On September 30, 2022, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke to the Dutch news outlet Bright about the future of augmented reality (AR) and the metaverse. On AR, Cook was optimistic, stating that “it won’t be as long” until we see life without AR as we now look back to a life before the internet or the smartphone. Rather, in the latest in a series of blows to the perception of the metaverse, Cook said that Apple doesn’t use the word because the public doesn’t understand it and that virtual reality (VR) is not a good method of communication.

As outlined in IDTechEx’s recent report, “Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality 2023-2033: Technologies, Players, and Markets,” interest in the metaverse has fueled a surge in investment in AR and VR hardware, as it is expected that these technologies become the key. …