We can be sure of one thing: If Apple launches a headset, it thinks it has a product that breaks new ground.
There are countless reasons to be skeptical about Apple launching its own virtual reality headset. But, there’s one reason to believe Apple thinks it has cracked the code: the fact that it’s actually going to unveil a product at WWDC 2023.
Apple only launches into a new category if the world’s largest tech company believes it can transform the landscape and bring unique value to the world in the process.
It’s a foregone conclusion that Apple will announce a headset at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference on June 5. What’s less clear is why, and what Apple has discovered that Google, Samsung, Sony, Facebook/Meta, and countless others have missed over the past decade. None of them have been able to give the world a reason to love VR.
What Apple shows us on June 5 is likely to be fascinating and limited. In the same way that the first Mac, iPod, iPhone, and Apple Watch fascinated us with their possibilities but were extremely limited in their initial capabilities, the Reality Pro (if that’s what it’s truly named) will likely be less groundbreaking in its physical form than in the picture Apple paints of what it will ultimately make possible.
Despite VR’s struggles in recent years, we have learned that there are things it does very well. For example, VR is rapidly making a massive impact on training. According to research from PwC, learners who use VR train four times faster than classroom learners, are four times more focused than e-learning students, are 275% more confident to apply skills after learning, and are 3.
