At the writing of this, just days before the 2023 WWDC, it appears all but certain that Apple is going to release a headset AR/VR device. The rumor mill has leaked a steady stream of details about how Apple will approach the headset market. Pancake lenses, 4k per eye, external battery packs, $3000 cost, etc.
There has also been a lot of debate over who will buy such and thing and why. For example, I have seen more than one commenter on various blogs say something like “I am a long time Mac user and bought the first iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad, but I have no interest in a headset.”
Apple must have thought they have solved this somehow. They don’t go to market without some plan, right? Right? RIGHT?
When Steve Jobs announced the iPad, he outlined where Apple expected the iPad to be used, in a niche between the iPhone and the Mac.
Around the time of the Apple Watch launch, Apple started showing the now famous profile picture of the product line, showing a clear progression of how a user moves up to different devices as the tasks get more complex.
According to Rene Richie:
… Apple has this doctrine, I like to ascribe it to the Phil Schiller doctrine, where they will happily cannibalize any of their products with another one of their products … the thinking within Apple, as I understand it, is that the iPad’s job is to get so good that a majority of people no longer need a Mac.
Rene believes Apple has every product team chasing the functionality of the product above them in the hierarchy.
So, where will Apple place the headset?
The obvious place would be somewhere between the iPhone and iPad. After all, that is where it fits (kinda) in physical size. We all picture some future device so light and transparent that we can walk around with “smart glasses” if you will. So this product must be a precursor right?
I think Apple is going to place the headset at the top of the chain, above even the Mac. I don’t think Apple will go so far as to say that the Mac is an accessory to the Headset, but they will demo that you can open up a window in the headset to view the screen of your Mac. The headset will be a great way to use a Mac, you can have as many screens as you want. The various screen mirroring and extending technologies Apple has released in the last few years will be useful here.
I imagine one of several use cases they will demo is sitting down at a desk with a blue tooth keyboard and trackpad mapped into the headset display where you can do the routine tasks we all do, email, web, etc., but with the fun and immersion the headset can provide.
How do you think Apple will place the headset?
Dented Universe 