In the latest interview with Kara Swisher of The New York Times, Tim Cook expressed his admiration for Tesla, and the whole Electric Vehicles market. Tim Cook also said that AR will play a critical role for Apple in the future.
In the interview where Tim Cook said he “probably” won’t be at Apple 10 years down the line, the CEO has some things to say about electric vehicles and the role of augmented reality (AR) in upcoming Apple products. In regards to electric vehicles, Kara asked Tim what he thinks about Elon Musk and Tesla.
Kara Swisher
One of the companies you acquired is Drive AI, a self-driving startup. Apple is testing autonomous vehicles. It was, reportedly. Last year, Elon Musk said he offered to sell Tesla to Apple for 1/10 its value. And he said you wouldn’t even take a meeting with him.
Tim Cook
You know, I’ve never spoken to Elon, although I have great admiration and respect for the company he’s built. I think Tesla has done an unbelievable job of not only establishing the lead, but keeping the lead for such a long period of time in the EV space. So I have great appreciation for them.
There have been rumors of Apple building an electric vehicle. According to the reports released earlier this year, Hyundai is in talks with Apple to manufacture the rumored Apple Car. Apple Car is said to start production in 2024. Continuing the conversation about innovation, Kara asked Tim about the role AR would play in Apple’s future.
Kara Swisher
What is your big interest in augmented reality? [..] It’s rumored that Apple is expected to announce the first major new device since 2015, a mixed-reality headset. Can you talk about AR and this mixed-reality headset?
Tim Cook
In terms of AR, the promise of AR is that you and I are having a great conversation right now. Arguably, it could even be better if we were able to augment our discussion with charts or other things to appear. Your audience would also benefit from this, too, I think. And so when I think about that in different fields, whether it’s health, whether it’s education, whether it’s gaming, whether it’s retail, I’m already seeing AR take off in some of these areas.
Apple is expected to announce a mixed reality headset in the coming ‘several months,’ its first AR product. Apple’s mixed reality headset is said to feature 15 cameras for ‘innovative biometrics.’ The headset is even expected to feature two 8K displays and iris recognition technology. The headset is said to be priced around $1000.
Are you excited about Apple’s upcoming mixed reality headset? Do you think the new product category will be as successful as the iPhone for Apple? Let us know in the comments section below!
