This past weekend I sit down around a mesa with three friends and spent an time of day or so cracking jokes , shooting the gentle wind , and playing a little poker . I ’m in the Bay Area , but they were in San Diego , North Carolina , and Canada . Yep – we played VR poker , which ( I ’ve been inform ) means we were actually having a good time in themetaverse .
WhileApple ’s not rushing to bosom the term , news report point that the company has invested a lot of research - and - exploitation money into launch a unexampled production bank line that intersects with an “ area of stake ” that Apple CEO Tim Cook has talked about for several years now .
So here I am , fresh from the metaverse – well , play poker on aMeta Quest 2headset – to consider the potential bow of Apple ’s next bounteous product category . The company has been prepare for this instant for a long time , and this might be the year we at long last see Apple ’s first VR production . But will it be the next Apple Watch – or the next HomePod ?
Laying the groundwork
It ’s no wonder that Tim Cook began to pump up AR and VR as far back as 2017 , whenhe said , “ I suppose AR is big and unplumbed and this is one of those immense thing that we ’ll look back at and marvel on the start of it . ” That was the year Apple enter ARKit , Modern technology ( that Apple has kept building on ) that added augmented - reality feature to the iPhone and iPad , and introduced those construct to everyone developing apps for the App Store .
Even at the time , there were rumour that Apple had fully grown plan for AR and VR down the road . But it takes time , and it ’ll in all probability be more than five long time since the initiation of the first version of ARKit that Apple will embark a dedicated twist for AR or VR . But believe about it this way : Apple ’s tools for developers to deploy AR and VR experiences are refined with five years of shipping , and app developers have had plenty of clock time to experiment .
Apple ’s possible competitors in the AR / VR space , most notablyMeta , have been at this for some time . How can Apple roll into a Modern market and compete immediately ? By leverage the mass of developers who already have it away how to build iPhone apps , of course . ARKit and other foundational Apple technology like Metal have helped impart to cool iPhone game demos , but they will before long be ask to populate a new AR / VR version of the App Store .
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Sometimes Apple ’s big - picture strategies are best viewednot on a roadmapbut by see at its apparently unrelated feature introduction and noticing how they might be pointing atsomething larger .
Nobody is go to win points for noticing that ARKit direct the way toward a future Apple headset . But what about Memoji ? Sure , Apple ’s animated , customizable and individualized emojis were cancel for iMessage stickers . But Apple is slowly turn them into your official avatar for Apple service . you may have them present you on iMessage , your iCloud invoice , and even the login screenland of your Mac . They can perform animated activity , you may dress them , and they support an enormous array of personalization features .
During our VR poker game , my friend Chip was mortified to discover that he had n’t decently touch base up his avatar and was wearing a goatee . Meanwhile , my incarnation was wearing a black long - sleeved henley – and so , coincidentally , was I. My point is , to interact with hoi polloi in VR you demand to be represented by an incarnation . Apple has spend years building that system – and training us how to use it .
There ’s more , from LiDAR scanning to Neural Engine innovations to the simple fact that optimize for gravid power but a low vigor footprint does n’t just act upon on smartphones but on fountainhead - rise hardware . Apple ’s been build to this for a foresightful prison term .
The HomePod problem
Ifreportsfrom the likes of Bloomberg ’s Mark Gurman are to be believe – and Gurman ’s source are in general quite good – Apple ’s first VR mathematical product is going to be … a piece pricy . The Oculus Quest 2 starts at $ 300 ; Apple ’s headset is bruit to be in the $ 2,000 compass . Even for Apple , that ’s a big premium ! Now , it ’s dead on target that the Quest is one-time tech and that Meta is rumored to be working on a much higher - end headset . But still . $ 2,000 ?
I ’m still not entirely positive that Apple ’s first VR product willtrulybe made for the masses . One way to control that would be to price it out of the mountain chain of all but the hardest - core user , allowing Apple to deal it more like a developer outfit and experiment than a real consumer production . It ’s not a very Apple - like move , but it ’s potential .
I have no doubt that , as reputation suggest , Apple is plan to build a best - in - class product . With dual 8 chiliad OLED screens and computing power in telephone circuit with the M1 Max central processor of the MacBook Pro , Apple ’s headset may be capable to create an unparalleled sensation of realness inside a practical world .
But what if people do n’t deal enough about the caliber to overlook the Leontyne Price ? That was the job with the original HomePod . Apple was late to the sound speaker market place , so it decided to suck the rival out of the piss with gamey timber at a high Leontyne Price . The competition did respond , eventually – Amazon and Google will now sell you mellow - timber , high up - price versions of their smart speakers – but Apple completely missed the core of the market , which was quite happy to spend $ 99 on a lesser speaker instead of $ 349 for a good one . Not even the power of the Apple brand could alter that .
The original HomePod was enclose as a premium smart loudspeaker system . Problem was , there was n’t any stake in a premium fresh speaker .
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If Apple come out with a very expensive , state - of - the - art VR rig and sell it as for developers and for “ the rummy , ” ahead of a more generally affordable version in 2023 , I ’ll respire a sigh of assuagement . If it releases a no - compromises $ 2000 headset in the face of cheaper competition , it take a chance digging itself a hole that will take a passel of effort to escape from .
What does this thing do?
This lead us , inexorably , to the final interrogation : What will the Apple Vision ( or whatever it ’s called ) actuallydo ?
Games are obvious , but necessary . Apple will advance iOS developer to build up new versions of their game , as well as completely raw games , to corroborate VR . I conceive of Apple will outfit the headset with mellow - caliber camera , too , allow a “ see - through ” AR mood that ’s similar to what can presently be experienced behind an iPhone CRT screen , but far more immersive .
3D TVs may have been a flop , but Hollywood is still attain 3D movies , and I look Apple to embrace movie viewing and concert - going via VR . I ’ve observe a few movies in VR on my Oculus Quest 2 , and while the tone is n’t great – the Quest ’s display are pretty small declaration – it ’s actually a astonishingly decent experience . Roll in SharePlay , supporting for the television receiver app , and 3D tone ending of new Apple TV+ exhibit and flick , and you could start to see a new mode to experience amusement with your friends .
SharePlay will have a role in this new online realness .
And then there ’s FaceTime . Yes , nobody want to see you with a headset on , but Apple can use your Memoji and some cheek - tracking sensors to create a virtual space for grouping calls , with some people on VR and some mass attending via standard camera .
The list goes on . In fact , I would challenge everyone who reads this clause to pay attention to every new computer software and hardware feature Apple introduces in 2022 and ask themselves , “ What are the AR / VR implications of this feature ? ”
Apple ’s been getting ready for this for age . And while Apple ’s first VR gimmick will be expensive and underpowered compared to its 2d , third , and 4th , it will still be the culmination of at least five years of effort . I have to admit , I ’m concerned to see Apple ’s vision for virtual worlds – and I hope that , somewhere in there , there ’s room for a favorable stove poker secret plan among Memojis .
