Apple Will Become The Leading AR Platform

For Loup Ventures co-founder Gene Munster, Apple Inc. AAPL’s WWDC keynote address only confirmed what he already knew: Apple’s future lies in augmented reality.

The Monday talk highlighted a number of software and hardware updates that will enhance the AR experience for both the developer and user, including the new iOS 11-based ARKit. The product will create a user base in the hundred-millions relative to Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL’s Tango platform estimated to entertain fewer than 10 million, Munster said.

The product report seemed to mark Apple’s concession to the direction of technology.

Augmented, Virtual Reality Is Here

“We believe AR will be the core technology that eventually replaces the smartphone,” Munster wrote in a Monday note. “Today’s announcement lays the groundwork for Apple to succeed in that future as ARKit represents the first tangible commitment from Apple to establish itself as the leader in the race to build a dominant AR-driven OS.”

The ARKit also bears implications for the iPhone line, which Munster said will soon be AR-enhanced with depth cameras, dual cameras, a 3D mapping chip and edge-to-edge display without hardware home buttons.

“Today’s announcement of ARKit leaves us incrementally more confident that an AR-enhanced iPhone is coming this fall,” he wrote.

The new phone might also support virtual reality content, as Apple announced VR support through Metal and macOS High Sierra, as well as supplementary technology for Stream VR, Unity and Unreal.

“These announcements show that Apple views VR as an important computing paradigm in the future, a market they have been shut out of to date because of their focus on integrated graphics and downplaying the powering of external hardware,” Munster said.

Altogether, management demonstrated an accelerated shift toward artificial intelligence and asserted strength in cross-device machine learning, natural language processing and computer vision, particularly with the introduction of the Siri-based HomePod.

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