Apple's AR and VR headset may launch in 2022 as a premium device
Apple's mixed-reality headset could launch in 2022, a report claims, with the often-rumored head-mounted device expected to offer both AR and VR to consumers.
Rumors over the years have said that Apple is actively working on some form of AR or VR headset or smart glasses, like "Apple Glass," but the company has yet to offer any real indications it will release such a product. In a Sunday newsletter, it is believed that 2022 may be the year Apple's work in the field could come to fruition.
In his latest Bloomberg "Power On" newsletter, Mark Gurman claims Apple is "planning to unleash its own pricey device with advanced chips, displays, sensor, and avatar-based features as early as next year," referring to 2022.
Gurman doesn't offer how much the supposed device could cost, aside from it being expensive. One report from January said Apple planned to price it above rival devices, while supply chain reports in September say a headset could land in 2022 at a price of around $2,000.
The device will be a headset that includes "both AR and VR capabilities, Gurman adds, which could offer a "mixed reality experience that can handle games in high-quality virtual reality." While you could game in both AR and VR, Gurman points out that VR is "what you want for seriously high-performance games with top-tier graphics."
"For Apple's first headset, that's what it's shooting for: a mixed reality experience that can handle games in high-quality virtual reality with snappy chips and high-end displays."
Read on AppleInsider
Rumors over the years have said that Apple is actively working on some form of AR or VR headset or smart glasses, like "Apple Glass," but the company has yet to offer any real indications it will release such a product. In a Sunday newsletter, it is believed that 2022 may be the year Apple's work in the field could come to fruition.
In his latest Bloomberg "Power On" newsletter, Mark Gurman claims Apple is "planning to unleash its own pricey device with advanced chips, displays, sensor, and avatar-based features as early as next year," referring to 2022.
Gurman doesn't offer how much the supposed device could cost, aside from it being expensive. One report from January said Apple planned to price it above rival devices, while supply chain reports in September say a headset could land in 2022 at a price of around $2,000.
The device will be a headset that includes "both AR and VR capabilities, Gurman adds, which could offer a "mixed reality experience that can handle games in high-quality virtual reality." While you could game in both AR and VR, Gurman points out that VR is "what you want for seriously high-performance games with top-tier graphics."
"For Apple's first headset, that's what it's shooting for: a mixed reality experience that can handle games in high-quality virtual reality with snappy chips and high-end displays."
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
If you look at the top selling games on Steam for Mac, the list is decidedly ghetto with tons of very old titles. Not that there's anything wrong with classic titles with excellent gameplay but there's no Control for Mac and certainly no Half-Life: Alyx let alone games like Red Dead Redemption 2 or Resident Evil Village.
The only top tier games are Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Metro Exodus. Neither are fresh off the presses.
To be truthful, a lot of PC VR games aren't memorable in a good way. Great VR gameplay still hasn't been fully deciphered by game studios, there's still a lot of awkward, unnecessary and uncomfortable experiences. The gravity gloves in Half-Life: Alyx are brilliant and VR game developers will be studying that for years to come.
There's a lot more to great VR/AR than speccing and shipping some expensive HMD.
Look at Oculus Quest 2. It can run as a standalone device but for optimal performance it needs an Oculus Link cable to a Windows PC with a powerful graphics card.
A good VR experience calls for 100 fps and a screen about 3000p in vertical resolution to effectively eliminate the "screen door" effect.
I know these HMDs will eventually get there. I simply don't think it will be next month or next year, not at consumer-friendly price points.
Hell, look at Nintendo Switch OLED. This gaming handheld runs at 720p standalone, 1080p docked and still costs over $300.
Trust me, I know I will eventually be proved wrong. Someday someone here will look back at this October 31, 2021 post and say "welp, you were wrong." The point is I don't think it will be April 2022.
And the longer this drags on, the more likely that the VR HMD will end up being a cloud device, the graphics being calculated on some server like GeForce NOW or Google Stadia. The VR HMD will end up being a framebuffer with a fat Internet connection.
Apple isn’t moving to where to puck is! Apple has full control of the puck and they are moving out-of-reach of the competition. They are headed toward the Meta Goalie who, like Biden, is out to lunch. Zuckerberg sees what is coming and is trying to stake a claim on this Meta bullcrap, to try to get something out there where his company can direct/control a new Internet II. Apple doesn’t care about all that, and has greater visions than walking your avatar through a virtual mall to shop at Facebook vendors, or talking to some other flipping avatar. Sounds neat, but horribly inefficient, and adds nothing except making social networking waste even more of peoples time.
Apple has been working on these concepts for many years, had had a solid, well integrated roadmap. Apple’s hardware is going to release supporting both AR and VR, and will offer desktop-class processing via off-device processing on the new iOS devices or perhaps MacOS. Apple will, of course, release this hardware alongside announcement from developer partners with numerous apps and games. Apple will also integrate this technology into their existing ecosystem and will offer support for much that already exists. Deep integration is what they do, and what differentiates them from competitors. As will all new products, including the iPhone, initial support will be light, but will grow in volume geometrically along with consumer adoption. Apple will market the living hell out of this. When the iPad was first released, the posts were, “Neat device, but why would I need one?” Now, they sell multi billions per quarter and everyone know why they need one. The Apple AR/VR will be the same.
TL;DR He’s wrong. Apple will make it crazy popular.