Apple AR/VR
There has been an endless outpouring of speculation, rumors, and flashy mock-ups of what is expected to be Apple’s (AAPL) first official announcement concerning the potential unveiling of its first AR headset and its ‘realityOS’ operating system at the Worldwide Developers Conference that begins today at 1:00PM ET. The virtual event is expected to give information on iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, watch)S 9, tvOS 16, and possible hints toward some hardware for the MacBook Air, the MacPro, and the long-awaited AR/VR headset that has been rumored for the last few months.
It seems however, that word has gotten out that Apple has told its suppliers to hold production until October, which would push out the release of any such product until 2023, rather than later this year. Apple could still announce the reality OS at today’s event or in the near term, as developers need time to modify existing apps for the new headset, with Apple supposedly working on a migration tool to help developers adapt applications more easily.
While much excitement surround the potential for Apple’s entry into the AR/VR world, we believe if Apple is serious about the category as a major product line, it will take a considerable amount of time and product iterations to come up with what would be a practical AR/VR product. With the category still in its infancy, and a trail of relatively unsuccessful products from other companies in its wake, we expect Apple to tread slowly and carefully, leaving as much time as necessary to its product development team before releasing even an early model, as this first iteration would be.
To us, the real question is will the first release be an actual consumer oriented product or one designed to give app developers a platform on which to develop AR/VR content that would take advantage of the feature set that Apple will include in the reality OS, that will set it apart from others and allow Apple to create another proprietary ‘world’ of Apple AR/VR products to maintain a loyal customers base. Apple’s delay (should that be the case) should not be looked at as a negative but more of an attempt to get their first product reveal as close to a practical product as possible.
While Apple has never been a technology leader in the sense of rushing to market with technological advances, their customer base seems to rely on them to make sure a technology is stable and benefits the user before they begin to capitalize on the trend. This was quite apparent with Apple’s adoption of small panel OLED display technology which first appeared on the iPhone X in late 2017, over 10 years after the technology was used in early smartphones.
We expect Apple is in no rush to jump start it AR/VR effort until it meets at least three goals. First it needs to be technologically sound and reliable, second, it needs to serve a valid and practical purpose, and third it needs to be ‘cool’ looking, so postponing a potential release until issues are resolved would satisfy the first goal, allowing developers a physical and software development platform on which to work, could satisfy the second goal, while the 3rd will likely take a release that Apple might not consider ‘the actual product’ until it is able to apply its unique design qualities to make AR/VR its own. We are not making excuses for a potential delay, but applying many of Apple’s historic principles to a new product line. Maybe Apple will reveal all today and will prove us to have overthought the situation, but the company thinks differently than most.
It seems however, that word has gotten out that Apple has told its suppliers to hold production until October, which would push out the release of any such product until 2023, rather than later this year. Apple could still announce the reality OS at today’s event or in the near term, as developers need time to modify existing apps for the new headset, with Apple supposedly working on a migration tool to help developers adapt applications more easily.
While much excitement surround the potential for Apple’s entry into the AR/VR world, we believe if Apple is serious about the category as a major product line, it will take a considerable amount of time and product iterations to come up with what would be a practical AR/VR product. With the category still in its infancy, and a trail of relatively unsuccessful products from other companies in its wake, we expect Apple to tread slowly and carefully, leaving as much time as necessary to its product development team before releasing even an early model, as this first iteration would be.
To us, the real question is will the first release be an actual consumer oriented product or one designed to give app developers a platform on which to develop AR/VR content that would take advantage of the feature set that Apple will include in the reality OS, that will set it apart from others and allow Apple to create another proprietary ‘world’ of Apple AR/VR products to maintain a loyal customers base. Apple’s delay (should that be the case) should not be looked at as a negative but more of an attempt to get their first product reveal as close to a practical product as possible.
While Apple has never been a technology leader in the sense of rushing to market with technological advances, their customer base seems to rely on them to make sure a technology is stable and benefits the user before they begin to capitalize on the trend. This was quite apparent with Apple’s adoption of small panel OLED display technology which first appeared on the iPhone X in late 2017, over 10 years after the technology was used in early smartphones.
We expect Apple is in no rush to jump start it AR/VR effort until it meets at least three goals. First it needs to be technologically sound and reliable, second, it needs to serve a valid and practical purpose, and third it needs to be ‘cool’ looking, so postponing a potential release until issues are resolved would satisfy the first goal, allowing developers a physical and software development platform on which to work, could satisfy the second goal, while the 3rd will likely take a release that Apple might not consider ‘the actual product’ until it is able to apply its unique design qualities to make AR/VR its own. We are not making excuses for a potential delay, but applying many of Apple’s historic principles to a new product line. Maybe Apple will reveal all today and will prove us to have overthought the situation, but the company thinks differently than most.
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