most people. 

    AR and VR are nothing like that. I just did Ghost Busters VR with my family. WOW! Home Vr seems like a little stretch after that. No just because the gear is pricey, (it's not THAT expensive, but at $1k/ person pretty expensive) but the amount of space, wind/ air, lighting and even smell fx combined with a nice space and props to support a good playable VR map are way beyond what most people can do at home, but kind of essential to the experience. We walked across a VR bridge that they enhanced with a physical structure that swayed in the wind. It made the VR experience seem unbelievably real thanks physics, biology and perception of the mind. You can replicate that at home walking in place. 


    evilution said:
    People don't buy Macs to play games on, so no loss.

    It's funny how people say that. I guarantee if Apple made machines with high end gpu's they'd sell quite well. Just because Steve thought games were trivial Apple ignored them for years for various reasons. Good thing they didn't listen to Steve when it came to iPhone games. He hated the idea. I don't think iPhone or iPad would be the same without them. Games have their place. Even if it's just high end for enthusiasts and developers ; that's how you create a market. It would be nice to see Apple open up the gaming market to their Mac lineup and not just iOS. It could be very symbiotic. 

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