Apple continues hiring for its mixed-reality headset project

AppleInsider · November 13, 2022 3:42PM

Apple is continually filling out its team working on its AR headset, with role changes indicating the head-mounted device project is still alive and well in Cupertino.

A render of a potential Apple headset [AppleInsider]

Apple has long been rumored to be working on multiple VR headsets, AR glasses, and other items in the fields of augmented reality and virtual reality. Current speculation has Apple starting the production of a mixed reality headset in early 2023, however that still leaves time for further development and the creation of future models.

This can include work on three devices, including the hight-end "Apple Reality Pro," a second-generation release, and another getting close to the idea of the Apple Glass smart glasses.

To come up with the hardware, Apple has teams dedicated to development and production of the unannounced devices. It also seems that changes to Apple's internal teams have also happened to maximize the chance of success for the currently-untapped product category.

Two big managerial changes have taken place, according to Mark Gurman's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg.

Former senior self-driving car unit member Dave Scott returned after leaving in early 2021. With a background in medical and robotics industries, and knowledge of shipping complex products, it is suggested his involvement could mean there will be health-related applications for the headset.

Senior director of Engineering Yaniv Gur has also reportedly moved over to the headset team. Gur joined Apple over two decades ago, and has previously dealt with engineering for iWork apps and other native apps.

It is proposed that Gur's involvement could lead to the development of productivity apps for the headset.

Apple has also posted numerous job listings in recent months for the Technology Development Group, which oversees headset development. Some listings are content production-related, such as a visual effects software developer.

Other listings apparently imply some form of video service is also in development, potentially featuring 3D content playable in VR. One listing mentions the development of a 3D MR world, which would be in the same ballpark as some of Facebook's Metaverse efforts.

There are also references to App Intents in some listings, which would imply that apps and services used by the headset could leverage Shortcuts and Siri in the future.

The headset could be a big play for Apple, albeit one that could be slow to take off. The first year of availability for the headset is forecast to be about 0.7 million units for the first year, with Pegatron thought to be the only assembly partner for the project.

Read on AppleInsider

InspiredCode · November 13, 2022 4:04PM

I think Apple needs to be in this space. Even if it doesn’t take off among the general population for 10 years, it could allow another company to come in and disrupt Apple’s most important markets. Besides, there are really interesting problems to solve in this space and Apple obviously thinks they can handle it.

Productivity engineers would be certainly be involved. Apple doesn’t want a Meta Horizon’s level flop in the productivity space when it launches. I think it will run most iOS apps. Pointer control and stage manager can work in AR. Apple has made it easy for apps to target all of Apple’s platforms in recent years. This might be the first headset that can really do anything. It will be interesting to see which apps adopt holographic views in addition to flat screens.

I’m very curious if Apple Arcade and Apple TV+ will release exclusive content for the headset considering the limited market. Apple already acquired a VR media company and has been rumored to be speaking with VR game companies. I’m curious if Apple will add Google Cardboard like support for viewing media to make the initial market larger. Support for this is already in private APIs on the iPhone, but it isn’t clear if that was just for prototyping.

bloggerblog · November 13, 2022 5:05PM

Historically speaking, Apple has been most successful in distributing existing industries. Alas that was under Jobs. They often waited till the market matured and leveled off, then swooped in with how to do that better. Not sure if that’ll continue under Tim and team

jumpingcoco · November 13, 2022 11:23PM

i doubt i could afford the 1st gen

JinTech · November 14, 2022 5:25AM

JP234 said:

bloggerblog said:

Historically speaking, Apple has been most successful in distributing existing industries. Alas that was under Jobs. They often waited till the market matured and leveled off, then swooped in with how to do that better. Not sure if that’ll continue under Tim and team

I think you're ignoring the performance of Apple under Tim Cook's steady hands for the last 11 years.
Apple market cap October 30, 2011 (3 weeks after Jobs' death): $376,210,000,000
Apple market cap Nov. 13, 2022 (11 years into Cook's leadership): $2,380,000,000,000
I think Cook has proved his ability at this point.

That's due to Apple doing things better than anyone else, not sitting on a founder's legacy. Jobs' greatest strength was not designing products anyway. His genius was conceptualization. He then let the team design product over and over until it matched his concept. His greatest genius was creating demand for what he had conceived. That is unmatched in modern history, and may never be.

I'm sure Jobs' concept of an AR/VR device would be "insanely great" (to use his immortal words). And take 10 years, and cost $10,000 each. I'm sure Cook's implementation of said device will lack some of the features Jobs would have demanded, but arrive on schedule and sell at a price point that people who want such a thing can afford. Then to top it off, license proprietary tech to the defense/aerospace industry for a few billion.

I mostly agree with you. One of Jobs' greatest strengths was his showmanship. He could show off shit in a brown paper bag during a keynote and we would all buy it, and for $1299 and that!

JinTech · November 14, 2022 5:28AM

bloggerblog said:

Historically speaking, Apple has been most successful in distributing existing industries. Alas that was under Jobs. They often waited till the market matured and leveled off, then swooped in with how to do that better. Not sure if that’ll continue under Tim and team

I think you mean disrupting, not distributing? I mean they are kind of doing that with the Apple Watch Ultra in a way right? Sure it cannot do everything that this mega scuba divers/extreme outdoorsy devices can but, it is scratching the surface at it and succeeding.

thrang · November 14, 2022 3:30PM

The win here would be AR, not VR, at least in the early innings IMO. A headset that allows you to see the real world, with overlays of information when needed. A strong focus on vertical markets such as financial, manufacturing, education, quality control, research, law enforement, airlines, customer service, and others that require access to rich and complex data as part of performing the job.

Very long term, the device (and perhaps a Watch) would be a replacement for the iPhone for a certain segment of the population, as Apple must always think of overthrowing their own kingdom before a competitor does.

One ancillary but large challenge is individuals' varying visual acuity and size/style depending on how "everyday" the design is meant to be. Though I recall some time ago Apple may have applied or been awarded patents for technology to "adapt" to a users vision?

williamh · November 14, 2022 3:50PM

JP234 said:

bloggerblog said:

Historically speaking, Apple has been most successful in distributing existing industries. Alas that was under Jobs. They often waited till the market matured and leveled off, then swooped in with how to do that better. Not sure if that’ll continue under Tim and team

I think you're ignoring the performance of Apple under Tim Cook's steady hands for the last 11 years.
Apple market cap October 30, 2011 (3 weeks after Jobs' death): $376,210,000,000
Apple market cap Nov. 13, 2022 (11 years into Cook's leadership): $2,380,000,000,000
I think Cook has proved his ability at this point.

Cook has been great. I understand it’s a lot harder to grow an already huge company (haven’t done it).

Still, a little context to Jobs’ results: Apple had a market cap of about $2b when it went public and about the same when Jobs returned to Apple in the late 90’s. So Jobs took Apple from $0-$2b and then from $2b to $376b.

swat671 · November 15, 2022 9:32AM

I would find it interesting to have Apple do something like Google tried to do with Google Glass- just covering part of your field of vision

byronl · January 4, 2023 2:50PM

JP234 said:

bloggerblog said:

Historically speaking, Apple has been most successful in distributing existing industries. Alas that was under Jobs. They often waited till the market matured and leveled off, then swooped in with how to do that better. Not sure if that’ll continue under Tim and team

I think you're ignoring the performance of Apple under Tim Cook's steady hands for the last 11 years.
Apple market cap October 30, 2011 (3 weeks after Jobs' death): $376,210,000,000
Apple market cap Nov. 13, 2022 (11 years into Cook's leadership): $2,380,000,000,000
I think Cook has proved his ability at this point.

That's due to Apple doing things better than anyone else, not sitting on a founder's legacy. Jobs' greatest strength was not designing products anyway. His genius was conceptualization. He then let the team design product over and over until it matched his concept. His greatest genius was creating demand for what he had conceived. That is unmatched in modern history, and may never be.

I'm sure Jobs' concept of an AR/VR device would be "insanely great" (to use his immortal words). And take 10 years, and cost $10,000 each. I'm sure Cook's implementation of said device will lack some of the features Jobs would have demanded, but arrive on schedule and sell at a price point that people who want such a thing can afford. Then to top it off, license proprietary tech to the defense/aerospace industry for a few billion.

I think apple has said they will never work for the military?

Apple continues hiring for its mixed-reality headset project

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