Apple-Approved VR Headset Removed From Apple Store Ahead Of Rumored Apple AR Headset's Summer Launch

Apple does not just give its approval to VR headsets for its iPhones. So when the tech giant approved of View-Master’s Virtual Reality (VR) headset for its smartphones, Apple fans were pleased to know that a VR headset was finally getting sold via the official Apple Store. Unfortunately, the Cupertino giant may have changed its mind this week. That’s why the View-Master VR headset is nowhere to be found from its online store.

On Monday, Phone Arena learned that Apple quietly removed the View-Master Virtual Reality Starter pack from the Apple Store. The pack was sold for just $29.95, and it already included a Google Cardboard-inspired VR headset that works with the iPhone 5 and the newer generations of iPhones, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Though the View-Master Virtual Reality Starter headset wasn’t the only one compatible with the iPhones, it was the first and only headset to be sold on the Apple Store. Hence, it’s a big mystery why it was silently dropped by Apple just two weeks after it landed a place on the store.

Apple did not disclose the reason behind this move. Fans who are thinking of purchasing the headset from the Apple Store would only be greeted with the “Product no longer available” notification when they visit the product page for View-Master’s device. Fortunately, iPhone owners can still purchase the headset from View-Master’s official website and from any of the company’s partnered retailers, namely: Amazon, Target, Toys “R” Us, Walmart, Best Buy, Mattel Shop, Kmart, Fingerhut and even on the Google Store since the device is compatible with both iOS and Android.

The removal of the VR headset from the Apple Store comes just a few days since blogger and technology evangelist Robert Scoble announced that the Cupertino Giant could introduce its first Augmented Reality (AR) headset to the public in the summer of this year, as per Apple Insider. Scoble also predicted that the AR headset could be unveiled at the same time as the introduction of the 10th anniversary iPhone, which is currently rumored to e called as the iPhone 8.

Scoble’s statement could not be far from what’s bound to come to Apple. After all, CEO Tim Cook has already made it clear that he is more invested in AR than VR. He even told The Independent that he thinks AR is going to be the next big thing in the tech industry. “I regard it as a big idea, like the smartphone,” he said. “I think AR is that big, it’s huge. I get excited because of the things that could be done that could improve a lot of lives.”