It has been reported that Apple hired away the public relations chief for Meta’s AR division. According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman in his Power On newsletter, Apple has reportedly hired Andrea Schubert, Meta’s augmented reality (AR) public relations and communications lead. It appears that Schubert has been with Meta for nearly six years, based on her LinkedIn page. Further Gurman explains that Meta, with Oculus, was the market leader in headsets for years, so such a hire makes sense as Apple approaches its launch.
This year, Meta’s Oculus Quest 2 was one of the top-sellers on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The Oculus app by Meta topped the App Store rankings in the US on Christmas Day. In addition, the free version is now the top Google Play app. Among the people who received the headset as a gift this holiday season, this could indicate a large number of people got it as a present.
Despite rumors that Apple is developing an AR/VR headset, Apple remains tight-lipped about the device. An earlier report from Bloomberg indicated that the headset’s price tag could reach $3,000 and that it would include 8K displays and 3D sensors to track hands. Processor-intensive tasks may also have to be handled by a Mac or iPhone connected to the headset. However, it may not be too long before Apple unveils the headset. It is predicted that Apple’s mixed-reality headset could be released in 2022, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.