Apple unveiled on Monday its most ambitious hardware project since the iPhone, a $3499 headset with virtual reality and augmented-reality technology.
Apple unveiled the headset called Apple Vision Pro at its Worldwide Developers Conference, held in Cupertino. Apple also released new Macbook laptops, and updated operating system versions for its most popular hardware.
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the headset after a long presentation, using the phrase “one more thing”, which cofounder Steve Jobs loved to use when introducing major new products.
Cook stated that “this is a moment that has been in the making for years.”
The headset is the latest entry in the VR market. It joins Meta’s Quest and Valve’s Index, as well as a few other competitors. Apple announced that it would be available in the first quarter of next year.
Apple demonstrated a wide range of applications for the headset, including 3-D apps and immersive movies, educational material, web browsing, and video games.
Apple’s Vision Pro is the most expensive and advanced VR headset available on the market. It has a number of features, including the ability to adapt the headset to the user’s surroundings.
Users can also look through the headset to change the display by using their hands, eyes and voice. The headset’s display adapts to the surroundings of the user, but it can also be extended into an immersive world, which is adjustable by the users. The technology is different from other AR headsets because it uses “eyesight”, a feature that allows the user’s eyes to be visible, and can detect when someone approaches.
The headset is a crucial moment for Apple and virtual technology. Apple is still a tech giant, with a value of almost $3 trillion. Technologists and analysts have been wondering for over a decade if Apple could make another product of the same caliber as the original iPhone, despite products such as the iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods.
VR technology, on the other hand, has existed for decades, but it never reached a mass audience. Other tech companies’ recent investments in VR experiences, sometimes called metaverse, have been generally viewed as mediocre at best. No company has been able to make a compelling case for headsets. They are not a daily necessity that can only be satisfied by this technology.
Apple’s ability to influence the public into adopting new technologies is well-established. Apple’s iPhone, was not the first smartphone. But it became a status symbol for tens and millions of people, who used them to manage their work, romance, and travel. Its products have helped to catalyze and sometimes reinvent whole industries. The App Store and iTunes revolutionized the music industry, while its smartphone brought social media to the fingertips of the entire world.
It now has to compete with Google and Meta in order to gain dominance. Meta, named after Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s ambition to create a virtual reality metaverse where people can socialize and collaborate, is currently the market leader. This market has not been proven. Apple sells over 200 million iPhones per year. However, the headset market is only less than 9 million units.
Apple could gain a significant foothold in the future growth area that some analysts see. In a report , McKinsey & Company stated that the metaverse would create $5 trillion worth of value by 2030.
This story is in progress. Please check back often for updates.
Jason Abbruzzese also contributed.
