WWDC hardware is mainly anti-customer, Apple's new headset strongly supports the metaverse

WWDC 2023 is probably the most eye-catching conference in June. As far as the eye can see, the upgraded and iterated Apple systems and Mac products using last year's chips are not as popular as its new MR (mixed reality) device Vision Pro. It is reported that Apple has been developing this product for more than 7 years, which is almost twice the development time of the iPhone.

This star product not only affected many hardware manufacturers and digital enthusiasts, but also caused the company's stock price to fall. Nonetheless, this may be the most important product of Cook's tenure. If Apple wants to innovate the hardware era it leads, it needs such an ultimate product to start again.

Better headsets, what else?

Apple Vision Pro is a new MR device that combines virtual and augmented reality. It looks like a pair of ski goggles, but is equipped with a 4K display, spatial audio and other functions. It can be used to replace a TV or computer monitor. Apple describes its new interface as "spatial computing."

Vision Pro is powered by both the M2 chip for performance and the new R1 chip for processing input from 12 cameras, 5 sensors and 6 microphones for efficient and dense information collection. Vision Pro can achieve 2 hours of battery life through a special external power supply, and can be used all day long when plugged in. In addition, Vision Pro also supports iris unlocking (Optic ID).

According to "Wall Street Journal" columnist Joanna Stern, when wearing this device, your eyes are like the cursor on a computer mouse, and your fingers are the buttons. It is very easy to switch between the real world and the digital world. The Apple Watch-like digital crown on the right eyebrow can control "immersion" and adjust the ratio of "virtual" and "reality".

Although she praised the device, she also revealed that the experience was very comfortable for the first 15 minutes of wearing it, but as the wearing time increased, the nose and forehead would still start to feel the weight.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said: "This marks the beginning of a journey." Apple hopes to open up the mixed reality market through this device, but before the device can be launched, Apple must improve its technology and mass production. be prepared. Ming-Chi Kuo predicted earlier this year that shipments of Apple's first-generation AR/MR headsets are expected to be extremely low, and that the second-generation products are expected to have two versions, high and low, and both models may be released in 2025. Launched in the year.

Currently, officials say that Apple Vision Pro will be on sale in the United States early next year, priced at US$3,499 (approximately RMB 25,000). It will be expanded to other countries and regions later. The eye-popping selling price also comes from the comparison with other manufacturers' products.

Last week, Meta launched a new device called Quest 3, which sells for $500 and is the first mixed reality consumer headset with high-resolution color. The price of Apple’s new mixed reality device is seven times the price of Meta’s entry-level device. Even comparing Meta's flagship model Quest Pro, Apple Vision Pro is 2.5 times larger.

Moreover, according to Counterpoint data, as of the end of 2022, the Quest series of VR devices accounted for more than 80% of the market share. There are also domestic manufacturers such as Pico and Nreal that educate users in the cost-effective market.

Regarding the launch of Vision Pro, well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple showed the vision of spatial computing and the design innovation of AR/MR devices, but did not demonstrate the necessity of using Vision Pro in daily life. In comparison, ChatGPT/AIGC is currently more convincing in changing human life in the foreseeable future. The higher-than-expected selling price and release date require waiting for more than half a year, which is detrimental to investment sentiment in the short term. What needs to be closely observed is the pre-order demand and whether Apple can provide more attractive applications/content/ecology before release.

There are also securities firms that hold different views. CITIC Securities pointed out in the research report that advances in display and interactive technology make XR expected to become the carrier of the next generation computing platform. According to estimates, the XR industry space far exceeds one trillion yuan. Currently, VR/MR has entered a mature iteration stage. It is expected that AR will be initially commercialized in 2025. Once commercialized, it will be fully popularized in about five years. MR will serve as a transitional product between VR and AR.

The Yuan Universe position shrinks

The Metaverse is a virtual and complementary world that integrates technologies such as virtual reality, blockchain and artificial intelligence, and once attracted the attention of many people. However, since this year, the Metaverse has gradually become "cooler".

At the beginning of 2023, there were rumors that Microsoft had disbanded the Industrial Metaverse team that had only been established for 4 months. Subsequently, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft will lay off more than 10,000 employees, among which XR business departments such as HoloLens, AltSpaceVR, MRTK, and MWR will be directly disbanded, and the VR social application AltSpaceVR will be closed in March this year.

Domestically, on February 13, ByteDance’s virtual reality brand Pico conducted a new round of personnel optimization. Coincidentally, on February 16, Tencent Games announced that its XR business would change its hardware development path and make adjustments to relevant business teams.

Baidu launched Xirang at the end of December 2021. The product is positioned as a permanent multi-person interactive space that spans virtuality and reality. In the past two years, Xirang has launched a series of functions including conference systems, exhibition art centers, co-creator spaces, digital collection platforms, Yuanverse auctions, urban transportation systems, etc. According to official data, by 2022, Xiyang has launched more than 120 metaverse activities and spaces, covering more than 20 fields such as cultural tourism, art, automobiles and consumption.

However, in May this year, multiple media reported that Ma Jie, vice president of Baidu and head of Baidu’s “Hirang” business, had resigned. Although the Hirang team has not been disbanded, its future is currently unclear, and some personnel have transferred or resigned. . The report pointed out that relevant insiders said that it is difficult to see a good business model for the Metaverse business in the short term, with poor profitability, and Baidu's shift to AIGC-related businesses and unwillingness to invest more resources in the Metaverse business, which is why Xiang was marginalized. main reason.

On May 21, according to foreign media VOX, Facebook parent company Meta will launch a new round of layoffs. Nick Clegg, president of Meta's global business, announced that Meta will conduct a third round of layoffs. This time, the main target is the business department, and the number of layoffs is expected to reach 6,000.

Previously in November 2022, Meta announced the layoffs of 11,000 people, and started a new round of layoffs in March this year. In April, news showed that the second round of layoffs was to lay off 4,000 people in the technology department. Now there is news of the third round of layoffs, with 6,000 employees in the business department being laid off, bringing the total number of layoffs to 21,000.

Meta consultant and former head of innovation Zvika Krieger once said, "The Metaverse is a long-term game." For enterprises, the Metaverse can be said to be an investment that costs a lot of money and has no results in the short term.

It is worth mentioning that former Disney CEO Bob Chapek also said that the virtual reality "Metaverse" is Disney's future. But at the end of March, Disney announced that it was axing its Metaverse division. Currently, all approximately 50 members of the team are unemployed. It is reported that Disney’s layoffs are expected to reach 7,000 people. You know, the last time Disney started large-scale layoffs was at the beginning of the epidemic.

Summarize

The current application scenarios of the Metaverse are indeed relatively limited. Most people only experience the Metaverse through games, audio and video and other entertainment scenarios, lacking more interesting and practical applications. The work assistance is far inferior to that of PCs. This makes some people lose interest. Moreover, the Metaverse is still in the early stages of development, and technical implementation still needs to transcend some issues, such as scalability, security and other issues. In addition, the Metaverse requires technology integration across multiple fields, making it more difficult to further improve user experience.

Entrepreneurship enthusiasm in the metaverse field has dropped significantly. However, this does not mean that the Metaverse is dying. This time, Apple’s new products demonstrate its hardware layout and impressive level of innovation in MR. If we can work together with the entire industry, we can lower the price to a level acceptable to the public like folding screens, and further improve the product form ( Especially in terms of lightweight), it will inject more vitality into the Metaverse hardware market.

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