Apple Is Hiring Dozens of AR/VR Developers (Which Actually Isn't Much)

Apple has posted over 40 job AR/VR openings since last August, which more than any recent rumor swirling about, convinces me that Apple is moving into the AR/VR space.

But! 40 or so employees is actually not that much amid a company with nearly 150,000 total staff. (And translates to Apple paying these new hires roughly $10 million a year, a pittance for a firm of such size to pay.) More key, competitor Oculus has 1,300 employees listed on LinkedIn, while a significant portion of Sony PlayStation's 8000 employees are dedicated on some level to developing for the VR market leader, PSVR.

My take: Apple is still in very early, prototype stages of any VR/AR headset launch it has planned, and don't expect an Apple HMD to hit the market a year or two before you see them start hiring AR/VR developers by the hundreds and hundreds.

#xrjobs https://t.co/Nt8dgIUoZZ

— jasmine roberts (@jasminezroberts) February 9, 2021

Hat tip: VR engineer Jasmine Roberts via the senior designer of Rec Room, a small startup which is also hiring new VR developers by the double digits.

Comments

[Joey1058]

Possibly generalists, rather than specialists? I'm sure Apple already had numerous dedicated XR engineers on it's staff, and they're looking to see where they can fill in gaps.