Oculus and Apple

SEANMCAD · March 2016

http://www.macrumors.com/2016/03/03/oculus-rift-for-mac-requires-better-gpus/

Ouch....

Oculus Rift Won't Support Mac Until Apple Releases a 'Good Computer'

Waterlily · March 2016

That's more a dig at themselves instead of Apple. The fact Oculus needs exotic hardware specs is Oculus their problem, not Apple's.

SEANMCAD · March 2016

Waterlily said:

That's more a dig at themselves instead of Apple. The fact Oculus has exotic hardware specs is Oculus their problem, not Apple's.

yeah something like that. because a game is never better using GTX 980 which is why i run all my games on an 8088 machine

In fact I fail to see any reason why we all should not be gaming on an 8088 who needs all this exotic stuff like flat monitors and all

Waterlily · March 2016

SEANMCAD said:

Waterlily said:

That's more a dig at themselves instead of Apple. The fact Oculus has exotic hardware specs is Oculus their problem, not Apple's.

yeah something like that. because a game is never better using GTX 980 which is why i run all my games on an 8088 machine

Awful comparison, games scale down to low-end specs. Oculus does not.

kjempff · March 2016

"exotic hardware specs" funny .. wait you were not trying to be ?
The main problem with apple hardware (besides being double price for the same hardware), is that they try to make their devices as small as possible, which is in direct competition with performance (especially gpu) that require space (aka cooling and air flow).

Waterlily · March 2016

kjempff said:

"exotic hardware specs" funny .. wait you were not trying to be ?

Minimum Oculus Rift GPU spec is a $400 GPU:

NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD 290 equivalent

kjempff · March 2016

Waterlily said:

kjempff said:

"exotic hardware specs" funny .. wait you were not trying to be ?

Minimum Oculus Rift GPU spec is a $400 GPU:

NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD 290 equivalent

Isn't that recommended, not minimum ? You would think it would be possible to turn down detail and have it run on a little less.
But still if you were to buy a pc and use it for gaming today, you would get recommended a 970 (more like 325-350$) or equivalent which is the sweet spot on the price/performance curve right now. Anything less and you can't run modern games on any decent settings.
A 970 or similar gpu will in hardware alone take up more space than the hardware in current macs do, which means they would have to make a new model and considerably larger in size.
Not that pc laptops can manage either, same problem with heat and size.

Waterlily · March 2016

kjempff said:

Waterlily said:

kjempff said:

"exotic hardware specs" funny .. wait you were not trying to be ?

Minimum Oculus Rift GPU spec is a $400 GPU:

NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD 290 equivalent

Isn't that recommended, not minimum ?

no http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oculus-rift-minumum-pc-spec-finalized/1100-6433566/

eye_m · March 2016

Apple will come out with it's own VR. They'll call it the iEye and it will be a marvel of modern science as it manages to sit on top your head whilst it still screws you over at the same time.

Pepeq · March 2016

I don't know if you realize this or not... but... if the technology had any merit what-so-ever... Apple would have been the first to market their own.

Just another gizmo headed to the scrap heap...

CalmOceans · March 2016

Pepeq said:

I don't know if you realize this or not... but... if the technology had any merit what-so-ever... Apple would have been the first to market their own.

Just another gizmo headed to the scrap heap...

I agree with you. I remember Apple saying that their desktops won't have touchscreens because touchscreen on desktop doesn't work.

Apple: "We don't think it's the right interface, honestly,, Mac is sort of a sit down experience. It would be awkward and uncomfortable for users to continually reach out to their computer screen while sitting at a desk".

Microsoft and its fans all said Apple didn't know what they were talking about and touch on desktop would be the best thing since sliced bread.

I think everyone sort of knows that touch on desktop failed with Windows 8. Apple was right. Love or hate them, Apple tends to be a step ahead and tends to know what will work and what won't when it comes to desktops.

JackCracker411 · March 2016

I'm going to leave this right here ladies: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-is-getting-into-vr-in-a-big-way-2016-2

Pepeq · March 2016

JackCracker411 said:

I'm going to leave this right here ladies: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-is-getting-into-vr-in-a-big-way-2016-2

I'm waiting for their (Apple's) autonomous car to have it's first iAccident... Google has beaten Apple to the press with that prestigious *first*.

JackCracker411 · March 2016

They don't really need to be the first to the table. They just need to keep it simple and do it well. Deliver affordable hardware with engaging content to support it.

I think VR will take off eventually. However, I see augmented reality (AR) being able to delivery more in the short-term.

Ridelynn · March 2016

CalmOceans said:

I agree with you. I remember Apple saying that their desktops won't have touchscreens because touchscreen on desktop doesn't work.
...
I think everyone sort of knows that touch on desktop failed with Windows 8. Apple was right. Love or hate them, Apple tends to be a step ahead and tends to know what will work and what won't when it comes to desktops.

Well, they also said the stylus was stupid... although in Apple's defense, it's a Pencil, not a stylus. And they still think mice only need one button.

That being said, I do think Apple is right more often than they are wrong.
Everyone flipped when the iMac didn't have a floppy drive - didn't really matter
Everyone flipped when the Macbook Pro dropped the DVD drive - didn't really matter
Everyone flipped when the iPhone didn't have a physical keyboard - really didn't matter there

I think touch works very well on a tablet, where you usually have it laying on a table or in your lap. On a desktop/laptop, the screen sits vertical, and you have to raise your arms up to it - it doesn't work nearly as well. I don't mind it in a kiosk, where I'm just touching a button every now and then, but if I had to do it all day long, I'd have arms like Hulk Hogan.

As far as VR goes - yeah... If Apple wants to support VR, what makes anyone think they aren't capable of building a machine that could do that. Right now, what would be Apple's benefit in announcing hardware-level support for Rift or Vive? Really, Apple doesn't have Vulkan or DirectX either, which are much bigger detriments than not supporting some crazy piece of VR hardware.

Apple's target audience for gaming isn't on the desktop, and hasn't been for decades now, it's gaming on their mobile devices.

Phaserlight · March 2016

JackCracker411 said:

I'm going to leave this right here ladies: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-is-getting-into-vr-in-a-big-way-2016-2

Stanford University's Jeremy Bailenson looks an awful lot like Strange Days' Ralph Fiennes.

"If they prioritize higher-end GPUs like they used to for awhile back in the day I think we'd love to support Mac."

I wonder if "back in the day" means circa 2003 to this quote; I seem to recall some high-powered Mac towers in a computer lab around then.

Cleffy · March 2016

Apple's hardware is a joke. Even when they use a discrete card, it under performs compared to its PC equivalent. Happens all the time in things like CAD programs where there are professional cards for Maya and Blender, but the performance is worse than on Linux or Windows.
The main reason you pay twice as much for hardware for Macs is because they give computers away to schools. You are pretty much paying for a 2nd Mac to be sent to some schools lab that none of the students want to use.

Apple simply doesn't have a single card in any of their devices that can support any VR platform that displays to 2 eyes.

SEANMCAD · March 2016

Waterlily said:

kjempff said:

"exotic hardware specs" funny .. wait you were not trying to be ?

Minimum Oculus Rift GPU spec is a $400 GPU:

NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD 290 equivalent

the difference is in the PC ecosystem you actually CAN get that kind of hardware if you want (Oculus or not) in the Apple ecosystem you can not. So with that have fun with games like King Arthur's Gold

Phry · March 2016

SEANMCAD said:

Waterlily said:

kjempff said:

"exotic hardware specs" funny .. wait you were not trying to be ?

Minimum Oculus Rift GPU spec is a $400 GPU:

NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD 290 equivalent

the difference is in the PC ecosystem you actually CAN get that kind of hardware if you want (Oculus or not) in the Apple ecosystem you can not. So with that have fun with games like King Arthur's Gold

While i don't have any particular interest in VR, i do have a gaming PC, and for that reason, getting a Mac was never a consideration.
Its not really all that surprising that the current crop of Mac's aren't capable of supporting VR, as i doubt any of them are serious games machines.
If VR proves popular, then no doubt Apple will make some VR capable machines, though i hate to think what sort of prices they would try and charge for them, but since Macs pretty much occupy a niche similar in size to the one occupied by the various linux distro's, i doubt its really an issue that needs to be addressed.

Cleffy · March 2016

Actually Mac has gained market share over the last decade. They went from 5% to 6%.

Ridelynn · March 2016

Cleffy said:

Actually Mac has gained market share over the last decade. They went from 5% to 6%.

Yup, and that is why this is completely irrelevent. It's just someone who doesn't like Apple who had a public platform to make a dig, probably sore because his company was bought by Facebook and not by Apple...

I mean, it's not like we are hearing about the massive injustice that Commercial VR isn't also supported on Linux Desktop? Or bemoaning the fact that VR won't run under OS/2. Or that anyone in their right mind thinks that VR will only succeed if it is able to expand it's usernbase to all those Macintosh-only people yearning to pay $600+ for the privilege (because, after all, Macintosh people have proven to have that kind of cash, so it would seem like a match made in heaven).

SEANMCAD · March 2016

Ridelynn said:

Cleffy said:

Actually Mac has gained market share over the last decade. They went from 5% to 6%.

Yup, and that is why this is completely irrelevent.

ok just on this statement (not VR) for reasons that continuous confuse and displease me but it remains as a fact, Apple makes a F ton of money. They are weighted HEAVY in pretty much all tech related ETF's. granted their huge boat load of money is not coming from gaming PCs but I what I am suggesting here is that Apple is VERY relevant even though I personally am not a fan of that fact.

spankybus · March 2016

I have seen a few comments regarding Minimum vs recommended GPU specs for oculus.

when discussing a device that can literally make you sick...and the worse the systems performance, the more likely this phenomenon is to occur....how does one determine 'Minimum'?

Is it the lowest-end card that someone most prone to motion sickness could play without getting sick?

If you are buying at minimum specs in hopes of VR, you might wanna use some of the money you saved for a barf bucket.

Ridelynn · March 2016

SEANMCAD said:

Ridelynn said:

Cleffy said:

Actually Mac has gained market share over the last decade. They went from 5% to 6%.

Yup, and that is why this is completely irrelevent.

ok just on this statement (not VR) for reasons that continuous confuse and displease me but it remains as a fact, Apple makes a F ton of money. They are weighted HEAVY in pretty much all tech related ETF's. granted their huge boat load of money is not coming from gaming PCs but I what I am suggesting here is that Apple is VERY relevant even though I personally am not a fan of that fact.

They are very relevent in the mobile front, but we already know how you feel about VR on that. Most of Apple's revenue, the vast majority in fact, are from iOS devices.

Yes, they have a lot of money.
Yes, they got their start in PCs (I use that term generically).
While they still make PCs, that isn't the core of their business any longer, and hasn't been for over a decade now. In fact, they even removed the word "Computing" from their company name back in 2007 - that's a pretty good indicator.

SEANMCAD · March 2016

Ridelynn said:

SEANMCAD said:

Ridelynn said:

Cleffy said:

Actually Mac has gained market share over the last decade. They went from 5% to 6%.

Yup, and that is why this is completely irrelevent.

ok just on this statement (not VR) for reasons that continuous confuse and displease me but it remains as a fact, Apple makes a F ton of money. They are weighted HEAVY in pretty much all tech related ETF's. granted their huge boat load of money is not coming from gaming PCs but I what I am suggesting here is that Apple is VERY relevant even though I personally am not a fan of that fact.

They are very relevent in the mobile front, but we already know how you feel about VR on that. Most of Apple's revenue, the vast majority in fact, are from iOS devices.

Yes, they have a lot of money.
Yes, they got their start in PCs (I use that term generically).
While they still make PCs, that isn't the core of their business any longer, and hasn't been for over a decade now. In fact, they even removed the word "Computing" from their company name back in 2007 - that's a pretty good indicator.

I know that and I even said it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was just pointing out that outside of the PC gaming market Apple is a very serious player so they should be paid attention to regardless of what they do.

fodell54 · March 2016

.

Howdy, Stranger!

Oculus and Apple

Oculus Rift Won't Support Mac Until Apple Releases a 'Good Computer'

Comments

Howdy, Stranger!

Quick Links

Oculus and Apple

Oculus Rift Won't Support Mac Until Apple Releases a 'Good Computer'

Comments