Apple is betting the farm on a VR headset

[skyscraper101]

I tried one on today.

First impressions were good. Light enough to wear for an extended period. The strap and material used was comfortable. The passthrough cameras worked really well for the AR functionality, and the definition of the screen was also great. A heck ton better than the Quest.

I liked it sure - but no way would I part with over £3k for one. Once the novelty of having multiple virtual screens and 3D experiences had worn off, I was kind of over it. I'm sure in a few generations there could be more interesting things to do but it'd have to be at a much lower price point for me to be interested right now.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

In similar news, Microsoft appear to have given up their AR ambitions with the portal being excluded from windows 11 going forward. Sad for those who bought the Reverb G2 as that now becomes a brick should they update Windows 11.

 

[skyscraper101]

I'm quite intrigued to try the Meta Quest 3 just to have a real world comparison to the Vision Pro.

The one thing that took a bit of learning on the AVP was the whole pinch to select and move things. I wouldn't say it was the most intuitive thing ever. In fact on my first attempt I managed to select something totally different and then took ages to get out of. It wasn't exactly the Minority Report experience I was hoping for.

 

[skyscraper101]

Interesting, Meta going full in on an open OS as (presumably) a direct response to Apple’s closed platform.

Also different headsets for different use cases.

 

[elbows]

In similar news, Microsoft appear to have given up their AR ambitions with the portal being excluded from windows 11 going forward. Sad for those who bought the Reverb G2 as that now becomes a brick should they update Windows 11.

Specifically the 24H2 update. You can still get all other updates including security ones and have the G2 work for some years yet, so long as you avoid that major 24H2 upgrade.

 

[editor]

 

[skyscraper101]

There’s no getting away from it.
You will always look like a twat wearing one of these things.

 

[pbsmooth]

'always' is a bold claim. people said that about big over-ear headphones and indeed AirPods.
I agree they look silly by the way, but the point is public perception changes.

 

[tommers]

This has been rumbling on forever without ever really taking off. We got a Quest 3 for Xmas. Initially we were well impressed but now it's sat on the bookshelf for a month.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, unless you’re big into car racing or flight sims which improve the experience tenfold you’ll soon get bored of the content on offer as the novelty wears off. Pinball is another great use of the tech but again, a niche market.
Elite Dangerous also. But that can be filed under flight sim in a way.
And most of this stuff needs to be connected to a beefy PC.

 

[skyscraper101]

'always' is a bold claim. people said that about big over-ear headphones and indeed AirPods.
I agree they look silly by the way, but the point is public perception changes.

I can’t see it. Big headphones and earpods are one thing but it’s quite different from sitting on a train with a three grand ski mask attached to your head looking like some douchebag mime artist.

 

[editor]

'always' is a bold claim. people said that about big over-ear headphones and indeed AirPods.
I agree they look silly by the way, but the point is public perception changes.

I hope they never go mainstream. In public situations they'll separate the have and the have nots even more and fucking ruin going to the pub or festivals. Plus they look like absolute cunts.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

I do remember the TV on phone thread though. That didn’t age well.
But yeah, most people don’t want to look like a twat. It’s bad enough them being distracted enough by a £1k phone in public to have it snatched out of their hand to discourage wearing a £3k headset.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I hope they never go mainstream. In public situations they'll separate the have and the have nots even more and fucking ruin going to the pub or festivals. Plus they look like absolute cunts.

Not sure. If it goes mainstream, I can it being priced cheaply enough to ubiquitous as the smartphone. In it's current form I can't see it being desirable in any way to wear to the pub for most people, it would need to be seriously discreet AR for that to happen and I think we're a long, long way from that kind of product.

 

[magneze]

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments As Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units,...

www.macrumors.com

I'm shocked.

However, there is good news on the horizon:

macOS 15 Rumored to Feature Revamped Calculator App

Apple will debut a major revamp of the Calculator app in macOS 15 later this year, according to AppleInsider. The overhauled version of the...

www.macrumors.com

 

[editor]

On a basic human level, if people spend ages sorting out their make up and hairdo to go out, it's all going to get squished, smudged and squashed once they stick a sweaty VR mask on. And imagine having that thing clamped on your mush in hot, humid countries. Yuck.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

The day this sort of tech can be put into a standard pair of Raybans, it goes mainstream. Until then… not so much.

 

[freshapple]

I could imagine an office version, with the hardware in a box & a lightweight headset being useful.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

The day this sort of tech can be put into a standard pair of Raybans, it goes mainstream. Until then… not so much.

Yeah, nobody other then geeks is wearing this out.

 

[Saul Goodman]

However, there is good news on the horizon:

macOS 15 Rumored to Feature Revamped Calculator App

Apple will debut a major revamp of the Calculator app in macOS 15 later this year, according to AppleInsider. The overhauled version of the...

www.macrumors.com

 

[pbsmooth]

The day this sort of tech can be put into a standard pair of Raybans, it goes mainstream. Until then… not so much.

Google Glass…

 

[tommers]

Ah but what about VR with AR, powered by AI?

Somebody should pitch that to a tech company. You'd be richer than musk.

 

[editor]

The day this sort of tech can be put into a standard pair of Raybans, it goes mainstream. Until then… not so much.

Google Glass got close to getting the concept and form factor right - wearing glasses is pretty normal and people can still see your eyes rather than Apple's weird version - but the hard bit is fitting all that tech into something small and light enough, without cumbersome battery packs strapped on.

 

[editor]

It's really not going well:

Following reports that sales of Apple's $3,500 Vision Pro headset have been falling as fast as interest in the device, a renowned analyst has claimed that demand is so low that Apple has slashed its shipment forecast for the rest of the year. Furthermore, it may decide not to release a new model in 2025.

We heard over the weekend that the Vision Pro headset Apple spent eight years and billions of dollars developing was rapidly losing steam in terms of both interest and sales.

After between 160,000 and 180,000 devices were sold in pre-orders across a weekend in January ahead of the official launch, reports claimed Apple Stores were now selling just a handful of units per week. In-store demo bookings were right down, too, and many of those who do book often don't turn up.

Now, famed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has echoed those reports. He writes that Cupertino has cut its Vision Pro shipments to 400,000 to 450,000 units, around half the 800,000 units that were originally planned, due to waning demand.

Kuo adds that Apple cut the orders ahead of the Vision Pro launching in markets outside of the US, the only location it's currently available. This indicates that demand in the United States has fallen sharply beyond expectations, according to the analyst, and that Apple expects similar cool demand in other regions.

Apple slashes Vision Pro production, might cancel 2025 model in response to plummeting demand

We heard over the weekend that the Vision Pro headset Apple spent eight years and billions of dollars developing was rapidly losing steam in terms of both...

www.techspot.com

Look at these douchebags:

 

[editor]

Watch Apple's new ad crush all humanity and creativity in the name of their new $2,000 iPad

 

[BigMoaner]

Watch Apple's new ad crush all humanity and creativity in the name of their new $2,000 iPad

god that's chilling.

it's probably because i am a middle aged man.

but i find that absoloutly chilling.

 

[BigMoaner]

is it satire or something?

please tell me it is.

"Everything that once connected us is disappearing" ~ Byung Chul Han

 

[BigMoaner]

urrrrrggggghhhhhhh

 

[editor]

Turns out their shit advert wasn't even original

 

[skyscraper101]

Turns out their shit as wasn't even original

Wow it was a total rip off. Incredibly they managed to make it worse too.

Think different eh.