Apple steps into the virtual world
Apple’s latest WWDC announcements reveal initial plans for AR and VR.
Apple is known for its closed ecosystems, slick designs, and never being the first mover.
As a lifelong gamer, I’ve used Windows and had little to no need for Apple’s ecosystem. Once smartphones took hold I picked up an iPhone and never looked back. I began to understand Apple’s strategy to design easy to use products slick enough to attract early adopters AND the early majority. Apple inherently limits its users, but through limitation it aims to make the user experience more fluid.
Years after falling in love with the iPhone, I made the leap and purchased an iMac pro.
OSX was appealing to me, as it looked crisper than Windows and ran without a hitch. Some OSX specific programs felt superior to their windows counterparts. And the system search function (CMD + Space) was a game changer for me. Instantly searching through the OS’s functions and files is my favorite way to navigate the system. Windows start bar search feels clunky and slow by comparison.
Before Windows 10 introduced it, my iMac allowed me to utilize multiple desktops, yet another feature I adored. And the 5K retina display changed my perception of 1080p. Now every 1080p monitor I see feels like an old 800x600 CRT in comparison to retina.
I loved my time with my iMac and OSX, but VR was more important.
It all ended once I received an Oculus DK2, my first VR headset. You could get a DK2 to work with OSX if you wished, but Windows was a near seamless integration. Most of the VR experiences I wished to try would run only on Windows.
VR and my passion for it made OSX obsolete.
A few hours of fiddling with Bootcamp and I had a windows partition up and running. After fiddling with the various VR demos and prototypes I began to use Windows for what I had always loved: games. Overwatch, Counter-strike, and Fallout 4 became more important than the few benefits OSX had provided.
The amount of time my iMac spent booted up as OSX dwindled down to nothing. I found myself with a beautifully overpriced Windows computer.
My next computer purchase was a custom built Windows PC specifically for an HTC Vive VR setup.
My time spent with Apple is now limited to my smartphone, which is at most times kept on silent with only 1 page of apps installed. My files and emails are kept in Google’s ecosystem. My time online is spent in VR on my HTC Vive. And I write on a Freewrite e Ink display typewriter. Any editing work I need to do is done on windows via google chrome, google docs, and Medium.
If I did not have an HTC Vive, I would switch phones to a VR ready Android.
Apple has been slow to embrace VR, but I have no doubts they are doing as they have always done.
Apple works silently on the same technologies everyone else is, and refuses to release anything short of perfection. WWDC confirmed Apples methodical steps towards VR/AR. Improved AR kit software showing some of the slickest smartphone AR to date, and a VR ready iMac prepared to run SteamVR.
What excites me the most, is the HTC Vive headset displayed on apple.com.
While this by no means tells the future, I can honestly say I am a bigger fan of Valve and HTC’s approach to VR than Oculus and Facebook’s. To see a brand the size of Apple endorsing the Vive is exciting to say the least. Designers utilizing Apple’s ecosystem to create incredible VR experiences is definitely exciting. Perhaps gaming will come back to Apple’s wheelhouse as they move forward with VR.
Apple may or may not announce more VR related hardware this fall, but given this latest toe dipping strategy I imagine 2018 is more likely.
Once developers have played around with the AR kit for a year, Apple will have a better idea of how to corner the market. I believe Valve is the most likely candidate to corner to VR software industry via Steam VR Home and their upcoming VR software(AAA titles) and hardware. But Apple may yet again propel the population into the future by providing consumer friendly AR to the masses, just as their iPhone did before.
Come 2018, a Mac may find its way back into my life and the lives of many VR enthusiasts.
Today is Day 6 of my 90 day VR experiment. Join me here for a daily dose of VR thoughts, experiences, side effects, benefits, worries, hopes, and most importantly: adventure.
