Apple's future will likely continue to incorporate mixed reality hardware and AI

Virtual and augmented realities are paving the way for a more immersive future

Tech companies like Apple, Meta, and Microsoft invest heavily in immersive technologies such as virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. While VR transports users to a fully digital space and AR adds digital elements to the real world, mixed reality allows interaction with both at once.

See which Apple products drive the most of its $391B revenue.

Apple, the tech giant renowned for products like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, started out in a garage in 1976.

Mixed reality devices and other wearables may usurp smartphones

The integration of smartphone features into watches, glasses, and even clothing suggests future technology may be geared toward working independently in the background. Mixed reality technologies are expected to facilitate this ambient computing world by seamlessly and proactively displaying real-time content without physical interactions solely in the real world.

Lessons learned from Steve Jobs

From predicting our screen-filled future in 1983 to slashing Apple's product line in 1997, Steve Jobs believed in focus, simplicity, and the fusion of technology and art. His philosophies still influence how products are built and marketed today.

Limited battery life and increasing discomfort prevent extensive use of mixed reality headsets

Spending 24 hours wearing Apple's Vision Pro highlights some of the challenges facing MR technology, which are compounded by an increasing number of bugs when software is run in nonideal conditions. However, practical and entertainment benefits include placing multiple midair timers when cooking and experiencing immersive multimedia, such as astronomical flythroughs.

Steve Jobs changed the world with Apple and Pixar

The devices Jobs introduced during his time at Apple, including the iPad and iPhone, were imitated by competitors, ultimately helping to create the numerous options consumers have today. In addition to leading Apple, Jobs also helped turn Pixar and the software startup NeXT into success stories.

Explore a breakdown of 18 influential Apple products

The launch of the MacBook Air in 2008 popularized the ultrabook category of laptops, while the iPad (2010) made large-screen mobile devices a technological norm. The iPhoneX (2017) introduced the notch, which has become a staple at the top of many smartphone displays.

The virtual reality era has finally arrived

The smartphone era has driven a large share of the consumer electronics market for almost 20 years now. But what comes next? Dominant computing platforms come and go over time, and there’s reason to believe that mixed reality devices like headsets and glasses might be the form factor that eventually replaces smartphones. This article presents a snapshot of where we are right now in the VR era, and what the future holds.

Medical professionals have experimented with using mixed reality headsets

Devices like the Apple Vision Pro have helped doctors develop surgical plans for hip and knee replacements using software that provides 3D models and other tools. Virtual screens displayed by mixed reality devices can provide information related to surgical progress, a patient's vitals, and more.

Apple CEO Tim Cook on what it takes to run the world's largest company

Apple CEO Tim Cook is a tough interview subject. He doesn't give many of them, and when he does it's often difficult to move him off of his talking points. In this interview for Dua Lipa's podcast, however, he opens up for a wide-ranging discussion about everything from artificial intelligence to the impact of technology on climate change—in addition to his own personal journey and his philanthropic endeavors.

In 2018, Apple became the world's first publicly traded trillion-dollar company

The valuation was made possible by Steve Jobs' return to the company in 1997, who implemented a simplification strategy by cutting the majority of Apple's existing product line. His promotion of Jony Ive to SVP of industrial design would help popularize Apple through colorful products and marketing.

Apple's latest invention

Apple may be working on a robotic smart lamp. Internally called ELEGNT, it's designed to respond to music, display emotion through movement, and even serve up reminders. A new research paper details how it could work—though Apple hasn't officially confirmed a release.

When Steve Jobs recruited former CEO Tim Cook to work at Apple in 1998, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy—and many of Cook's friends advised him not to take the job.

Explore the history of the iPhone from 2007 to 2023.

Creating the iPhone ended the marriages of several of Apple's engineers

In the early 2000s, Apple recruited multiple engineers onto rival teams tasked with combining phone, internet, and iPod capabilities. Despite significant technical hurdles, Steve Jobs favored a prototype with multitouch technology and a modified Mac operating system over a competing in-house model based on the iPod's click wheel. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

If you'd invested $1K in Apple stock in 2005, you'd have roughly $130K as of 2025

Over the past 20 years, Apple stock generated an annualized total return of about 27.6%. Learn more about how those numbers came to be in this article.

Mixed reality devices can turn digital information into 3D experiences

Described as "wearing a theme park on your face," devices like Microsoft's HoloLens project images into users' eyes so that their brains believe virtual objects are actually there. The bulkiness and physical limitations of existing headsets are expected to lessen over time, mimicking the evolution of early headphones.

In 2025, American tech companies will spend $300B to $400B on AI

That is, in nominal dollars, more than any group of companies has ever spent to do anything. Notably, these companies are not remotely close to earning $400B on artificial intelligence.

How TSMC, the world's biggest chip manufacturer, makes money

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has more than 500 clients across the world, but none are bigger or more consequential to its business than Apple. The iPhone maker accounts for 25% of TSMC's total revenue. TSMC controls more than 60% of the global market share in semiconductor manufacturing. Dive into the economics and outlook of this important company here.

The next technology epoch is here

From ChatGPT to DALL-E, 2022 saw the mainstream emergence of artificial intelligence for consumer use. Here's how these platforms will disrupt today's five biggest tech companies—Apple, Amazon, Meta, Google, and Microsoft.

Steve Jobs revolutionized animated filmmaking

Steve Jobs left his mark beyond Apple with Pixar, the animated studio he acquired in 1986. In addition to pushing Pixar to focus on storytelling, Jobs led the studio to revolutionize animation via computer-generated imagery.

By 2022, Meta was betting strongly on a metaverse strategy for its products

Moving beyond the controversies over fueling misinformation, division, and harm worldwide, Mark Zuckerberg expressed optimism about technology's role in connecting people. Meta's multibillion-dollar investments in integrative AR and VR technologies have further evolved its founder's vision.

Watch a review of Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses

Combining smartphone features with a luxury eyeglass brand, Meta's peripheral provides discreet recording, audio, and AI-powered functions. They represent an ongoing effort by the company to develop hardware for the augmented and mixed reality market.

Google Search incorporated AI Overviews in 2024 to fight back competitors

Analysts believe that generative AI tools—not antitrust rulings—are Google's biggest threat because they draw users away from traditional search and potential ad revenue. AI partnerships, like the one between Apple and OpenAI, may further reduce Google's market share.

Apple Pay is activated on more than 78% of US iPhones

As a result, some banks worry they could be losing ground to the tech company. As consumers continue to use Apple Pay instead of pulling out their physical debit card to pay for everyday items, some banks are fighting back in the digital wallet war.

YouTube plans on embracing AI-powered features

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan lays out a series of priorities and predictions for how the online video giant will continue to evolve. Mohan says the company wants AI to play a bigger role—in addition to figuring out how YouTube can evolve and improve the experience of streaming its content.

Steve Jobs saved a nearly bankrupt Apple

Apple nearly went bankrupt in 1997, when the tech company had only three months of operational cash left. Apple's board ousted cofounder Steve Jobs in 1985, but he was brought back as interim CEO to revive the company when Apple purchased Jobs' company, NeXT.

Who are America's highest-paid CEOs?

As of 2024, Apple's Tim Cook, Starbucks' Brian Niccol, and Microsoft's Satya Nadella were among America's highest-paid CEOs, each making tens of millions of dollars per year.

Jony Ive helped popularize Apple with iconic product form factors

Appointed SVP of industrial design in 1997 and chief design officer in 2015, Ive was responsible for the translucent plastic shells found on early iMacs and the iBook G3. He also oversaw the construction of Apple Park—the company's headquarters.

Why VR/AR gets farther away as it comes into focus

Thirteen years after XR devices became a big tech obsession, VR/AR devices are not just behind schedule, they still seem far away. This article provides an overview of the hardware realities getting in the way of the vision.

Listen to Palantir CEO Alex Karp's outlook for how AI will change the economy.

AI investment may be the next major economic bubble

A video examines the massive surge in AI spending—forecast to hit $500B by 2026—and how this may be propping up a fragile US economy. Experts warn that if AI investment slows or under-delivers, the consequences could be felt in markets, jobs and growth.

Watch the unveiling of Meta's Quest 3S mixed reality headset

Meta's social apps like Facebook and Instagram are the most high-profile part of its business, but the company has sought building out a hardware line of peripherals like the Quest headset, which combines virtual and augmented reality.

Apple’s '1984' ad aired once during the game and permanently shaped their advertising

During Super Bowl XVIII, Apple aired its dystopian “1984” commercial once to a mass audience, introducing the Macintosh and positioning Apple as a challenger to IBM’s dominance in personal computing.

Immersive technologies are increasingly being used in medicine, retail, and education

More accessible devices and user-friendly tools have increased the adoption of these technologies, which provide interactive, 3D environments that facilitate natural human learning. In 2018, Walmart purchased 17,000 VR headsets to train over a million employees in areas such as customer service and Black Friday preparation.

Watch Steve Jobs unveil the first iPhone in 2007

During his Macworld San Francisco 2007 keynote address, Jobs claimed Apple had reinvented the phone by integrating phone capabilities with internet access and music playback from its iPod product line. The multitouch display eliminated the need for a stylus or keyboard hardware typically found on other smartphones.

Watch Steve Jobs introduce the first iPad

Apple's cofounder debuted the first iPad in 2010, framing it as a third category of personal electronics between the laptop and the smartphone. Steve Jobs showed off how thin the device was (for the time) and explained how it was better than smartphones and laptops for browsing the web.

Mixed reality may help onboard manufacturing workers more efficiently

Mixed reality headsets can facilitate hands-on education by providing immersive guides overlaid onto their field of vision, showing users how to complete complex tasks.

Completed in 2017, Apple's headquarters cost $5 billion dollars

Apple Park features a ring-shaped main building that accommodates over 12,000 employees, situated above a two-story underground parking garage equipped with its own traffic light system. Inspired by Stanford University's foliage, Steve Jobs hired one of their arborists to oversee the planting of over 9,000 indigenous trees.

Apple's board fired Steve Jobs in 1985

Apple's board fired cofounder Steve Jobs after he clashed with then-CEO John Sculley about Apple's goals and vision, as well as how to run the company. Apple later rehired Steve Jobs as interim CEO, a role he held until he died in 2011.

Meta's Quest and other mixed reality devices can make learning new skills easier

PianoVision utilizes the passthrough visibility of a headset to illuminate which keys to play on a real piano or keyboard, providing an immersive, software-based learning alternative to human instruction. Similar apps also offer virtual model replacements for physical devices, such as a virtual piano, to practice with.

Nvidia's attempted Arm acquisition revealed its hopes of becoming the world's leading AI company

Though Nvidia's acquisition of Arm, another company that designs semiconductors, was ultimately quashed over antitrust concerns, the attempt offered insights into Nvidia's business strategy. Over time, Nvidia has increasingly focused on using its graphics cards to power machine learning, and its platform CUDA is dominant in the sector.

71% of equity investments in Q1 2025 went to AI companies

That's up from just 14% in 2020, according to JPMorgan, which recently conducted an analysis of venture capital investment trends in the US.

Apple's first backer recruited his own CEO to help manage the company

Wanting Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak to focus on developing Apple computers, Mike Markkula brought in his colleague from Fairchild Semiconductor, Michael Scott. As employee number five, Scott helped professionalize the fledgling computer company and getting manufacturing off the ground. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Mark Zuckerberg demos the Quest 3 VR headset

Meta, back when the company was still known as Facebook, once tried and failed to launch a smartphone. With the arrival of the mixed reality era, the company decided to make another hardware play again—and this time, it's having better luck. Meta's aggressively priced Quest headsets offer VR for the masses, and here CEO Mark Zuckerberg shows off the new mixed reality experiences and more available with the latest version, the Quest 3.

'No big challenge has ever been solved, and no lasting improvement has ever been achieved, unless people dare to try something different.'

- Apple CEO Tim Cook (1960 - present)

A fictional glimpse into the future of AR

Hyper-Reality is a project that presents a provocative and kaleidoscopic new vision of the future, where physical and virtual realities have merged, and the city is saturated in media. Watch this six-minute video to experience the vision.

The iPhone reshaped culture, media, and communication through innovation

Cultural moments, such as Ellen's viral Oscars selfie and Taylor Swift's iPhone Notes statement, have demonstrated how deeply integrated the device has become into society. The film "Tangerine" and Kendrick Lamar's "Pride" were created with the iPhone, underscoring its use in media creation.

Mark Zuckerberg views Meta as a technology company—not a social media company

Despite Meta's core products being social media apps, Zuckerberg is adamant that Meta is a technology company that has built social media apps, but can build and is comfortable building other technologies—like AI-integrated glasses and virtual reality labs.