Apple CEO Tim Cook calls virtual reality 'really cool' in comments that suggest company could develop headset

The company has made a number of hires in recent months that could suggest the company is looking to stake a claim on the growing technology

Andrew Griffin
Wednesday 27 January 2016 12:09 GMT
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Apple CEO Tim Cook: the firm could be about to reveal its plans
Apple CEO Tim Cook: the firm could be about to reveal its plans

Tim Cook might have confirmed that Apple is looking at creating a virtual reality headset.

Asked about whether Apple was looking into VR, boss Tim cook said that it is “really cool and has some interesting applications”.

The vague statement is likely to increase rumours that Apple is working on virtual reality equipment, in the wake of new hires in the field.

Mr Cook was speaking as the company reported its earnings for the last quarter of 2015. Those showed that growth in iPhone sales were slowing — but that new products such as the Apple Watch and Apple TV were growing.

Virtual reality is one product, alongside a rumoured car, that could also join the iPhone as part of Apple’s expanded line.

"In terms of VR, I don't think it's a niche,” Mr Cook said. “It's really cool and has some interesting applications."

The answer is far from any confirmation that Apple is looking into virtual reality. But it does show that the company is not necessarily ruling it out.

It also means that it is likely to become the product that Apple is repeatedly asked about. Previously, analysts wanted to know when Apple might get around to releasing its TV — but then that came out, late last year.

The question was asked by analyst Gene Munster, who had spent the years before the Apple TV release asking the company when it would arrive and making predictions about it. But many of those predictions turned out wrong — it was widely-rumoured the company would make an actual TV set, but the hardware turned out to be a box that plugs into an existing TV.

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