A report indicates that Apple CEO Tim Cook seeks to impose himself on the team of designers of the first virtual reality system developed by the company.
Apple is usually a cautious company when deciding to enter a category, and the reason is very simple: they have to do better than the rest, even though that solution has been around for a long time. In the case of mixed reality systems, the Cupertino firm has had several problems following the roadmap, and it seems that these delays have impatient Tim Cook, Apple CEO, to the point of ignoring the warnings of his team of designers.
According to reports , the executive director of Apple seeks to force the presentation of the first mixed reality headset to take place this 2023, despite the various recommendations of the team of designers behind the project who maintain that the device would not be ready for the official announcement. .
Financial Times maintains that the timing regarding this product has caused these clashes between the operations headquarters and the project area in charge of the design. For the people involved in the development of the headset, the most prudent thing to do is to wait a bit until a lighter equipment is achieved; while the operations team wants to ship an initial version similar to Google’s VR glasses for watching videos and making FaceTime calls using avatars. According to Apple collaborators consulted by FT, there is “great pressure to ship” these units.
In this conflict, Tim Cook – Apple’s former chief operating officer before taking over as CEO – reportedly opposed the design team’s remarks and supported the current head of operations, Jeff Williams; who the design team has been required to report to since Jony Ive stepped down in 2019.
After the departure of the chief designer, Apple employees have noticed that the operations area has taken more control within the flow of projects. This parameter coincides with the growing pressure from the company’s investors, which has caused enormous diversification in the business strategy of the apple brand.
This new VR product announced by Apple this 2023 is expected to achieve one million units sold at a possible sale price of $3,000.