Apple is prepping the release of its new mixed-reality headset, rumored to cost $3,000, and it is already proving controversial, sparking some rebellion inside the company.
Andrew Griffin for Yahoo Finance:
The headset is due to be unveiled to the public in June, according to a number of reports. Apple is hoping that it will be another product line to add to the iPhone and the Mac, and serve as a major new technology platform.
But the project has already sparked some rebellion from inside the company. Various staff within Apple have argued that the headset is not ready, and that launching the version of the product that can ship now is too risky, according to multiple reports…
The headset is facing a number of challenges. It is expected to cost around $3,000, does not have an obvious use, will rely on a battery and is likely to have limited support at its launch.
Some inside the company have argued that Apple would be better to wait until some of the design challenges have been solved, including a bulky design and an external battery that will need regular recharging.
But Apple is seemingly pushing ahead for a launch this year…
Tripp Mickle and Brian X. Chen for The New York Times:
[A]s the company prepares to introduce the headset in June, enthusiasm at Apple has given way to skepticism, said eight current and former employees, who requested anonymity because of Apple’s policies against speaking about future products. There are concerns about the device’s roughly $3,000 price, doubts about its utility and worries about its unproven market.
That dissension has been a surprising change inside a company where employees have built devices — from the iPod to the Apple Watch — with the single-mindedness of a moon mission.
Some employees have defected from the project because of their doubts about its potential, three people with knowledge of the moves said. Others have been fired over the lack of progress with some aspects of the headset, including its use of Apple’s Siri voice assistant, one person said.
Even leaders at Apple have questioned the product’s prospects. It has been developed at a time when morale has been strained by a wave of departures from the company’s design team…
The headset looks like ski goggles. It features a carbon fiber frame, a hip pack with battery support, outward cameras to capture the real world and two 4K displays that can render everything from applications to movies, two of the people said. Users can turn a “reality dial” on the device to increase or decrease real-time video from the world around them.
MacDailyNews Take: The glaring lack of a visionary who is immersed and invested in product design who is a single point of approval – Steve Jobs – means that early adopters have to take Jobs’ place en masse to perform similar functions – albeit over a significantly longer period of time – à la Apple Watch.
“Tim is not a product person.” – Steve Jobs
The Apple Watch certainly found its way – we, the users, were the Apple Watch alpha and beta testers, collectively standing in for Steve Jobs, doing much of what the singular genius would have done before release by brute force and sheer numbers after release. It took four generations of Apple Watch, but we’re here now and we wouldn’t trade the experience for anything! The same goes for Apple Glasses! — MacDailyNews, January 31, 2020
See also: Contrary to popular belief, Steve Jobs knew about Apple Watch – February 13, 2023
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