Regardless of the future of the device, it’s been a long way for Apple to get here. ARKit was released in 2017 and is on version 6 by now, so far mostly for gimmicks. The same is true for the lidar sensor on every iPhone and iPad Pros: consumers have been bearing cost of R&D and establishing the supply chain for years. Also don’t forget binaural spatial audio: though quite cool on its own in the AirPods, it is clear that AR/VR is the application it shines. Finally, Apple Silicon’s absolute performance and performance per watt gives them an definite edge over competitors.
Although not needing handheld controllers is quite an Apple move, I am personally disappointed that the UX is not more spatial, but rather floating traditional 2D interfaces. As users of the first gen bear more of the initial manufacturing and R&D cost, let’s hope Apple can further iterate on the ideas, and also reduce costs for a proper consumer-range model.
All new paradigms heavily crib from the original while finding their place. I fully expect this will fall away within 5 years if there’s a healthy adoption.
Although not needing handheld controllers is quite an Apple move, I am personally disappointed that the UX is not more spatial, but rather floating traditional 2D interfaces. As users of the first gen bear more of the initial manufacturing and R&D cost, let’s hope Apple can further iterate on the ideas, and also reduce costs for a proper consumer-range model.