Apple VR

Hardware & Tech Questions
1

Mixed augmented and virtual headset, useful if you want to sell your kids and your car to buy one. Will have brushed aluminum, be silky smooth to hold, not support any software and will claim to ‘Invent VR’ when launched. :wink:

The way I see it, anything at all in this market is a good thing. They can build it out of diamonds and gold, just as long as the tech keeps alive a bit longer. Best guess is they are going to pitch it as an ‘ultimate monitor’ for existing 2D software, where industrial designers etc will find a use perhaps. The use of AR is going to be to get away from that ‘closed off’ feeling of using VR. It’s probably not going to run Beat Saber at launch, but who knows…

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2

You forgot that it will connect via a new cable port that isn’t standard, or you can get a dongle to convert to USB-C for $59.99 and it will require a proprietary charger/power supply unit. :sweat_smile:

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3

My sentiments, exactly

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4

Same here. Every VR device is good as it makes the market more diverse and moves more focus to VR.

5

I regard Apple products the way @schurem does Pineapple Pizza. Apple the fruit however is fine.

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6

I personally like Apple products, and especially their iOS offerings because they work with minimal effort on my part, and integrate seamlessly with each other.

The iPad has changed everything in the cockpit (we use 2 iPads in each airplane for charts, aircraft docs, oceanic plotting, displaying flight plans etc etc). Amazing really when you consider it is an off the shelf product that wasn’t designed for aviation use. It wasn’t all that long ago that EFB’s were clunky, very expensive laptop based devices that were a pain to use.

Apple doesn’t usually invent anything completely new, but they refine existing tech to a level where it seems like something new and they make the tech easy to use. These days the only thing I use Windows for is my gaming PC.

The Apple VR headset will no doubt be pretty amazing, but I doubt it will be aimed at us simmers as we are too much of a niche group, and largely Windows based.

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7

We are very much of a mind there. In my very humble opinion the brand is a sure sign of severe affluenza in those brandishing it about. The symptoms of affluenza are utter lack of intelligence, self-knowledge,
hugely inflated self-importance and a cosmic sense of egocentrism. In short, horrible people who don’t know the value of a coin for never having done any actual work to earn them.

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8

lol… :crazy_face:

9

I had an iPod Nano 3rd gen which had all my music and also had some data synced from Outlook, which I have used since childhood because of my father. I kept it charged always so it was always ready to go. Unfortunately one day I didn’t check my pockets before doing my laundry and my fully charged battery fried it.

Next was an iPod Touch, also synced to Outlook.

When it finally became time to get a phone, I just restored my iPod Touch backup to my iPhone 4S, then 5S, now XR.

I have also setup a dozen or so iPhones for work now and it’s so simple. I loathe helping the guys who have Android phones. No two makes are the same. My grandfather, nieces and nephew all have Android tablets and it’s the same mess. Then there is the fact that Google does a poor job policing the Play Store, so adware and malware are a concern.

While I love the user customization of Windows on my PC, I have no use for it on my phone with Android.

There may be some truth to that but I’d honestly like to move my grandfather to a Mac but he wouldn’t handle an OS shift in his 90s.

Apple being so restrictive on hardware generally means you avoid many compatibility issues - I recall a friend had a very cheap Android phone when we were in highschool when Angry Birds was popular, it played as a slideshow. Apple didn’t allow old devices to get apps that would be so mismatched to the hardware.

Apple devices also last. My friend’s Macbook only recently became too old to keep up and it’s over 8 years old - surpassing our desktop refresh cycle with a laptop!

I had mentioned to Franze but I recently setup a laptop for my nephew that was bought for him - dual core, 4GB RAM - it was very painful. Making the user account took over 10 minutes. Windows 10 shouldn’t be sold on such low-spec hardware. I am happy Apple doesn’t play the race to the bottom in that regard.

My own Apple devices were obsoleted by need. My brother uses my 4S still. 5S I got on free upgrade, then got the XR for more storage and a better camera but the 5S still works, it’s just stored.

Back on topic and related - I am sure the price will be terrible (with that $3000 estimate in mind) but being Apple I’d expect it to actually work with whatever they have planned for it.

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10

But will it be available in “Dusty Rose” to match my Louis Vuitton COVID iMask case? What about my matching Burberry iGlock holster?

Accessorizing is my everything.

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11

How about GunMetal for $499? :crazy_face:
They’ll probably make a docking stand / charge station for a pretty penny too. Can’t leave it sitting on the table!

Apple is ridiculous on accessories. I had an Apple watch gifted to me and I’d love to get a segmented metal band for it as I am not a fan of the standard rubber - $449.00.

What?!

12

Who’s worst on the Evil Dominion’s Scale aside (Apple at least makes money selling hardware/software, a lot of their competitors make money selling ads or your data - who do you want running eye tracking software?) the resolution of 8K per eye sounds crazy. 12 cameras, of which I guess for hand/finger tracking and AR pass-through? Also LIDAR is mentioned, which again really pushes it as an AR thing where 3D objects appear in the real world so this acts more like glasses rather than a dark box you go sit in.

The latest M1 chip is pretty good and they are getting really good at ‘system on chip’ designs now, so I’m leaning to guessing this is probably going to be a stand-alone device (no need for a cable at all @Wes :wink:). The article mentioned eye tracking, so again, a sort of big hint that the 16K (!) resolution might be either some mix of hardware foveated rendering (super high res in center, less for periphery) or actually true eye tracked foveated. :eyes:

That would really push VR tech along, as even if this device never got near a sim then having a ‘new high bar’ for AR/VR rendering might encourage other things to go try to sell to that market as well - and maybe we’ll get an offshoot that allows a DisplayPort one day? Apple do pitch themselves as ‘luxury for the smooth brain’ but then they also work the ‘It just has to work’ angle pretty hard - and that’s one area that VR/AR really needs. Anyone rolling back to Nvidia 457.40 to avoid stutters or getting a USB error recently? :wink:

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13

As angry as those annoyances get me every time they happen, I vastly prefer them to the overpriced smoothness of a closed system that at a certain date just stops working. I would prefer it if I could unscrew my telephone and tinker with its hardware too.

14

Doesn’t Apple have a much better history of supporting previous versions of software than similar things on the market? The iPhone SE got recent security updates for iOS14 and that came out early 2016. Conversely, you can buy an Android based Samsung S20 in Costco today (that came out last year!), and that it isn’t even supported for Android updates anymore (security fixes or not).

The ideal would be open, cheap, easy to use, repairable, extendable and a simple ‘you want hardware, you pay for the hardware’ product. So many products today make a Faustian bargain for your data and privacy, and it’s arguable that’s morally worst than appealing to luxury/closed market one-offs, when that bargain relies on ignorance of what’s happening rather than being up-front about it.

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15

There are those that like to tinker with settings…and those who don’t. Incidentally, most Apple hardware lasts quite a long time (certainly longer than equivalent Android devices). I had my last iPad Pro for over 4 years and it is still going strong for the most part. I did upgrade to the latest version just a month ago, but that was mostly because I had saved enough hotel points to cover it (the new one is great btw).

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16

What??
My old Samsung S7 (now used by my wife) still gets those!

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Completely up to the local carrier if they provide custom updates or not, many over here in North America don’t bother. Samsung commits to a 2 year update window on features.

Anyway, some will love Apple, some Google - I’m not sure we’re going to sort out a winner in this VR topic or change any minds. :slight_smile:

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18

I became an Apple customer when I bought my first Ipod.
The first Iphone was totally groundbreaking and very innovative. Had to get that.
Since then, I have got Apple: Macbooks, Ipads (personal and at work), watch, and TV.
The design is awesome and it just works and all the units communicates with eachother seamlessly. I am probably smack in the middle of a typical Apple user demography.
But I wouldn’t dream of back talking people who don’t buy Apple products, nor would I ever try to convince them of buying Apple products.

Think what you will about Apple. I don’t care.
But nobody can deny that Apple is a big player.
The fact that they want to do VR is not a bad thing for VR. They have invented new markets before…

Edit. I returned my first Iphone to an Apple Store, last year. The very young shop assistant was flabbergasted. She called for a manager just to tell him she had never seen an original Iphone before… Yes, It made me feel old. :wink:

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19

Oh I was making stupid hyperbole for a larf. Of course it’s cool. To each their own. Me personally, I prefer hardware that spits out an error code I can look up when something’s up. Sadly that’s not a given. Here’s to a bright future with the “right to repair” which seems to be making headway in the EU.

:eu:

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20

Yea can’t argue that. My local apple store is in a giant shopping mall. Even with our lockdown, I don’t want to go there but the apple watch (first gen) battery croaked (actually swelled up). Was able to get a repair kit off Amazon with a new battery. Back in business and it cost under $30 instead of $99 at the store.