Who will win the VR headset arms race in 2023?

Mark Nicoll -

VR headsets like the Meta Quest Pro, the HTC Vive XR Elite, and the rumored Apple Reality Pro due, seemingly in Q3 this year, represent significant advancements in the virtual reality hardware industry.

These high-end headsets offer features such as high-resolution displays, advanced tracking systems, and wide field of view, providing users with a more immersive and realistic VR experience.

The XR in the name of the Vive XR elite stands for "extended reality" which means it is capable of providing both VR and AR experiences using full colour passthrough, and this is probably the most exciting area, and one it's believed Apple are most keen to emphasise.

The addition of a much rumored XR headset from Apple, the Apple Reality Pro, would bring a new level of competition to the market, and potentially drive innovation and advancements in the technology.

Apple has a habit of plowing it's own furrow, sitting back and quietly watching others fail, spend big on R&D bets like Meta have, and wait for an already meaningful level of consumer adoption, so with the Oculus ecosystem now upto around 20 million HMD units sold, also Vive, Pico and others growing, now is Apples time to enter the market.

These types of high-end XR headsets that are overall better than what came before are likely to drive more widespread adoption of the technology in both consumer and enterprise markets, as they provide a more compelling and engaging experience for users.

One area where Apple can cash in, especially in enterprise and also health use cases is the fact that the security of data and privacy will be Rolls Royce, and more importantly for Apple, perceived so out of the box. This makes it cheaper and easier for companies to make services that are HIPAA compliant, meaning services that were restricted to headset loans as a service or standalone ecosystems will all be a thing of ther past. Apple will enable the ability to scale these services.

Anyways, grab a bucket of popcorn, sit back and read your favourite tech news outlets for the ongoing saga. I for one am very excited for the possibilties soon available.