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[Buggy Loop]

So, first things first, there's no fucking way i'm ever buying a $3k USD VR headset in my life. Is that clear? I'm in no way trying to convince anyone to buy this crazy product.

But

I think the tech they'll present will be ahead of everything we've seen so far. That's exciting. I don't need to OWN the tech to appreciate tech, otherwise i would piss on any high end cars.
This headset will likely define what the competition will try to copy and to offer for cheaper prices in the next years to come.

A few rumored specs :

• Displays : Micro-OLED 5000 nits 4k resolution per eye (8k!)
• 120-degrees FOV, this is PIMAX (most of their lineup) territories, or Varjo Aero. Ahead of Index.
• Two (2) M2 chips
• Waist mounted battery to alleviate weight. Connected via a mag-safe like power cable
• 12 cameras for passthrough. ISP chip for low-latency color passthrough for AR.
• Ultra-low latency connection with 2nd gen airpods pro or future airpod models. No 3.5mm jack (duh apple)
• No controllers per say, but some hand tracking with finger rings.
• Automatic IPD adjustment
• Eye tracking + foveated rendering
• Retina scan. This is Apple's unlocking method, you put the headset and off it goes, same with purchases.
• LIDAR room scanners to have room tracking in 3D
• Carbon fiber / Aluminum / Glass chassis for light weight
• Presence displays. Now this is a big WTF. There's an outward facing display that show the user's facial expression and eye movements.

Form factor. This is likely the smaller form factor with wide FOV by far.

Hand tracking is native but the rings from the patents enhance the precision by detecting the capacitive effects of gestures

Has haptics and accelerometers for to capture amplitudes.

Will the outward facing LCD look like ready player one?

Apple is rumoured to also integrate VR on all of their product stacks, be it iPad apps in a sort of AR/VR hybrid, wellness apps for AR training, portal to watch sports with presence in stadium, video conferencing and virtual meeting rooms, Apple TV or any watching of videos in virtual environments.

While Apple is not expecting this thing to fly off the shelves due to pricing, there's already inside info that they are at work for a cheaper (half price) version in 2024.

The optics are probably the biggest driver of the price, micro-OLEDS 5000 nits 4k displays are unheard of as of now. They worked with TSMC to develop this. In comparison, anything micro-OLED with half resolution and half nits right now are headsets in the >$1.5k range. The price will drop once there's mass production but it's not there yet. Bigscreen CEO for the Beyond headset talked about this recently, the pricing will lower in coming year or so for these displays.

Like i said earlier, there's no way i would buy this at $3k. But damnit, as an engineer, i love it when companies go BALLS TO THE WALL crazy with groundbreaking tech.

Let's see how many of those rumors end up true on Monday.

 

[Raonak]

I tried, but I just can't seem to get enthused by anything apple related sorry

 

[Shatohin]

A day one purchase for me, because I love new VR tech since 2013.

 

[Buggy Loop]

I tried, but I just can't seem to get enthused by anything apple related sorry

You don’t need to buy a MacBook to appreciate the tech they put in their M2 processors for example. I see Apple VR like that, it’ll be a glimpse of tech. It’s no different than seeing these modular wall TVs that are too expensive for the plebs, but it’s nice to see the tech and understand why it’s relevant for the future.

I do think that Apple VR will change VR, even if it’s via competition copying.

One thing that will likely come out of this is that, these displays will come close to what it’s like to see in real-life and stop seeing those screen door effects and so on.

A day one purchase for me, because I love new VR tech since 2013.

Wow

 

[Buggy Loop]

A feel of a micro-OLED high nits 4K display



Game changer tech

 

[Spyxos]

No controllers and just these rings, I can't imagine it being good for gaming right now.

 

[Buggy Loop]

No controllers and just these rings, I can't imagine it being good for gaming right now.

This is Apple though, i don't see them fucking up the human interface.

There's many solutions possible to move in VR with hand tracking or even with the rings. You could snap an anchor point between thumb and finger and slide it around or it could even be by the position of your thumb against a finger with the capacitive rings. I don't know, i'm not an human interface engineer, but i'll give it to Apple, so far, they never fucked that up.

 

[Griffon]

No controllers and just these rings, I can't imagine it being good for gaming right now.

Yeah... I'd understand if there were no rings.

But having to carry and wear weird rings will be just as cumbersome as picking up controllers, for lesser benefits.

 

[THE DUCK]

If it's groundbreaking and 3k in price, not sure very many people will.care. But get it down to 1k or 2k, maybe? Maybe Apple tricked everyone and it's $699.......

 

[lmimmfn]

I heard its resolution is higher than reality, I'm in!!!

 

[Maddux4164]

Apple has planned this for well over half a decade. If not longer.

No. I’ll not be spending $3k. But I’m definitely excited to see what they’ve come up with. Will be watching for sure.

 

[Trogdor1123]

2 m2 chips? I might have to buy it then

 

[Ansphn]

Content is king even in VR.

 

[Sleepwalker]

So excited for this, im not buying it but it will most likely shape the future of mainstream VR

 

[Johnny Concrete]

No controllers and just these rings, I can't imagine it being good for gaming right now.

No, but you can do this in VR meetings:

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I tried, but I just can't seem to get enthused by anything apple related sorry

That’s alright, some people hate progress as well.

 

[diffusionx]

I still don’t think this is going to be a $3k headset, it will be like $1800 and the tech sites will be like “wow, Apple really got the price down, so aggressive.” This is always how they operate and all these tech sites are Apple simps first and foremost.

I also fully expect it to legitimize the market the way they did with mp3 players, smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, etc.

 

[ahtlas7]

A feel of a micro-OLED high nits 4K display



Game changer tech

My Vive is crying in the corner.

That’s some sweet tech!

 

[Buggy Loop]

I still don’t think this is going to be a $3k headset, it will be like $1800 and the tech sites will be like “wow, Apple really got the price down, so aggressive.” This is always how they operate and all these tech sites are Apple simps first and foremost.

I also fully expect it to legitimize the market the way they did with mp3 players, smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, etc.

If they pull off that kind of tactic, it would make all high end headsets irrelevant overnight. I would maybe consider it at that price if rumours are even close to true. Although, it would need a form of PCVR connectivity even if it’s streaming ala Quest. I wouldn’t give Half Life Alyx up.

 

[Fredrik]

Content is king even in VR.

Exactly. I love VR but I’ve decided to not buy any new VR device until the big devs decide to invest properly in VR with their top devs. At the moment the most interesting stuff comes through modders. And Apple will likely lock things up to their Appstore and that means no PCVR. Pay $3k to play mobile games? Nah.

Still excited to see new tech!

 

[Pagusas]

im excited, not for this, but for whatever the v2 will be. I'm a person who won't flinch at buying a 4090 and a water block to go on it, and get every new iphone, but even I can't justify 3k for a VR headset

 

[TrueLegend]

Apple needs success.... It is currently on blackberry curve of failure

 

[Sakura]

How would 2 M2 chips power 8k? I imagine this thing would be mostly for mixed reality rather than any serious gaming, so I don't think I'd be interested even if it was much cheaper than 3k.

 

[THE DUCK]

I still don’t think this is going to be a $3k headset, it will be like $1800 and the tech sites will be like “wow, Apple really got the price down, so aggressive.” This is always how they operate and all these tech sites are Apple simps first and foremost.

I also fully expect it to legitimize the market the way they did with mp3 players, smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, etc.

It may first, but perhaps in an unexpected way. I think they are trying to get it to replace the PC, where people tend to spend a bit more. If it's super comfortable, puts up a variable high res display, plus has some AR benefits, and is cool and quiet, some might embrace it.
The only thing is it's a bit of a hard sell like a 3K macbook pro, you might have some professionals buy it but then you have to get that price to down for a broad market. Keep in mind the iphone launched at $599, not $1800. Even with inflation that's way more mass market than $1800.
Same with Ipods and the ipad, they were still mass market.

 

[Apocryphon]

How would 2 M2 chips power 8k? I imagine this thing would be mostly for mixed reality rather than any serious gaming, so I don't think I'd be interested even if it was much cheaper than 3k.

The M2 Mac Mini and MacBook Pros support 8K displays. A single M2 can playback two streams of 8K ProRes 422, or 12 streams of 4K ProRes 422. I don’t think we’ll see much in terms of gaming prowess, but for media consumption it could be interesting. Too expensive though, but it’s success will give us an indication of the direction VR/AR will go in longer term.

 

[FunkMiller]

Whatever the tech, it’s going to flop badly. 3k is a silly price.

And it doesn’t sound like it’s made for gaming, given it has no controllers.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Gonna be a beast for sure...maybe one day I'll get to see it with my own eyes

 

[UnNamed]

They can make the best device possibile with the best tech possibile, but it will be useless if they won't convince us on why we should by their vr headset and what innovations it brings.

 

[Buggy Loop]

How would 2 M2 chips power 8k? I imagine this thing would be mostly for mixed reality rather than any serious gaming, so I don't think I'd be interested even if it was much cheaper than 3k.

Foveated rendering for sure and likely ML upscaling.

They can make the best device possibile with the best tech possibile, but it will be useless if they won't convince us on why we should by their vr headset and what innovations it brings.

You or me are not the target audience. But peoples will buy it.. and again like 1.2K iPhone or $800 watches, there will head scratchers on how we got there, but it will sell for sure.

The displays will drop in price like a brick in a year or so. Should start seeing copycats or even apple’s v2 much cheaper.

Micro-OLED is brand new tech, literally etching the OLED on the silicon wafer, it’s costly.

 

[Buggy Loop]

By the way, there’s a rumour that tomorrow Apple will have an exclusive VR game from Kojima, I shit you not. If they pull that off, the shockwave might melt this board

No man sky is for sure on this thing as the creator keeps hyping up the conference tomorrow. If the controls work for No man sky, I think there’s something we don’t understand from the rings / hand tracking that will likely be ground breaking tech.

 

[AJUMP23]

3000 dollars.

 

[Markio128]

By the way, there’s a rumour that tomorrow Apple will have an exclusive VR game from Kojima, I shit you not. If they pull that off, the shockwave might melt this board

If that’s true, then he’s going to be a very busy man, what with DS2, the MS cloud game and now an exclusive Apple VR game.

 

[nemiroff]

Was that 3K rumor ever substantiated though? Where's it coming from?

 

[Cre8]

3000 dollars.

 

[justonething]

3000 dollars.

It love you long time. It sucky-sucky.

 

[onnextflix5]

3k with no controllers lol, hope it fails hard, they are gonna be forced to add controllers when they realise there is only so much you can do hands free

 

[poppabk]

3k with no controllers lol, hope it fails hard, they are gonna be forced to add controllers when they realise there is only so much you can do hands free

Don't think they are selling this as a gaming device, more of a virtual display for doing regular computer type things but with the versatility of AR/VR.

 

[Gorgon]

3k with no controllers lol, hope it fails hard, they are gonna be forced to add controllers when they realise there is only so much you can do hands free

Maybe the target market is porn.

 

[Neilg]

I'll probably end up with this shortly after release - I've got a valve index, vive pro quest pro, varjo aero & xr-3 all taking up space in my home office.
I don't even play video games on them and I think VR is stupid, but I got roped into a VR project at work so now I'm drowning in headsets.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Maybe the target market is porn.

Hmmm haptic feedback rings

 

[Romulus]

My budget has improved since I do very little console gaming anymore, so I might bite if they drop the price within a year and it has some solid applications.

Whatever it is, it'll probably have some technical attributes that even PSVR3, Quest 3/4 many future headsets won't have, and some of those are 5+ years away.

 

[gothmog]

If this has any kind of next gen virtual desktop application I might bite. The quest 2 works well but I get fatigued after an hour or two. If this thing can give me a nice work desktop without making me feel like I'm in a dark theater we might have a winner.

 

[poppabk]

If this has any kind of next gen virtual desktop application I might bite. The quest 2 works well but I get fatigued after an hour or two. If this thing can give me a nice work desktop without making me feel like I'm in a dark theater we might have a winner.

I'm pretty sure it will be able to create a virtual desktop floating in your room with a screen approximating 1440p or higher.

 

[SuperSaiyanWithDreads]

3k is too much for me right now but it’s good they’re pushing the technology itself. Technology like this being pushed will eventually lead to sword art online and that one episode of black mirror. It’s already pre-destined.

 

[EverydayBeast]

The key to the Wii’s motion success was being included with the console, but Sony made psvr in the conversation.

 

[sankt-Antonio]

4K per eye is not 8K. its still 4K.

Curious what a lightweight top of the line device could do for human machine interface of cars.

 

[UnNamed]

You or me are not the target audience. But peoples will buy it.. and again like 1.2K iPhone or $800 watches, there will head scratchers on how we got there, but it will sell for sure.

You can't say.

I wasn't the target for Apple before the Iphone reveal, but innovations in UI and user experience made me want to buy an Iphone, not the price or the specs, but the way Apple made complicated things easy with IOS and the tech they used.
I wasn't the target for Nintendo, but the clever use for the motion control , which wasn't invented by Nintendo but it was already around in other forms, turned me in a Wii customer.

So I can't say I'm not the target for their VR/AR headset, if there are the same innovations like Iphone and Wii and other products, I could be their customer. So, as I said, I don't care about 4k screens, CPUs and other shits, I want to see if this device will bring something new or it's just a Meta Quest but more powerful and expensive. In that case, I don't care about Quest as I won't care about Apple VR.

 

[Buggy Loop]

4K per eye is not 8K. its still 4K.

Curious what a lightweight top of the line device could do for human machine interface of cars.

And you have to render for 4K only you think?

If Sony marketing and all media put the PSVR 2 as 4K combined with 2000 x 2040 pixels per eyes,

We can say the headset is « 8k » with the 4000 x 4000 pixels per eyes.

33M pixels for an 8k TV and 32M pixels in your face for VR. You can argue semantics all you want, VR headsets have used total pixels for years to call 2k or 4K or 8k.

 

[X-Wing]

Can't wait for Monday. Apple is one of the most innovative tech companies out there, so I'm sure whatever they come up with, it will be good.

 

[cyberheater]

The lack of physical controllers is disappointing. I’m sure the VR device is going to be fantastic.