1 Magic Leap
Tim Cook has made it clear he is very excited about the future of augmented reality. In MF312 we talked about how Apple is behind in a number of technologies, particularly artificial intelligence. Maybe we should add augmented reality (AR) to that list.
Some of Apple’s biggest rivals, like Google and Microsoft, have made great strides in this area, with Microsoft already shipping units of its HoloLens AR headset to developers. And while Google’s Glass AR tech didn’t take off in the way it hoped, the company still has years of experience in AR behind it. What has Apple got to show for it? Nothing of note yet.
Of course, it could be that Apple is simply keeping its cards close to its chest. Or it could be far behind, and needing to catch up fast. And what better way to do that than to buy one of the most promising AR companies in the world? Magic Leap is such a company, and one with significant buzz around the tech it’s working on.
Such an acquisition would be very expensive; Magic Leap is valued at a whopping $4.5 billion. But that’s small change to Apple, sitting pretty on its $158.8 billion war chest.
Leap of faith
Apple is not afraid to invest in AR. It bought augmented reality software firm Metaio in 2015, and took over FlyBy Media in 2016, a company that designed AR camera software. Tim Cook reportedly visited Magic Leap’s offices in 2016 and showed an interest in its tech. It also hired former Zeyu Li, Principal Engineer at Magic Leap, strengthening the links between the two high-tech companies.
Apple has been working on its own AR glasses, according to the Financial
Times, but a launch date is still at least a year away and “perhaps much longer”. In contrast, Magic Leap’s own