With long-awaited releases expected for a new Nintendo Switch and Apple’s Vision Pro, it may be an important year for consumer gadgets.
For the first time in recent memory, consumer gadgetry could have a banner year. Apple Inc. will dive into its biggest new product category in years, while a startup founded by former Apple employees is selling a new type of wearable intended to supplant the iPhone as the default device of the artificial intelligence era. (Cue significant excitement and skepticism in both cases.) Gamers will likely see new versions of multiple major consoles. And the US-China competition over technology, which sometimes veers into abstract matters of government blacklists and semiconductor design, may shift to some very tangible gadgets.
Every supposedly world-changing mixed-reality headset to date has fallen short, but expectations are sky-high for Apple’s new device, due early this year. The $3,500 price tag and Apple’s plan for a go-slow approach when it begins selling the headsets will temper any immediate revolution.
