You’re probably familiar with the Apple Vision Pro, which uses spatial computing technology to bring content alive in the world around you. Virtual reality headsets and 3D displays exist to make games and other content feel more immersive. Apple, however, wants to be the best of the best and is looking into bringing spatial computing experiences to computer monitors, presumably to run your Mac.
A patent for “Displays with Selective Pixel Brightness tuning” was published on April 4, showing the company’s interest in the technology. Much of it involves using a lenticular display and a lenticular lens film so that a viewer can see what looks like three-dimensional images without wearing a headset.
The images can be displayed in controllable zones, and the pixel values of each pixel are adjustable for better quality. Multiple people can also view the same image, hinting that the display could have more than one viewing angle.
“A plurality of the lenticular lenses may extend across the length of the display. The lenticular lenses may be configured to enable stereoscopic viewing of the display such that a viewer perceives three-dimensional images,” explains Apple in the patent.
Apple doesn’t mention any of its products in the patent, but that is a common practice with many companies. Apple is protecting the idea of the technology, and just because Apple has patented something, it doesn’t always become a final product. It’s still cool to read about the concept, though, and dream of a future Apple Studio Display with this technology — or even a MacBook display that can display 3D content.
We’ve already seen companies play with the idea of 3D displays. 3D televisions (that required glasses) were once the rage, but the technology fell by the wayside. 3D is in the middle of making a comeback, though, such as the upcoming Samsung monitor, a glasses-free 3D monitor featuring similar spatial technology to what Apple is playing with in this patent.
Such a technology is expensive, though, as Apple Vision Pro is $3,500, and we can’t imagine what a 3D monitor from Apple might cost. The Apple Studio Display already costs $1,600, and the Pro Display XDR $5,000.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.