Tim Cook drops Apple’s biggest AR headset tease yet: ‘Stay tuned’

Are you enthusiastic about Apple presumably launching an augmented actuality headset? Tim Cook dinner certain is. You in all probability already figured that, since Cook dinner has provided his ideas on AR on a number of events. And he’s doing it once more, this time on China Daily, a state-run information outlet in China. 

In an interview, Cook dinner says he “couldn’t be extra excited concerning the alternatives within the [AR] house. Form of keep tuned and you will note what we’ve to supply.” Cook dinner additionally factors out that AR improvement is within the “very early innings” and that Apple’s App Retailer has “over 14,000 ARKit apps.”

A transcript of the AR portion of the interview is posted beneath. The remainder of the interview is about Cook dinner’s ideas on the Chinese language builders and innovation.

China Day by day: Chinese language shoppers are extremely passionate about VR and AR applied sciences however a few of them are usually not very glad with merchandise presently obtainable in the marketplace. So what do you assume are the important thing components for AR merchandise equivalent to AR headsets to achieve the patron market?

Tim Cook dinner: That may be a nice query. I’m extremely enthusiastic about AR as you would possibly know. And the important factor to any techology together with AR is placing humanity on the middle of it. And that’s what we deal with daily.

Proper now, for instance, we’ve over 14,000 ARKit apps within the App Retailer which give AR experiences for tens of millions of individuals world wide. However I feel regardless of that we’re nonetheless within the very early innings of how this know-how will evolve. I couldn’t be extra excited concerning the alternatives we see on this house. And kind of keep tuned and also you’ll see what we’ve to supply.

Some might take into account this affirmation by Cook dinner that an AR headset is coming before later, although Cook dinner doesn’t explicitly say so. Cook dinner’s assertion is a bit more emphatic than what he has mentioned prior to now–and Cook dinner has been speaking up AR for a very long time. In 2016, Cook said that we “may have AR experiences daily” however that AR poses some “actually exhausting know-how challenges.” Then the AR headset rumors trickled out for some time however picked up prior to now couple of years, and references to realityOS (the supposed headset OS) seem in Mac merchandise, and improvement has gained extra momentum, in keeping with reviews. 

There was hypothesis that Apple would have a sneak peek at realityOS and an AR headset at WWDC earlier this month, however it didn’t occur. Nonetheless, hypothesis stays excessive that we might even see one thing later this yr or early subsequent, and these feedback from Cook dinner will solely gasoline that fireplace.