The Eyes Have It
Apple’s Rumored Tesla-Like Approach to VR/AR Hardware…
A bunch of interesting tidbits in Mark Gurman’s latest report for Bloomberg about Apple’s VR/AR ambitions. Notably, perhaps, that order. Per his reporting, it now sounds like Apple is aiming to do a VR-focused headset first (perhaps in 2022) focusing on an extremely high-end, expensive device with muted sales goals. This would be followed by their more ambitious (and more mainstream) AR device in 2023 (or later, as Gurman notes).
I’m trying to think of what this strategy would be akin to in Apple’s history. With multi-touch, Apple originally set out to make a large, high-end tablet first — though that project ended up being scrapped and eventually morphed into the iPhone (before morphing back into the iPad). If anything, this reminds me a bit more of the Tesla strategy. Launch the high-priced Roadster first. And work your way towards the Model 3 eventually.
It worked for Tesla, will it for Apple? Here’s Gurman:
Apple is aiming to include some of its most advanced and powerful chips in the headset along with displays that are much higher-resolution than those in existing VR products. Some of the chips tested in the device beat the performance of Apple’s M1 Mac processors. The company has also designed the headset with a fan, something the company usually tries to avoid on mobile products, the people said.
The usage of their own silicon sounds good and makes sense. It’s something no other VR headset could match. The use of a fan sounds less good. Then again, perhaps the work they did with the fan for the new M1 MacBook Pros points to how they could make this work…
The powerful processors and the inclusion of a fan initially led to a device that was too large and heavy with some concern about neck strain in early testing. Apple removed the space VR gadgets usually reserve for users who need to wear eyeglasses, which brought the headset closer to the face and helped shrink the size. And to address consumers with poorer eyesight, it developed a system where custom prescription lenses can be inserted into the headset over the VR screens, the people said.
Certainly you could argue that one thing still holding back VR headsets is how bulky they are (and how ridiculous you look while wearing them). Anything Apple could do to remove such bulk would be key — and focusing on how to accommodate eyeglass wearers (of which I’m one) certainly seems like one approach. Though a complicated one, to say the least. Still, this sounds like something Apple could conceivably do with Apple Stores. They’ve been adding complexity to device customizations with Apple Watch and the like. Prescriptions could be a next step, albeit a tricky one.
Another weird thing: Tim Cook has been on the record multiple times as being very skeptical of VR and instead preferring AR technology. Apple has a history of downplaying a technology only to later launch a product in the space, but that was primarily a Steve Jobs tactic, not a Cook one. And Cook has remained awfully negative on VR, even recently. Apple would, of course, say they’re doing things differently, but are the form factor tweaks alone enough there?
And then when the AR glasses are ready, does the VR headset just go away? Or do they remain two different sides of a coin? This report makes it sound as if the former is likely true. Again, that this VR device is just the “explorer edition” of sorts for the true aspirations here.¹ But as everyone knows, VR and AR are quite different. And Apple hasn’t historically done “beta tests” for their hardware (though I’d argue the first Apple Watch was close to that).² A lot remains to be… seen.
¹ Something else that comes to mind: teaming up with Motorola to do the “ROKR” iTunes phone ahead of the iPhone. It was almost a beta test in a way (mainly in that it taught Apple what not to do). That has been top of mind recently with all the renewed Apple Car chatter, and Apple possibly teaming up there as well, of course.
² Also, wasn’t at least part of the point of Apple baking ARKit into iOS to help test it at a massive scale ahead of a would-be stand-alone device?
