Summary
Among the tech giants, Apple seems to be the latest to enter the virtual reality market. Facebook offers the Oculus Rift, Google the Daydream View, Samsung the Gear VR and Microsoft the famous HoloLens. The Apple brand for its part has still not made any announcement relating to this new technology.
For consumers, and more particularly fans of the Cupertino company, this obvious lack of interest is surprising to say the least. At first sight, Apple seems to simply disdain virtual reality. CEO Tim Cook has also said that he does not see the potential of VR, although he admits to being more optimistic about augmented reality. According to him, technology is not able to replace the primordial interactions between human beings. In the face of frustration, some Apple fans go so far as to create their own Apple VR headset concepts themselves.
Apple's secret project for virtual reality
In reality, it is quite possible that Apple is preparing its own virtual reality headset in the greatest of secrets. Since 2013, the firm has been increasing acquisitions of VR / AR companies without revealing its objectives. Likewise, many researchers, programmers and other specialists have been hired in recent years. La Pomme has even gone so far as to recruit people who have worked on the projects of competing firms.
Today, several sources say that Apple would develop on a virtual or augmented reality project in the greatest secrecy. Since last year, hundreds of employees have been working on a new device. For now, the exact nature of this secret project is unknown. Apple would actually try different AR / VR products to determine which one is the most relevant. Several prototypes of VR headsets and AR glasses have reportedly been tested internally.
A revelation at the 2017 keynote?
All of this some rumors seem insufficient to predict in what form Apple will enter the virtual reality or augmented reality market. It is likely that the Apple will finally unveil its device as part of the keynote at the end of 2017. Perhaps the company will manage to create the same surprise effect as with the presentation of the very first iPhone in 2007 , and to democratize virtual reality among the general public.
Rather than a form of disdain, this may be a show of caution on Apple's part. The firm perhaps wishes to wait to see which products manage to stand out in this emerging market, in order to bounce back in turn on this success. Only time will allow us to decipher Apple's mysterious strategy.
