Must-have accessory for Apple’s AR headset will be an Apple One subscription

As Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference draws near, so does the announcement of the company’s much-hyped mixed reality headset rumors. As with the reported price, expectations are high for the device, with much of the tech community waiting with bated breath to see if Apple can deliver a revolutionary device where other competitors have stumbled. .

If Apple manages to succeed, it’s undoubtedly due to its distinctive ability to integrate hardware and software into one seamless package and deliver products in a way that only Apple can. is not.

But there’s another factor in Apple’s business that has a big impact on whether Apple’s headsets are a hit, and you don’t have to dig deep into the company’s balance sheet to find out. it’s a service.

yes it’s a service

Apple’s services have quickly become one of the most important segments of the company’s business, second only to the iPhone in terms of revenue. But even before these services were grouped into business units, these elements have long played an important role in Apple’s business. Apple products provide the glue that holds the ecosystem together.

So it’s not too surprising that the new platform the company is launching will rely heavily on services. As my colleague Jason Snell pointed out a few weeks ago, one of Apple’s strengths is its ability to reuse the same technology, allowing it to bootstrap different platforms without having to reinvent the wheel. help.

Even more so for services. Competitors who may need to launch their own services or integrate with third parties to ensure that any device the company decides to launch will work with the various services the company already offers. can take precedence over Provide important content to your table. But Apple already has all these services out of the box, so the company basically starts at third base. It’s a big endorsement of all new Apple products, especially mixed reality headsets.

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Nearly any service Apple offers could have significant benefits for mixed reality headsets, and it’s easy to imagine what they can offer.

Using media consumption services like Apple TV+ and Apple Music is easy. Imagine watching a movie with a friend via his SharePlay on a giant virtual screen. Or an outdoor concert held by Apple in a virtual venue. This is content built into Apple’s headsets and available at very little additional cost to businesses or users who already subscribe to Apple’s services.

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In addition to Apple’s existing interactive services Apple Arcade and Apple Fitness+, you can easily see the applications there. Both gaming and fitness have proven to be important markets for existing headsets, and fitness and wellness are particular focus areas for Apple, so it’s unlikely the company plans to use it as a killer app. It’s hard to imagine. For example, you can do virtual workouts in fun locations, or take advantage of headset features for certain types of workouts. This is also a great opportunity for him to merge these two categories into one. Gamified fitness options have already proven successful on this type of device. (Ask any Beat Saber or Supernatural player.)

There are also ancillary services that Apple relies on. iCloud will undoubtedly be a key part of the company’s upcoming devices, allowing you to log into your account and instantly access all your data. Similarly, the App Store will enable third-party development, which will be crucial to the future of headsets. And many customers want to protect their big investment with Apple Care.

And then there’s Apple News… oh yeah, they’re not all winners.

The Foundation…and the Empire?

Seeing all of these services ready to work with Apple headsets shows how Apple is positioning itself for success in nearly every new product category coming up. Yes, the services category has the benefit of bringing recurring revenue to the company, which is great, but more importantly, just like the existing iPad app, it gives Apple a solid foundation on which to build the new platform. is to provide It may provide a solid base layer for the device’s software.

Of course, that doesn’t mean Apple can just snap their fingers and bring their services to an entirely new platform. Work needs to be done to actually adapt these services to that platform (whole new interfaces, etc.), but in the case of headsets there is a wide variety of existing ones that can be leveraged to provide compelling use cases. means Jump.

Because there is an important point to understand here. The thing is that the headset is basically a product built on top of it. experience. And that’s exactly what Apple designed their services to be possible.