Apple’s war on Meta AR/VR is at its height right now, as there are solid rumors of Apple VR headsets launching in 2023. In addition, according to some experts, Apple is working on mixed reality and AR glasses. Every event in this segment indicates that Apple is playing big this time around to establish itself as an industry leader.
On the other hand, Meta already dominates the AR/VR industry. His Meta Quest 2 is still the best VR headset for iPhone. Therefore, both brands are rushing to provide their users with the most advanced headsets. Are you excited to jump into the future of the Metaverse and the virtual realm? Read on to find out how the two tech giants are moving into the AR/VR space.
Apple’s entry into mixed reality
Tim Cook presented AR Kit at Apple WWDC in 2017. During the keynote, he said that in the future, one of Apple’s “greatest contributions”to the world could be the provision of augmented reality.
Apple’s mixed reality headwear development began in 2015. Early reports suggested that development was hampered and delayed by technology and leadership issues. However, there are several leaks about the design, features, pricing, and even testing of the Apple VR headset. In addition, Apple has filed various patents for mixed reality, AR and VR, thereby spreading rumors in the industry like wildfire.
From what we can gather, Apple’s mixed reality headset will stand out from its competitors primarily due to its specially designed processor. It can have more than 10 sensors (including cameras) imported from Sony, Will Semi, Sunny Optical and other suppliers.
In addition, it will have an “innovative triple display layout”with two Micro OLED screens and one AMOLED panel. Apple Watch and AirPods Max will serve as design inspiration. But the company has not officially confirmed anything. But in fact, this high-tech product takes time to develop. According to CNET, it will cost $2-3k and is expected around mid-2023.
What is the place of Meta in the space of virtual reality?
In late 2022, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg unveiled his efforts to build the Metaverse and virtual reality. Indeed, he staked the future of Meta on VR with an investment of around $10 billion. In addition, the new Quest Pro headset was unveiled at the Meta Developers Conference.
It costs $1,499 and has mixed reality/augmented reality features associated with their Horizon workspaces. Mark Zuckerberg stated that Meta and Apple are engaged in a “really deep philosophical struggle”to create the Metaverse. In addition, he said that Meta would present itself as a less expensive and more open competitor to Apple. This statement was enough to kindle a fire between the two rivals.
Here is Zuckerberg’s remark about Apple vs Meta in AR/VR:
I think it’s clear that Apple will be our competitor, not only as a product, but also from a philosophical point of view. We are approaching this openly and trying to build a more open ecosystem. We’re trying to make more things compatible with Android. We are trying to design the Metaverse in such a way that you can transfer your virtual goods from one world to another. We created the Metaverse Open Standards Group with a bunch of the other people you just mentioned, and Apple didn’t get involved. But I don’t think it’s a surprise. Apple, for several generations of computers, has been a closed provider of computing.
Mark Zuckerberg
The CEO spoke about the upcoming competition with tech giant Apple in the Metaverse ecosystem. While Apple believes in tightly integrating everything to create the best consumer experience, Meta is approaching this with an open mind, working to create a more open ecosystem and make it interoperable with Android.
However, Meta recorded low profits for its headsets as it subsidized the Meta Quest 2’s 128 GB sale price to $299 (originally $399 for the same model and $499 for 256 GB due to inflationary difficulties). Zuckerberg also expressed an ambitious vision of “a billion people in the metaverse spending hundreds of dollars each”pushing the open metaverse forward.
Meta’s war against Apple AR/VR is the final verdict
At the time of this article, it seems that Apple is moving forward due to the closed ecosystem and we expect to receive an updated version of RealityOS called xrOS. In addition, Meta’s privacy and security issues remain open. So users will obviously choose the safer option. To sum it up, Meta needs to take significant steps to improve user privacy before it can beat Apple (at least in the AR space).
Therefore, there is plenty of reason to believe that if Apple introduces its AR/VR headset in the future, it will be a huge success and eventually take a large share of the market. Meta Quest cannot be played or sold in China, so Zuckerberg’s innovation does not look too rosy.
While we wait for more information on how things could play out, what do you think about this situation? Let us know in the comments below!