The Apple VR headset has been in development for years. It is currently believed to be launched in 2022, with plenty of rumors about specs and target audience.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman shares his hopes for “the mighty features of Apple’s mixed reality headset” in this week’s Power On newsletter (the full version is available to members only). In this he predicts a standalone headset that does not need to be connected to an iPad, Macbook or iPhone, but also that it is mainly aimed at gamers.
“Gaming should be a strong focus of the headset,” Gurman said, “especially since it will have multiple processors, a fan, extremely high-resolution displays and its own App Store. It suits Apple to have the device as a dream come true. game developers.”
According to many, Apple’s new product will be a headset for mixed reality, enabling augmented reality (AR) experiences, but the headset would also be suitable for impressive VR.
According to an earlier report by reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the headset would feature a pair of 4K OLED screens from Sony and be powered by a version of the M1 chipset that we also see in the most recent iPad Pro.
That’s a higher class chipset than you’ll find in the iPhones. The Apple VR headset may be more powerful than the iPhone 14, which may be announced around the same time.
That chipset is an important detail. Apple has already made a few forays into the gaming world, such as with the updated Apple TV 4K and the Apple Arcade subscription that launched in 2019. With a wide range of quality games for iOS, it makes sense that Apple makes sure that whatever hardware they bring to the market can handle those games.
Analysis: who will be the leader among VR headsets
Of course there is already a frontrunner among VR headsets: Oculus.
While the Oculus brand is part of Facebook’s ‘Meta’ rebrand, it’s still a consumer favorite of VR. The Oculus Quest 2 is by far the most favored VR headset on the market today, thanks to a competitive price of $349 and a rapidly growing library of games and apps on the Oculus platform.
Apple, as always, wants to make its own version of this concept so that it feels completely like an Apple. But we still wonder who the new Apple headset is intended for.
Previous leaks have put the list price of the Apple VR headset at $3,000, while Gurman simply says the device will be “pricey” compared to current competitors. Recently, rumors emerged that the price would be $1000. After the failure of the expensive Magic Leap One AR headset, it would be strange if a
major player like Apple is trying to target the higher segment of the market.
Apple, of course, has an excellent reputation and billions of users around the world. But because Oculus is pretty much synonymous with VR, it’s going to be tough for Apple to do a proper battle… especially not with the pricing rumors we’ve heard so far.
If Apple launched its product and then offered more attractively priced models, it could be possible for Apple to forge a foothold in the world of VR. As long as Apple VR remains a premium product, few will be willing to play VR games on an Apple headset, and very few developers will be willing to invest the time and energy to serve such a small audience.
The real “game developers dream” is not just good hardware, but above all an audience that can appreciate the games.
