Technologies

Apple’s Mixed Reality Headset: What to Expect From WWDC’s Big Reveal

Long-awaited and still mysterious, Apple’s VR headset could be the spark for a whole new wave of hardware and software.

Apple’s next big product looks like it’ll cost $3,000, rest on your face and need to be tethered to a battery pack. Whatever this expected VR headset ends up being, it isn’t immediately clear what it’ll do or who it’s for. The Reality Pro headset, as it’s expected to be called when it’s likely unveiled at Apple’s WWDC developer conference on June 5, is Apple’s biggest new product in nearly a decade. It’s also totally different than anything Apple has ever made before.

VR headsets have been a standard consumer tech thing for years, and your family, or families you know, may already have one lying in a corner. They’re used for games, fitness, creative collaboration, even theater. Still, VR and AR have been outlier technologies, not deeply connected enough to the phones, tablets and laptops most of us use every day.

Apple could change that. And of course, don’t expect the word «metaverse» to be uttered even once. The metaverse became Meta’s buzzword to envision its future of AR and VR. Apple will have its own parallel, possibly unique, pitch.

A connection to everything?

I pair my Quest 2, from Meta, to my phone, and it gets my texts and notifications. I connect it to my Mac to cast extra monitors around my desk using an app called Immersed. But VR and AR don’t often feel deeply intertwined with the devices I use. They aren’t seamless in the way my watch feels when used with an iPhone, or AirPods feel when used with an iPad or Mac.

Apple needs this headset to bridge all of its devices, or at least make a good starting effort. Reports say the headset will run iPad apps on its built-in 4K displays, suggesting a common app ecosystem. It’s also possible that the Apple Watch could be a key peripheral, tracking fitness and also acting as a vibrating motion-control accessory.

VR is a self-contained experience, but mixed reality – which Apple’s headset should lean on heavily – uses pass-through cameras to blend virtual things with video of the real world. In Apple’s case, its own devices could act as spatially linked accessories, using keyboards and touchscreens and ways to show virtual screens springing from real ones.

Apple’s expected headset is supposed to be self-contained, a standalone device like the Quest 2 and Quest Pro. But that interconnectivity, and its position in Apple’s continuity-handoff connected ecosystem, is a big opportunity and a big question mark.

However, Apple does have a big AR head start: Its iOS ecosystem has supported AR for years, and the iPhone and iPad Pro already have depth-sensing lidar scanners that can map out rooms in ways that Apple’s headset should replicate. Apple could emphasize making its existing AR tools on other devices more usable and visible through a new interface.

Apple’s head of AR, Mike Rockwell – the person expected to be leading this new headset’s development – told me in a conversation about AR in 2020 that «AR has enormous potential to be helpful to folks in their lives across devices that exist today, and devices that may exist tomorrow, but we’ve got to make sure that it is successful. For us, the best way to do that is to enable our device ecosystem, so that it is a healthy and profitable place for people to invest their time and effort.»

Quest Pro VR headset, being worn while sitting at a desk — The Quest Pro and other headsets already support hand tracking. Will Apple refine the technology?

Meta

How do we control it?

I’m less curious about the Apple headset display – which sounds extremely promising with a possible 4K resolution per eye and a Micro OLED display – and more focused on how Apple solves what we do with our hands.

Interfaces in VR and AR are very much a work in progress. VR has tended to lean on split game controllers for most inputs, with optional (and steadily improving) hand tracking that still isn’t perfected.

Apple isn’t expected to have any controller at all with its Reality Pro headset. Instead, it’ll likely use both eye tracking and hand tracking to create a more accurate and possibly streamlined style of interface that could make targeting intended actions feel faster. Eye tracking already works this way, sometimes, in headsets that use it: The PlayStation VR 2 has some games that use eye tracking for controlling menus.

Accessibility is a big question here. Apple’s design choices are often very accessibility-conscious, and VR and AR headsets often rely on eye movement or physical hand movements that aren’t always easy for everyone. Voice control is a possible option here, or maybe some Apple Watch-connected functions that improve gesture accuracy and offer some touch controls could be in the cards, too. I don’t know. Apple already added some gesture controls for accessibility purposes on the Apple Watch, so the door’s open.

A lot of hand gestures in VR feel complicated to me, and involve lots of movement. Can Apple make a gesture language that feels as intuitive and as easy as multitouch on iPhones and iPads? It’s a big hurdle.

A woman wearing a VR headset punches an object, shattering it — Supernatural has been a popular VR fitness app for the Meta Quest 2 for years.

Within

Fitness focus

VR has already been a surprisingly effective fitness tool for years. Apple could address a whole bunch of opportunities that could open the landscape a lot further, though.

I’ve used Beat Saber and Supernatural on the Quest 2 for years as home exercise options, but the Quest 2 (and most VR headsets) aren’t designed with fitness in mind. Foam and silicone face pieces get sweaty, hardware can feel weirdly balanced, and no company has really spent targeted effort yet on making headgear that’s aimed at breathability and comfort like a piece of athletic equipment. There are plenty of third-party Quest accessories that help, but it still feels like an imperfect situation.

That’s Apple’s wheelhouse. After designing the Apple Watch, AirPods and, most recently, the Watch Ultra’s new straps, conceiving of materials and design that could feel better during workouts seems like an achievable goal. If the Reality Pro feels like a better piece of workout gear, it could inspire others to invest in better designs, too.

Apple should, and could, integrate the Apple Watch and fitness and health tracking into the headset’s functions. The Quest 2 can do this too to some degree, but most smartwatches and fitness trackers, like Fitbit, don’t have deep connections with VR headsets yet. They should, and again, introducing a clear wearable relationship between watch and headset feels like an overdue bridge.

Of all the things I’m trying to imagine Apple positioning an expensive headset to be in people’s lives, a fitness device keeps coming to mind as a much more likely proposition than a gaming gadget. Not that many people own gym equipment, or have space for it. Could headsets fill that role? I think they could. For me, they already do, sometimes.

Will Apple just focus on making it a great wearable display?

I’m starting to wonder if maybe Apple’s first goal with Reality Pro is just to nail a great audio/video experience. I’ve thought of VR/AR glasses as eventually needing to be «earbuds for your eyes,» as easy to use and as good as headphones are now. VR and AR headsets I’ve used all far short of being perfect displays, with the exception of the highly expensive Varjo XR-3. Could Apple achieve making the Reality Pro a headset that looks and sounds good enough to truly want to watch movies in?

Some reports that the Apple headset runs iPad apps, and that perhaps the iPad Pro with its lidar/camera array is in fact the «developer kit» for the headset, make me wonder if the headset will feel like a wearable extension of iOS rather than a whole new experience.

Inside a pair of VR goggles, showing lenses and a dial with numbers on the outside — The inside of the Vive XR Elite: prescription adjustments allow a wide range of vision to fit… but not as wide as mine.

Scott Stein/CNET

What about my glasses?

VR and AR headsets aren’t making it easy for me to live with my own eyewear. Some hardware fits right over my own chunky glasses, and some doesn’t. As headsets get smaller, a lot of them are trying to add vision-adjustment diopters right into the hardware – like the Vive XR Elite – or add optional prescription inserts.

Maybe someday we’ll have AR glasses that double as our own everyday glasses, and Apple can morph into a Warby Parker optical shop for its retail glasses fittings. In the meantime, these sometimes-on headsets also need to work without being annoying. Am I going to have to order prescription lenses? And how? And will they fit my needs? It’s a big responsibility for VR/AR manufacturers, and I’ve found that some of the insert options don’t meet my heavily near-sighted needs.

What are the killer apps?

Finally, of course, I’m curious about how this headset is defined. The Quest 2 is a game console with benefits. The Quest Pro was aimed at work. The PlayStation VR 2 is a PS5 extension.

The iPhone was a browser, an iPod, and an email device at first. The iPad wanted to be an easy way for users to read and look at the web. The Apple Watch was a fitness device, iPod, and wrist-communicator. What will Version One of the Apple Mixed Reality Headset be positioned as?

Apple did pepper a ton of extras into the Apple Watch at first, almost to test the waters with possibilities: a camera remote, a virtual way to send love taps and scribbles, voice memos. Reports of an avatar-based FaceTime, multiscreen immersive sports, and maybe 3D immersive versions of Apple’s already 3D-enabled Maps are clear starts. Apple’s collaborative Freeform app could be pitched as a mixed reality workplace, and movies could be watched in a virtual theater, in a way that VR headsets have enabled for years (but maybe here with an even better display and audio). AR-enabled iPhone and iPad home improvement apps, 3D scanning apps, and games could be ported over, leaning on similar lidar-scanning AR functions in-headset. Apple fitness workouts, clearly, could be big. Gaming? With Arcade, or some early partners, sure.

Will any of these be enough? Will Apple define a territory that right now has had a hard time defining itself beyond gaming? This first headset may not be the one most people buy, but it could be the one that tries to map out some clear directions for development beyond gaming. With Samsung and Google’s headset on the horizon, and possibly a lot more after that, these devices will start to reinvent themselves as they become more phone-connected and portable. Apple could have an early chance at shaping that narrative… or, if it doesn’t, others will get a chance after Apple. We’ll likely know more, or at least get an early glimpse, at WWDC.

Technologies

Dreaming of a Touchscreen MacBook? You’d Better Be a Fan of Apple’s Dynamic Island

Apple’s first touchscreen MacBook Pros will reportedly include the iPhone’s Dynamic Island feature on their OLED screens.

Apple’s long-awaited first entries into the touchscreen laptop market could be here as early as the fall, according to a new report from Bloomberg. And they could arrive with a feature familiar to iPhone owners: Dynamic Island.

The pill-shaped cutout and alert interface sits at the top of the screen and would presumably offer to people using new touchscreen MacBook Pro models the same kind of conveniences Dynamic Island brings to iPhones — system alerts, app controls, and tracking live activities, among other features — at the top of the screen, using a small amount of real estate.

The Dynamic Island is an evolution of Apple’s much-maligned «notch» from 2017. In 2021, Apple brought the notch over to laptop models around the hardware’s camera.

Dynamic Island aside, the new laptops will not involve a massive redesign, according to Bloomberg’s report. The first touchscreen versions will reportedly be iterations of its 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros with OLED screens. They’ll retain the keyboard and large trackpad, but will add a context-sensitive touch menu when someone puts their finger the the screen. Scrolling or pinching to zoom would be part of the touch interface.

Given that it’s Apple, you can expect other enhancements that make the most of to the touchscreen. Bloomberg suggests there may be touch-optimized features for choosing emojis, for instance. But since they’ll also have a physical keyboard, owners likely won’t use the screen to type as they would on an iPhone.

The report also suggests that Apple plans to redesign its Dynamic Island feature to make it smaller on its iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models.

Technologies

Resident Evil Requiem Review: Classic Survival Horror With Modern Action

Capcom finally found the right formula to give fans the scares they’ve wanted with the fan service they’ve been demanding.

The Resident Evil series is on a triumphant comeback. While Resident Evil 6 was critically panned, the series roared back with the horror-focused Resident Evil 7 in 2017. Since then, the series has seen another mainline entry (Resident Evil Village) and three remakes (Resident Evil 2, 3 and 4), with a majority of the games being highly praised by both fans and critics, which is a far cry from when the series was just a stumbling corpse of itself.

Resident Evil Requiem is the ninth game in the mainline series, and Capcom mixes some of the old with the new in this one. Experimentation with the formula was sorely needed as newer entries reminded fans of the delight of being scared, while the remakes had the fanbase pining for their favorite heroes, who had been hardly mentioned since Resident Evil 6. The result is a game that hits the right notes for fans while remaining approachable to nondiehard players who haven’t consumed every scrap of RE content ever made.

Requiem, like some previous Resident Evil games, has two protagonists: newcomer Grace Ashford and series mainstay Leon Kennedy. Grace is an FBI analyst sent to investigate mysterious murders at a hotel where her mother was killed a decade ago. Leon, meanwhile, goes where the bioweapons are, arriving just in time to meet Grace when all hell breaks loose.

Throughout the game, players switch between controlling Grace and Leon — you’ll spend roughly the same amount of time as each character by the end of the game. Grace is the primary character for the first chunk of the game, with Leon initially playable only briefly. But that changes in the second half, when Leon becomes the primary character.

Requiem in two parts

Playing as two different characters isn’t new in RE games, but in Requiem, Grace and Leon don’t play remotely the same, whereas in previous games, the two characters are relatively similar, aside from access to a couple of weapons and affinity for certain guns. Grace has access to a few weapons, while Leon has a full arsenal at his disposal. In Grace’s sections, the focus is more on stealth, and to preserve the horror tone of Resident Evil 7 and Village, Capcom sets the default camera to first-person. This ramps up the tension and adds plenty of jump scares while controlling Grace, though it can be switched to third-person if it’s too much.

Leon’s default view is third-person, and his sections largely serve as stress relief. You’re not constantly dealing with that same intense horror pressure. Instead, Leon is a full-on badass. He gets access to multiple handguns, a shotgun, a machine gun, grenades and his own special hand cannon, the Requiem. If that wasn’t enough, he also carries a hatchet to pull off melee combos and chop off heads, ensuring that even without ammo, he’s far from helpless.

That dichotomy between Grace and Leon is what the series needed. The previous two mainline games featured a protagonist with seemingly no combat experience who just happened to be resilient, while earlier entries starred highly trained professionals, members of the S.T.A.R.S. team. Feeling helpless as Grace, then exacting revenge in brutal fashion during Leon’s sections, creates an experience that delivers both the horror and the power fantasy the series is known for.

It makes sense, because you can’t bring back some of the series’ mainstays — like Leon — and have them be completely out of their depth. On the other hand, introducing new characters with minimal combat training risks sidelining the fan-favorite cast established across games, films and shows. Having both Grace and Leon keeps some segments scary while others deliver the Resident Evil joy fans crave, which helps explain the remakes’ popularity.

Take me back to Raccoon City

One of the big selling points for Requiem is its return to where the series started, Raccoon City. While time in the now-destroyed city is limited, Requiem is the first time we’re seeing what the city is like since it was destroyed in an attempt to contain the G-virus outbreak.

As a longtime RE fan, this new lore is exactly what many of us have been wanting. It provides more backstory on the events that led to the original outbreak in Resident Evil and more details about the destruction of Raccoon City in Resident Evil 2. While it doesn’t answer everything and may raise additional questions, it’s refreshing to play a new RE game that acknowledges the events of the first three games rather than ignoring them. It’s also hard to express the nostalgia I felt upon entering the remnants of the Raccoon City Police Department. There’s a strange fondness that contrasts with the obvious trauma Leon experiences as he returns to the place where his career as a monster fighter began.

Requiem’s gameplay is essentially the same as other modern RE games. There’s a lot of shooting and slashing at enemies, and it will feel familiar to anyone who has played any of the previous games. The new twist comes with Grace’s sections, where stealth is vital. She will have to routinely sneak around zombies and other monsters to avoid being attacked, as she can’t take as many hits as Leon. Grace does have a few tools at her disposal to go with her gun, including a glass to distract enemies when thrown and chemical concoctions that can cause zombies to explode.

The game’s visual presentation continues the high quality seen in recent games, including the remakes, which all use the RE Engine to power the graphics. The characters are detailed; the monsters are grotesque. Some vast landscapes are visible, but there’s only so much to explore, maintaining the tighter, more enclosed spaces typical of a survival horror game.

Not enough evil

If there is one glaring flaw with Requiem, it’s the lack of replay value. I finished the game in about 12 hours on my first playthrough, which could stretch to 15 if you explore every nook and cranny. That’s on par with other RE games, but that’s about it.

There are two endings available: one good and one bad. The good ending seemingly teases new modes or scenarios to play through, but once the credits roll, the only content unlocked is some new costumes and the highest possible difficulty, Insanity Mode. The game autosaves right before the big decision on determining which ending you’ll see, so seeing the other takes just a few minutes of play after loading the previous save before you have to make the important choice. Capcom confirmed that no new modes unlock after beating Insanity Mode, leaving only the self-satisfaction of completing the game at its toughest level, where just two or three zombie attacks can kill you, and every monster reacts to the slightest sound.

It’s a shame, as the game has so much potential for extra content, like the Mercenaries mode found in previous REs, which is like an arcade game where you try to achieve a high score by killing the most enemies possible. Capcom is rumored to be working on DLC for Requiem, but it won’t be released until later in the year. The good ending teases many possibilities to add to the RE lore via the extra content, which will make the DLC a must-play for diehard fans whenever it comes out.

Resident Evil Requiem is the perfect blend of the two sides of survival horror that Resident Evil established. There’s the genuinely scary survival horror, where you have to manage your items, and then the badass action side, where you can vent your aggression built up from being scared. Requiem nails everything except for providing a bit more content to justify the $70 price tag. Still, it’s one of the best Resident Evil games that both hard-core and casual fans will enjoy.

Resident Evil Requiem will be released on Feb. 27 for $70 on the PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X and S.

Technologies

TextNow Adds eSIM Option for Immediate Unlimited Phone Data Access

The company’s new eSIM option should allow for a faster sign-up experience.

TextNow has built a business on free calling and texting, as long as you’re fine with using its app over Wi-Fi, viewing ads and letting TextNow determine which data is free and which you’ll need to pay for.

If you want to communicate away from Wi-Fi, you can sign up for a free or paid data plan, but that requires purchasing a physical SIM card and waiting for it to be delivered.

Now, customers can circumvent the wait and the cost (just $4 for the card, but still) with TextNow’s new eSIM option, which is set up from within the TextNow app. eSIM is currently available on iOS and will be coming soon for Android, according to the company.

Once people decide to sign up for cellular data, they want it right away, said TextNow CEO and founder Derek Ting, noting that eSIM reduces the friction of a physical SIM. «They can download a fully functioning phone plan on their phone without spending a nickel,» he said.

Upon activation, the eSIM defaults to the Free Essential Data plan, which offers unlimited talk, texting and data «for apps like email, maps, rideshare and finance,» according to TextNow. Or, customers can sign up for one of the following unlimited data plans that open up wireless data to any app: Day Pass ($3 a month), Week Pass ($9 a month) or Month Pass ($36 a month).

During setup, FaceTime and Messages can be enabled. However, phone calls still need to be made using the TextNow app. Ting also said that support for using a phone as a mobile hotspot is not yet available, but the company is working on it.

While this eSIM option should provide a fast way to activate service on most modern phones, TextNow will still offer a physical SIM option.

TextNow also said its 5G network infrastructure has been improved, but didn’t point to specific improvements. Ting declined to disclose which network provider TextNow relies on, whether that’s T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T or a mix, such as the way US Mobile straddles all three.

«It’s not just eSIM. There’s a lot of stuff we did underneath the hood,» he said, noting that customers will see improvements in coverage and connectivity.

While TextNow’s free service could get customers in the door, ramping up to its $36 monthly pass to use it for all purposes puts it squarely into the same price range as other prepaid carriers like Verizon’s Visible and US Mobile.