Along with the new IPhone X, Apple has explored the realm of augmented reality, praising the technology as new and as important as the new phone. However, it seems like CEO Tim Cook has other plans for Apple: a virtual reality headset. As of now, Apple is working on a headset that could run both augmented and virtual reality technology. The headset would feature two 8k displays, one for each eye; this is a resolution that is higher than most high definition televisions these days. The project’s name is T288 and is slated for release in 2020. Apple seems to always be lagging behind other tech giants in terms of new products. For instance, Samsung has the Samsung Vr that comes included with most phones. Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California has tried making smaller VR products. However, the headset is a huge project which allows users to explore new worlds. Over the past year, although VR technology has advanced, companies like Samsung and Oculus failed to grasp the attention of eager consumers.
Apple’s headset would connect to a box that would run Apple’s high powered processing system and would act as the main computer processing component for the headset. In addition, unlike other VR headsets, Apple’s will not contain any wires which is a hassle especially in high powered devices such as the HTC vive or the Oculus Rift. Apple has noted trends in VR headset sales; it is predicted that a whopping 120 million units would be sold in 2020 due to the increasing VR/AR trend.
All in all, I believe that the future for Apple’s headset is bright and there is potential for Apple to improve upon the already low turnout for virtual headsets.
https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-is-working-on-an-ar-augmented-reality-vr-virtual-reality-headset-powered-by-a-wireless-wigig-hub/
The problem with Apple though is that they make their products super expensive. As we learned in class, they are a luxury brand, so it makes sense why they make things so expense. One recent example is the new home system Apple just came out with to compete with Amazon and Google. The Google home and Amazon’s Alexa work very well and yet they are super cheap. Apple came out with theirs and it was about the same quality with maybe even less features and yet it was still more expensive than the others. This near VR stuff they are coming out with might be better and it might not, but you can almost guarantee they are going to slap a huge price tag on it. People will still buy it though so I guess why should they try to make it cheaper.