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Apple Mixed-Reality Headset Rumored to Cost ~$1,500 to Manufacture

magicschoolbus said:
im struggling to find a use case for this
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Lol oh god these comments kill me. Basically “I have no real information. I haven’t seen the product. I haven’t used the product. I do struggle to see how I could use this thing”. Well…yeah? Right now it’s an imaginary thing. Kinda makes sense you dont see a place for a product in your life you haven’t even seen working
 
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Nebrie said:
Apple lost money on every single Airpods it sold for the first few months because the designers refused to compromise on the curvature of the case. No one has a clue what these things are going to actually cost.
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This is cool and I believe you! Can you find a source for me? I wanna read more about this
 
Ghost31 said:
Lol oh god these comments kill me. Basically “I have no real information. I haven’t seen the product. I haven’t used the product. I do struggle to see how I could use this thing”. Well…yeah? Right now it’s an imaginary thing. Kinda makes sense you dont see a place for a product in your life you haven’t even seen working
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Well, no one knows what this product is going to be like, including those who have come to the conclusion that it's going to change the world and be the next iPhone. It's not just the "naysayers" who are making assumptions.
 
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KaiFiMacFan said:
Well, no one knows what this product is going to be like, including those who have come to the conclusion that it's going to change the world and be the next iPhone. It's not just the naysayers who are making assumptions.
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couldnt agree more. On the other hand, when you have a company with such a track record for success as apple, I’d wager those making the assumption it’ll be a success are probably erring on the safe side. Apple has been working on this product in “secret” for almost a decade and devoted billions of dollars developing this idea. I’d be pretty shocked if this was released and everybody was like “nah it sucks” and we never heard about it again.

personally, I'm open to any possibility. It could be a success or a failure. Or even something in the middle where it’s just kind of meh. But if you’ve been around over the years and seen these same recycled responses play out, calling the product useless or a failure before it even launches, it does get A bit nauseating to watch. I’m typing on an ipad everyone called a failure before launch. I’m wearing an Apple Watch everybody (including myself) said was gonna be a stupid product. Now it saves lives. The list goes on and on.
 
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Ghost31 said:
As some of us older people have seen over the years, people have been quick to judge something before it’s even on the market. So myopic. People said the first iphone was going to fail because it didn’t have a hardware keyboard. It didn’t even have 3g or picture messaging. Or an App Store! It basically existed to lay a foundation to build on. Same for Apple Watch and “why do I need a watch? I tell time on my phone just fine. Nobody wears watches anymore”. Or ipad and “I don’t need a big iPhone”.

at least wait a year or two after product release to have a final opinion on the damn product
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I don't disagree with you that nobody knows what will be the outcome of this new tech (provided it gets announced), but to the commenter's point there are just as many new techs that have failed than there has been ones that succeeded - no matter how big or small the trend/fad/hype is or was.

Smart phones that were judged subpar because the reference point at the time was the Blackberry is a good example, and another counterpoint could be made with 3DTVs and voice assistants/smart speakers.

Time will tell.
 
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Unless Apple has found a novel use case for these things, I don’t think they have much of a chance of success Based on other similar products. If they cost $3000 that will really hurt them as you can buy other brands for around $1000 or less. Also VR glasses have mainly been for gaming, which Apple is lacking. Let’s see Apple’s pitch for them and see if they have a unique take.
 
crsh1976 said:
I don't disagree with you that nobody knows what will be the outcome of this new tech (provided it gets announced), but to the commenter's point there are just as many new techs that have failed than there has been ones that succeeded - no matter how big or small the trend/fad/hype is or was.

Smart phones that weren't judged subpar because the reference point at the time was the Blackberry is a good example, and another counterpoint could be made with 3DTVs and voice assistants/smart speakers.

Time will tell.
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Too true. 3d tv’s are a great example of something the industry pushed HARD. Remember going to Best Buy and you see wall to wall 3d tv’s and the associates trying to get you to put on glasses and try it out? I even remember considering buying a sony camera that had 2 lenses to record 3d videos. But i held back on any of that because as much as the concept seemed like a neat idea, actually using it was just lame. Some of the glasses actually required batteries and that you sync it with your tv, which further confused the process and the demo videos made it look like the experience would be amazing. Like holy crap these fish are just flying out at me! But reality the 3d effect was barely noticeable. Just made me cross eyed by the end of it lol

augmented reality is interesting because conceptually, we’ve seen its utility in sci if movies our entire lives. Star trek’s holodeck, minority report, altered carbon. The biggest problems, like 3d TV’s, is the technology to make it something we give a damn about. If you boil it down, it’s really just seeing virtual objects in the real world. Do we really not see a use for that? In education? In specialized work roles? Remember iron man? I mean damn. Imagine taking apart a car piece by piece right in front of you, understanding the functions, and running real time simulations to build something new.

Or…just the basics. Like how Kodak went out of business basically overnight when smartphones became the new go to camera, augmented reality glasses could be that for the tv business. Have a pair of glasses you can just put on when you come home and you have a full movie theater experience you can pin anywhere in your room. Or even take with you and have the internet or youtube pinned in another area of the room Scrolling with a small device like a ring or touchpad.

The implementation from everyone else has sucked. But the concept is there. If apple can nail the actual function of this and work it into our daily lives, yeah. i can see how this would be industry changing
 
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First - this is a gen one product. It will only sell to hardcore Apple fans (which includes me) just like every other gen one Apple product. First gen iPhone was 2x the cost of gen 2 and almost no one bought one.

I can imagine them selling this for $1899-$2299. Very low margin for Apple, yes, but the BOM will fall pretty quickly. And they need to undercut the rumored $3000 price by a bit to attract people like me. I'm excited by what they end up releasing.
 
williamkey123 said:
First - this is a gen one product. It will only sell to hardcore Apple fans (which includes me) just like every other gen one Apple product. First gen iPhone was 2x the cost of gen 2 and almost no one bought one.

I can imagine them selling this for $1899-$2299. Very low margin for Apple, yes, but the BOM will fall pretty quickly. And they need to undercut the rumored $3000 price by a bit to attract people like me. I'm excited by what they end up releasing.
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I honestly wonder if since this is such a new product for them that they want the public to access, if they would maybe do something similiar to how PlayStation sells consoles at a loss in the beginning to get the product out there. Buy the hardware, make up the difference PLUS more on the backend from software and services. Maybe have a specialized software suit for reality OS that is amazingly functional that people will pay for.

I mean crap. I remember people in the beginning speculating the first ipad was gonna be $2,000. Then it came and i think it was $499 at launch? Shocked everybody. Different situation but ya never know
 
iamgalt said:
You have a (rumored) $3000/month mortgage payment? 😲 Even if Apple sells it at cost; you have a $1500/month mortgage payment? How oversized of a house do you have?
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How do you know maybe he lives in a cardboard box in San Francisco.
 
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senttoschool said:
There's just not a huge market for it.
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We all know the endgame is lightweight, comfortable AR glasses you wear on your face. It's very believable that Apple understands the iterations of this product to take 5-10 years until we get there. Apple has more than enough funds to develop and sell this product for the next 5-10 years. Also, this product is for developers because we need content before consumers will jump aboard. All of that tells me that you right about the market size now but this market will change a lot in about 3-5 years and Apple is just getting into the game a little earlier (some would say they are already late) than they usually do.
 
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Ghost31 said:
couldnt agree more. On the other hand, when you have a company with such a track record for success as apple, I’d wager those making the assumption it’ll be a success are probably erring on the safe side. Apple has been working on this product in “secret” for almost a decade and devoted billions of dollars developing this idea. I’d be pretty shocked if this was released and everybody was like “nah it sucks” and we never heard about it again.

personally, I'm open to any possibility. It could be a success or a failure. Or even something in the middle where it’s just kind of meh. But if you’ve been around over the years and seen these same recycled responses play out, calling the product useless or a failure before it even launches, it does get A bit nauseating to watch. I’m typing on an ipad everyone called a failure before launch. I’m wearing an Apple Watch everybody (including myself) said was gonna be a stupid product. Now it saves lives. The list goes on and on.
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Yeah, I do think their success rate is fairly high and I'm sure people said similar things about each of these new products. I think some of the naysaying around the goggles comes from the rumored price. The iPad, Watch, and iPhone were all much more affordable at launch. Obviously we don't know what the price will be, but I feel like there'd be a lot less negativity around this product if the rumored price were much lower. The rumored price seems to create an immediate sense of resentment, a sense of "this product isn't for me".

I was fairly young when most of these new products were introduced, so I can't say I had much opinion on whether they would succeed or fail. The HomePod is something that when it was announced, I thought it was too expensive for what it was and I couldn't see myself using it. And well, it ended up being discontinued (and then brought back with minimal change, but it still kind of languishes in the product line and didn't revolutionize the smart speaker market). It's still a product I'm not interested in, mainly because it's Siri-controlled, and I don't think Siri is very good (I'm also an audiophile so I have my own speaker setup that I would never replace with a "smart" one). A HomePod with a screen or a combination HomePod-AppleTV is something I could get on board with. But the HomePod is an example of a product I didn't think of much of at its launch and I still don't think much of. So it can happen. Not all Apple products are bangers or win me over, but I guess we will see if this one does.
 
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senttoschool said:
This thing is DOA. Meta has all but given up on VR. Microsoft exited its HoloLens investment as well. Even Google just recently decided to cancel their entire Google Glasses project (remember that?).

Wallstreet investors now see VR as a huge negative on tech stocks. In 2021, releasing this thing would have probably boosted Apple's stock. In 2023, this will drag Apple's stock down.

People refer to the Apple Watch as a device that took a few generations to become popular. But we've had a century of demand for a wearable device on your wrist. The Watch had a huge market. VR has a tiny market in comparison. If Apple doesn't sell enough, I can easily see them canceling the project after 2-3 generations.
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Hooray - - it's always great to have one of this type of short-sighted posts on any new Apple product line, so that it can be endlessly quoted for decades to come!

Thank-you so much sentoschool.

:)
 
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Ghost31 said:
Too true. 3d tv’s are a great example of something the industry pushed HARD. Remember going to Best Buy and you see wall to wall 3d tv’s and the associates trying to get you to put on glasses and try it out? I even remember considering buying a sony camera that had 2 lenses to record 3d videos. But i held back on any of that because as much as the concept seemed like a neat idea, actually using it was just lame. Some of the glasses actually required batteries and that you sync it with your tv, which further confused the process and the demo videos made it look like the experience would be amazing. Like holy crap these fish are just flying out at me! But reality the 3d effect was barely noticeable. Just made me cross eyed by the end of it lol
Click to expand...
3-D television failed for one reason: you needed to wear special glasses to see the 3-D effect. That was a terrible idea in sum total. 4K did not fail for the exact opposite reason.

But like I said earlier, the mixed reality headset from Apple is going to be sold primarily (for now) as a device for developers, so by the time a far less expensive model is available at around US$1,100, there will be plentiful apps to take advantage of the device.
 
Ghost31 said:
I honestly wonder if since this is such a new product for them that they want the public to access, if they would maybe do something similiar to how PlayStation sells consoles at a loss in the beginning to get the product out there. Buy the hardware, make up the difference PLUS more on the backend from software and services. Maybe have a specialized software suit for reality OS that is amazingly functional that people will pay for.

I mean crap. I remember people in the beginning speculating the first ipad was gonna be $2,000. Then it came and i think it was $499 at launch? Shocked everybody. Different situation but ya never know
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WWDC is streamed but it isn't an event for the public. This product is for developers, not the public. And Apple never sells anything at a loss. They don't think like that. They develop and spend R&D funds at a loss but not products. The product that this will become in 5-10 years will be unrecognizable from what they will be introducing about 2 weeks from now. Apple is skating 5-10 years ahead of the puck right now.
 
SactoGuy18 said:
3-D television failed for one reason: you needed to wear special glasses to see the 3-D effect. That was a terrible idea in sum total. 4K did not fail for the exact opposite reason.

But like I said earlier, the mixed reality headset from Apple is going to be sold primarily (for now) as a device for developers, so by the time a far less expensive model is available at around US$1,100, there will be plentiful apps to take advantage of the device.
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I disgress, the headset isn't likely aimed at developers, but Apple needs to get developers onboard and provide them with tools (dev kits and software) to make this new niche take off.

If 3DTV failed because one had to wear glasses (which is true), lousy or inexistent software to make the AR/VR headset useful could just as much be its fatal shortcoming.

Again, hoping Apple has something good planned to make this thing shine.
 
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I’m gonna make some predictions

2023: headset is unveiled. A mix of two opinions

“Lot of cool ideas in there i didnt expect! Still not the product for me but neat regardless. Appealing to small market”

”Thats it? What a garbage product. It’s overly expensive and nobody is gonna use this. No apps!

2024:

”they added a couple things weve even asking for since launch and thats much appreciated. More accessory options are nice as well as a cheaper version. I might give it a try at some point”

”FAILURE. Nobody likes it. See? It didnt sell 10 million the first year. Cant believe apple launched it like this”

2025:

”love the new reality pro lite. Finally they make it financially accessible for normal people! Much lighter weight and more usable. I use this for class as well as just at home messing around. I use my iPhone and ipad a lot less now i notice as the new version has its own processor and does a lot of what i want. I only pick up my iphone when I’m on the go“

”its ok. It’s definitely gotten better. Maybe I’ll give it a try at some point”

2026:

“its hard to imagine life without augmented reality. Now google and Microsoft have their own offerings that are actually good. I love just looking at something in the real world and the system overlays important information over it that i can interact with. Before i would have had to take my phone out and search but this is so much more interactive. The sharing features are cool too“

”i never said apple’s headset was gonna fail. I was smart to delete my comments and nobody can prove otherwise. Augmented reality has always made sense”
 
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iamgalt said:
You have a (rumored) $3000/month mortgage payment? 😲 Even if Apple sells it at cost; you have a $1500/month mortgage payment? How oversized of a house do you have?
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That would be a small house in Northern California (Bay Area)....that is how much rents are for a full house.
 
I bought the first oculus and although it was relatively cheap, like most people i thought the graphics were rubbish, they weren't lifelike enough to immerse you in anything, and the headset was too big and bulky to wear for long periods. It sounds like apple might have improved on both of those things, so who knows, maybe VR will finally start taking off
 
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