OPINION: It’s time for us to name our winner and our loser from the past week in tech. Stay on this page to find out which companies caught our attention this time.
There were actually quite a few contenders for Winners and Losers this week. When it comes to good news, we shared our Pikmin 4 review this week. The game earned an impressive 4.5/5 stars, with Staff Writer Gemma Ryles praising its adorable graphics and addictive gameplay.
On a less positive note, Netflix confirmed it would be scrapping its Basic (without ads) tier, while Apple warned that it might have to pull iMessage and FaceTime in the UK if the government’s new Online Safety Bill is passed.
Scroll down to discover this week’s winner and loser…
Winner: Apple
Our winner this week is Apple after it was revealed that the company is in talks with NBA bosses regarding the Apple Vision Pro.
When asked about the NBA’s plans for the Vision Pro, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told the New York Post: “We’re working very closely with Apple”.
While this comment doesn’t give away much regarding a potential partnership, it does make it seem more likely that live baseball will be available on Apple’s first VR/AR headset.
Apple TV+
The Home of Apple Originals. Enjoy star-studded, award-winning series, films, and more. Grab your 7 day free trial now.
- Apple
- 7 day free trial
- £6.99 p/m
Live NBA games are already supported on Meta’s Quest headsets through the Horizons app but these experiences are purely VR. With the Apple Vision Pro, fans could be given new ways of interacting with their favourite sport via AR enhancements.
It’s also possible that Silver is referring to something that has already been confirmed. During WWDC, Apple announced that Apple Arcade game NBA 2K23 will be available to play on the headset from day one.
Hopefully, this isn’t the case and we’ll see more collaborations between Apple and the NBA in the future, especially when it comes to live sports leveraging the potential of the Vision Pro.
Sticking to the virtual reality theme, this week’s loser is Meta as rumours began to circulate regarding the uncertain future of its Meta Quest Pro.
According to a report by The Information, Meta plans to halt production on the Quest Pro once component supplies run out. The same source also stated that the decision to scrap the Quest Pro was made at the beginning of the year – just months after the headset first went on sale.
On top of this, Meta has reportedly ended the development of the Meta Quest Pro 2 and will instead focus solely on affordable VR and AR experiences going forward.
While we haven’t seen any official stats that suggest the Meta Quest Pro sold poorly, we can only assume this must be the case if the company is calling it quits on the premium headset so early on.
We ourselves weren’t overly impressed with the Meta Quest Pro, awarding the headset 3.5/5 stars for its poor battery life and uncomfortable fit when wearing the device for longer periods of time, among other things.
With that being said, Meta has yet to speak out about the future of the Quest Pro, meaning the cancellation of the Quest Pro and the Quest Pro 2 is all speculation and rumours at this point.
If Meta is backtracking on the Pro, it hasn’t stopped other companies such as Apple from pushing into the premium VR market. We’ll have to wait and see whether Apple receives a warmer reception when it begins shipping out the Vision Pro in 2024.
