CEO Tim Cook again skewered Mark Zuckerberg: ‘It’s best not to mention the word Metaverse because ordinary people don’t understand what it is’

Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed in an exclusive interview with Dutch media outlet Bright that their reluctance to join the metaverse was on purpose.

“I always think it’s important for people to understand what that is. I’m not sure the average person knows what a metaverse is,” Cook said.

Metaverse is a term derived from science fiction that refers to a hypothetical version of the 3-D Internet, accessed through immersive technology rather than 2D screens.

The word “metaverse” is mentioned only once in Apple’s quarterly earnings reports this year, compared with Meta’s 36 times. Despite the explosion of the metaverse throughout the tech industry, there are divided opinions as to whether the metaverse will represent a real product or just a concept for the virtual world that never really existed.

However, Mark Zuckerberg told his staff in July that Meta is “deeply competing with Apple and theoretically building the metaverse.”

While Facebook changed its name and announced last fall that it would invest $10 billion in the development of the so-called metaverse, the iPhone maker has largely refused to get involved in the technology. Instead, Apple is increasing its investment in augmented reality (AR) technology.

Earlier in January, when an analyst asked Cook about Apple’s role in the metaverse, he replied that Apple is “always exploring new technologies”, sharing about 14,000 AR Kit applications on the company’s App Store. company.

“I think AR is a unique technology and it’s going to affect everything,” Cook said in a recent interview. However, he also asserted that virtual reality is not a place where you “live all your life”.

“It’s something you can immerse yourself in, but it’s not a good way to communicate. I’m not against it, but that’s how I see it,” the Apple CEO said.