Apple MR headset project beset by technical and leadership issues

Apple has reportedly struggled to get its secretive mixed-reality headset project off the ground amid both technical and leadership challenges, though the device may still see a 2023 release.

The iPhone maker has been rumored to be working on a high-end headset device that combines both augmented and virtual reality functionalities. However, a new report from The Information details some of the struggles Apple has faced developing the device.

For one, the group behind the headset is reportedly isolated from the rest of Apple. CEO Tim Cook is said to "rarely" visit the team and hasn't been active in the project. Former Dolby executive Mike Rockwell, who leads the team, has had to fight to receive assistance from other parts of the company.

The team working on the project is also said to work out of offices in Sunnyvale that are several miles away from Apple Park. That added to the project's "invisibility to the rest of Apple."

Apple has been working on the project for years. In 2016, for example, it gave Apple board members a sneak peek at early iterations of the device. At the time, most of the prototypes were jury-rigged — and included variants that were based on the HTC Vive or ran Microsoft Windows.

Former Apple design chief Jony Ive also had reservations about the project, apparently shooting down the idea of a dedicated VR headset because such devices "alienated users from other people by cutting them off from the outside world, made users look unfashionable and lacked practical uses."

The hesitation to do a full VR headset is why led to the idea of a mixed-reality device.

Other design challenges included working with the headset's battery technology. Team members wanted to incorporate swappable batteries in the wearable to allow users to wear it for hours at a time. However, that idea was scrapped and the headset is now said to have a battery that lasts "several hours." Sources claim that the device could still see a release in the second half of 2023.

This is not the first report that has shed light on Apple's apparent headset struggles. Bloomberg previously detailed issues with the wearable ranging from camera problems to challenges related to overheating.

18 Comments

blastdoor 15 Years · 3594 comments

About 2 years ago

re:

Former Apple design chief Jony Ive also had reservations about the project, apparently shooting down the idea of a dedicated VR headset because such devices "alienated users from other people by cutting them off from the outside world, made users look unfashionable and lacked practical uses."

I get that. But... I just happened to talk to a friend who ordered an Oculus because she experienced using one first hand and was absolutely blown away by it. This friend is (1) over 50, (2) generally very focused on her appearance (this is a girly girl, not a nerd girl), and (3) not at all technical. She just found the experience so incredibly compelling that she had to have it. She had never even heard of Oculus before and knew very little about VR.

I know it's one data point, but it was so different from what I expected that I am really reconsidering the merits of the Ive-style argument. I think he might be really wrong about how widespread the appeal of VR might be.

If Apple can offer something technically superior to Oculus (and I'm sure they can), at a decent price, and marketed with the usual Apple marketing, I think they could do very well.

It's a shame that the person leading the effort doesn't have the ability to make that case to senior management.

byronl 4 Years · 377 comments

About 2 years ago

this project has been postponed by a year every year for the past five years…

mpantone 18 Years · 2254 comments

About 2 years ago

blastdoor said:

If Apple can offer something technically superior to Oculus (and I'm sure they can), at a decent price, and marketed with the usual Apple marketing, I think they could do very well.

Disclaimer: I own an Oculus Rift S.

The VR hardware itself works adequately even though it's still in its infancy from a consumer standpoint.

I'm sure Apple can make something better than what I currently own. However it won't be cheaper, not with Apple's business model and gross margins that's for sure.

The bigger problem is the current lack of compelling content. I have a few games and the only one that truly stands out is Half-Life: Alyx. There are other environments and scenarios such as sitting in a virtual living room and watching 3D movies and videos or exercise apps.

My main issue with the technology is that I hate HMDs, headphones, skiing goggles, scuba masks, etc. They aren't comfortable.

blastdoor said:

It's a shame that the person leading the effort doesn't have the ability to make that case to senior management.

My guess is that most of Apple's senior management team have tried the various competitors' HMDs as well as various kinds of content. For a brief interval there were HMDs that accommodated smartphones (like Google Cardboard and more carefully crafted ones); I had a Mattel one that looked like the old school View-Master. I no longer own the View-Master since it only accommodated a handful of iPhone models, none of which I still own.

I believe PS4 has a VR option; Sony has announced VR coming for PS5.

And let's not forget Nintendo Virtual Boy (1995).

There were also "arcade" implementations of VR like the Aladdin Magic Carpet ride at Disney's EPCOT Center also back in the mid-Nineties so it's not like VR is new tech. Apple execs should be familiar with it.

It's worth pointing out that recent market studies have shown that most VR headsets end up collecting dust after a short spurt of interest. Again, I think this tied heavily to the lack of compelling content and experiences. It's not like anyone is going to use a VR HMD to watch a regular 2D movie or listen to Spotify.

paulalex 15 Years · 5 comments

About 2 years ago

I think one thing that the article fails to mention is context. I'd be curious to know when Jony Ive made the following comment of "alienated users from other people by cutting them off from the outside world, made users look unfashionable and lacked practical uses." This statement was actually quite true in 2016 when the first generation of modern VR (ex. HTC Vive, Oculus Rift) came out. At that time, the VR hype was out of control about what VR could do, and Ive's reflections were spot on.

However, those issues that Ive speaks of are gradually being addressed with new tech/features such as pass-through cameras (ex. Varijo XR), smaller and lighter form factors (ex. pancake lenses), standalone models (ex. Quest 2), and an increasing number of social, game, educational, and business apps. Personally, I use a variety of XR (XR is a kind of umbrella term for all things MR-VR-AR-360) headsets, platforms, and apps for education and research.

That said, the future of XR looks bright. With respect to XR headsets, I anticipate that we'll be introduced to 3rd generation headsets within the next year (to note, an XR generation is currently about 3 years long). Companies such as Apple, Valve, Meta, Pimax and others are all rumoured to be working on various next-gen tech such as eye-tracking, foveated rendering, face and full-body tracking, and so forth. Even though recent articles indicate that Apple is struggling with their XR headset, I imagine that they are getting closer to finishing their headset, along with tweaking their operating system (ex. rOS) and XR app store.

When Apple and other companies eventually do introduce their next-gen XR headsets, I suspect most of the issues that Jony Ive originally stated will be sorted out for the most part ~

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