Apple will take over Meta in virtual reality battle: know-how

Apple Inc. has been rumored to be working on a mixed-reality headset for years. They’re starting to feel quite genuine now.

Microsoft, Alphabet, Snap, and Sony will also be competitors. None of these firms, however, can equal Apple’s mix of design prowess, cutting-edge technology, and a vast network.

Who will win the mixed-reality contest

Apple exhibited an AR/VR (augmented and virtual reality) gadget to its board of directors last week, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, and has a “consumer release slated for 2023.”

Apple is well-positioned to win the mixed-reality contest once the headset is released.

Meta Platforms Inc. is the industry’s major competitor (aka the artist formerly known as Facebook).

Mark Zuckerberg rebranded the firm and claimed to invest $10 billion per year to realize his vision of a virtual reality-enabled metaverse.

And there’s been significant progress: Meta’s Quest 2 sold 8.7 million devices in 2021, more than twice as many as the previous year, and the business now controls 80% of the market.

However, when compared to what Apple has been able to sell in the wearables hardware space, the Quest 2 sales statistic is a drop in the bucket.

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Apple is the only firm that can move high-end consumer hardware at the same speed as Apple.

According to Apple analyst Neil Cybart, Apple will ship over 100 million wearables (Apple Watch, AirPods, and Beats headphones) in 2021, up 4x from 2017. Not to mention the 233 million iPhones it sold last year.

Cybart makes a good case in a May essay that Apple has developed a “decades-long lead in wearables” by pulling together many advantages:

Product development and design

Product development is driven by design: Apple has traditionally been a design-first company that closely integrates design and engineering.

Apple paid $278 million to purchase semiconductor startup PA Semi in 2008. Since then, Apple has released custom-built CPUs for its devices, which are frequently faster than alternatives: A Series (iPad, iPhone), M Series (Mac), S Series (Watch), and W Series (Watch) (AirPods).

Combining function and fashion is critical when it comes to wearables. Jony Ive, a former Apple executive, has nearly mastered this strategy (according to The Information, Ive consulted on Apple’s headset, including critical features like “battery, camera location, and ergonomics”).

The knowledge gained from designing, manufacturing, and distributing all of this wearable technology immediately relates to headsets.

Apple, unlike Meta, has been close about its actual mixed-reality investment, although we may presume it’s significant.

According to Gurman, Apple’s Technology Development Group has 2,000 personnel working on both a mixed-reality (AR/VR) headset and a standalone AR headset (AR overlays “digital information and visuals on top of the actual environment,” unlike full-immersion VR).

Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing