Artistic Renders Offer Best Look Yet at Apple's Upcoming AR/VR Headset

Brilliant renders, but I'd be very surprised if this ends up having anything to do with the AR side of things. For VR totally fine, but AR wearables need to blend in - no way in hell will I wear something like that every day.

Where is the snorkel?

Sure it’s a brilliant render, but are we all expected to remove our noses to use these? Surely, these won’t fit snugly against your face without some kind of moulding for the bridge of your nose… 🤷

I finally see a reason to bring back the backlit Apple logo! Hear me out.

When the user is engaged in an activity (not just browsing), the apple logo lights up indicating presence / busy. user is busy, apple logo lights up.

I guess one could infer if the glasses are on, they're in use but I might use mine to sleep with at my desk. The boss should know if I'm sleeping or working based on the apple logo.

Perfect for ski season.

Why would apple make this? They have never been into niche products (unless you count the HomePod) and usually the niche for this kind of product is for gamers. A niche within a niche. When have apple ever cared about serious gaming?

The AR glasses make way more sense and has a much broader appeal. I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a pair of goggles personally

Why? For starters, I suspect this has little to do with gaming and everything to do with how we will interface with tech in the near future. Approve or not, AR/VR are the next wave. An inevitable wave that can't be stopped. And there is no turning back. Apple knows this, has seen this, has planned for this and will profit insanely from this. As WIRED posits ('https://www.wired.com/story/big-tech-metaverse-internet-consolidation-business/'), they metaverse is "made for companies, not people."

Your perspective is perfectly understandable and not unlike the sentiment that dominates the lead up to literally every single new product/category pre-launch from Apple. It can be difficult to understand a new use case because most use case considerations are informed by past definitions of "use case." But Apple doesn't live or think or work in past definitions. That's not their role. It's not their bread and butter. With staggering success, Apple drops a new device that then becomes the de facto standard that is mimicked for the next decade in every industry from tech to auto to kitchen appliances. It's easy to credit Ive's worthy hardware design with Apple success. And while his incredible contribution is certainly a factor (one which has served great inspiration in my own thinking and working), it served more a Trojan Horse for what has always mattered most at Apple: software. For it has been software that has set the expectation for what it means to interface with tech for a massive user base. And Steve knew winning the expectation game, would mean winning the - at that time - Mac/PC war. From toddlers to octogenarians, it has been Apple's software that has so demystified tech: taken what was once intimidating and made it as common as the every day hammer. While there are earlier examples, for me, the iPhone (and iOS) was the shining example of this. Before its launch, every exec was rocking a Blackberry. But not long after the iPhone launch, every exec started to prefer the ease of use of their personal iPhones. Not wanting to carry two phones, they began requesting them as their corp-issue phone. Seemingly overnight, they wanted that same transparent ease-of-use on their corp-issue computer. This forced IT departments to begin supporting both PC and Mac. Today, there has never been more Macs in the corporate sector. All of this was set in motion by deeply understanding the value of winning the earliest part of the consumer journey: expectation. Fast forward, and some thought it ridiculous for a "computer company" to delve into auto infotainment systems. And now you can't buy a new car that doesn't come bundled with CarPlay. Now something as wild as an Apple-branded vehicle begins to make sense. Through this lens, VR goggles seem a laughable no-brainer. And I fully expect we'll all be clamoring for them, in time. Add in Aple's massive, market-shifting, user base and you have a recipe for adoption, transformation, evolution - all of which is known, planned for and reflected in the market.

I could be wrong. Have been many times. But history has been on Apple's side, in this regard, for three decades. I'm interested to see how it all plays out. Been a wild ride thus far. I see no reason that doesn't continue. 😜