Will Apple’s AR Headset Lead to the Metaverse?

Will Apple’s new augmented reality (AR) headset be a doorway to the metaverse?

Don’t count on it, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said in his Power On newsletter Sunday (Jan. 9), predicting that the company’s AR headset will be meant for shorter sessions and not for users to explore a digital world.

“Here’s one word I’d be shocked to hear on stage when Apple announces its headset: metaverse,” Gurman said. “I’ve been told pretty directly that the idea of a completely virtual world where users can escape to — like they can in Meta Platforms/Facebook’s vision of the future — is off limits from Apple.”

Read more: Apple Plans New 2022 Product Push After Lackluster 2021

A virtual reality (VR) headset is just one of Apple’s rumored 2022 offerings, along with new Mac Pros, the biggest MacBook Air revamp in the product’s history, three new Apple Watches and a new iPhone 14.

However, there’s no concrete timeline for the VR headset, codenamed N301. The project has been delayed before, first set to launch in 2020 before being bumped to 2021.

This news comes as Apple is facing a hiring threat from Meta, which has snapped up about 100 engineers from the iPhone maker in the past few months. As PYMNTS reported last month, Apple has begun offering large bonuses to keep engineers on board.

Read more: Apple Pays Big Bucks to Keep Possible Defectors Away From Meta

However, Apple has also wooed away several Meta employees as that company works to poach engineering talent from companies beyond just Apple. Microsoft has apparently lost dozens of its HoloLens headset team to Meta’s metaverse project.

Monday was a busy day for metaverse news. In addition to Meta poaching Microsoft workers, PYMNTS also reported that China’s Tencent Holdings was in talks to purchase the gaming smartphone maker Black Shark in an apparent effort to fuel its own metaverse ambitions.

See also: Tencent May Acquire Gaming Phone Maker Black Shark

Tencent apparently wants to acquire Black Shark and shift that company’s focus from phones to VR devices and content creation, with Tencent making the VR software.