Apple takes former Meta employee on board for heading the AR product division: Report

After the recent rumours of Apple planning to create a mixed reality headset, the company has recently hired a former Meta employee. Andrea Schubert was previously associated with Facebook for as long as six years, working as a communications and public relations professional. Schubert has joined Apple and will lead the company's augmented reality division. The rumours about Apple working on a mixed reality headset and the report about the hiring for leading the AR division might not be a coincidence. 

According to a report by Bloomberg, Schubert has a good experience of handling headset markets. It is important to note that Meta also owns one of the leading VR headset manufacturing companies in the world, Oculus. Hence, hiring someone with a background in managing headset markets could be a clear indication of Apple planning to foray into the market itself. Along with the new professional, Apple will streamline its headset portfolio, which reportedly includes more than one wearable. Although, the company itself has not confirmed any information yet. 

Apple's mixed reality headset might be launched in 2022

While the mixed reality headset is rumoured to be priced around $3,000, it is highly unlikely that it would appeal to the masses who can access VR games on Meta's Oculus Quest 2 priced at $299. The report by Bloomberg also suggests that Apple might use the device to make way for affordable devices that might be released by the company in the future. Mark Gurman claims that Apple is "planning to unleash its own pricey device with advanced chips, displays, sensor and avatar-based features as early as next year". The mixed reality headset will allow users to interact with the environment around them with the help of digital entities. 

Apple's mixed reality headsets have long been subjected to rumours and leaks. As the name suggests, Apple Glasses will be smart glasses that can overlay digital entities in the real world, which will be relayed to the user via a sophisticated system of sensors, processors, and displays. It combines both VR and AR. While the product has been in the rumour mill for quite a long time, a new report suggests that Apple's mixed reality headset will lack the computational capabilities shared by other processors from the company such as the smartphone processor called 'A Bionic' and the latest M1 Pro and Max chipset. Instead, the chip designed for Apple Glasses is said to have wireless transmission capability.