In the clip, which was released by 9to5Mac, the researcher asks Cook who he believes are the key factors for an AR product to be successful. Cook responds by saying that he “could not have been more excited” about AR, despite the fact that it was “in the very first steps” of its development. Cook has spoken about AR dozens of times during his tenure as Apple CEO and has gone so far as to say that he is the “number one” fan of technology. He also agreed that AR is a “critical part of Apple’s future” and when the company announced its AR API, Craig Federighi said the technology was a “profound” change. But while those comments made it clear that Apple was working in the field, there were no promises that Apple would provide an AR device. Rumors have been circulating for years that Apple is working on an AR headset or even a combination of augmented / virtual reality headphones, and from all that we have gathered at the time, it has had a hectic design process. At present, the device is considered to be a standalone unit, with the computer powering the built-in headphones. Analysis Ming-Chi Kuo said the headphone chip will be as powerful as the ones that power the Mac. Recent reports indicate that the headset is almost ready. Work on its operating system, called Reality OS, has escalated, according to Bloomberg, and the board had to test the hardware last month. However, Cook’s comment is not necessarily positive that Apple headphones are just around the corner. In March, Apple explicitly announced that an Apple Silicon Mac Pro announcement would be made. Many people, including me, were convinced that this meant we would see it at WWDC in June. But the keynote speech came and went without Apple showing off its flagship engine. What I’m saying is that while Apple seems to be opening up a bit about the products it has in the funnel, it certainly still makes us guess.
