Apple’s all set to enter an entirely new product category next year. From what we’ve heard over the past few months, Apple will foray into virtual reality with its extended reality headset (and the software and development infrastructure around it), in 2023. We know that the company is looking at using the Reality branding for its extended reality products, and now we have some more details about the headset.
Mark Gurman, noted Apple journalist with a great track record, is saying that Apple might be looking at bringing a 3D video service and a metaverse-like extended reality environment to the upcoming Apple VR headset.
In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman reiterated a few details about the upcoming Apple extended reality headset. He says that it will be a high-end product that will cost between $2,000 and $3,000. The high cost will come from the powerful hardware he says Apple will be putting inside this headset, including the Mac-level M2 chip, more than 10 cameras, and the highest-resolution displays in the consumer VR market.
Apple is working on the software experience part of the headset as well. Gurman talked about some Apple job postings which hint at what the company is planning to develop. Gurman wrote, “The company is searching for a software producer with experience in visual effects and game asset pipelines who can create digital content for augmented- and virtual-reality environments.“
Gurman says Apple wants to build a video service with 3D content for the headset. Additionally, the company seems to be looking for someone to aid the development of a 3D mixed-reality world. It looks like Apple may be looking to build a metaverse-like world, but better.
The listing says that the hire will work with other developers to “build tools and frameworks to enable connected experiences in a 3D mixed-reality world.” It further says, “You will work closely with Apple’s UI framework, human interface designers and system capabilities teams—pushing you to think outside-the-box, and solve incredibly challenging and interesting problems in the 3D application space.”
Apple seems to have a distaste for Meta’s version of this concept, so we can expect its version to be drastically different. Apple CEO Tim Cook also recently said in an interview that he doesn’t think an average person would know what the metaverse is, which should tell you what to expect if Apple takes a crack at the idea. Although, if you want to experience it, be prepared to shell out more money than you would even do for Apple’s best iPhones and best iPads.
