Feb 2, 2030, 11:45 A.M. (E.E. Kisch/af) – Apple has done it again: the Cupertino-based company, which in 2024 revolutionized the virtual reality market with Vision Pro and in 2028 presented the first truly autonomous car with the iBeetle, is now breaking new ground in optical computing with its iBalls. We tested Apple’s artificial eyes.
For our first hands-on test, a colleague and I had to fly to New York – two of us, in case the surgery went wrong – because the iBalls are not due to arrive in Europe until summer. In the trendy new district of New Venice, as in 38 other US cities, Apple opened a specially designed Apple Store for the launch of its AI eyes, called iClinic.
After securing an appointment (11:10 to 11:35 A.M., Apple is very strict about this), we took a seat in the iClinic waiting area. Everything here is deliberately kept in plain gray. The reason: with iBalls, you will be able to conjure up an ambience of your choice before your AI lenses – we are excited.
At 11:10 A.M. sharp, we are greeted by an iSpecialist – or rather, I am, as my colleague is not allowed into the operating room, which Apple calls the „Genius Room“. The iSpecialist measures my eyes, calculates my visual acuity to three decimal places, and briefly explains the procedure. I accept the „Terms & Conditions“ on an iPad provided – surgery at your own risk, exclusion of liability for malpractice and long-term consequences, etc., all that stuff one always clicks away quickly – and off I go under anesthesia.
Less than ten minutes later, the iSpecialist wakes me from my deep sleep. For the next quarter of an hour – I’m still a bit dazed – he explains the basics of using my new eyes: blink left for mouse click, right for context menu, twice in quick succession on both sides to close the app, etc. None of this works all that differently from Microsoft’s MonocleGPT, except that here both eyes are AI-controlled – and that opens up unique, fascinating worlds of vision.
After some initial bumps – I accidentally close Safari 3D several times – I operate my digital environment with my eyelids as if I had never done it any other way. Several Safari 3D worlds are pre-installed for me to try out without having to download them from the Apple World Store: the iClinic appears as either a jungle, a beach, or an old-fashioned drive-in movie theater – a little joke from the Apple developers, since iBalls turn your whole life into a 3D movie.
Super Mario 2030 and Jurassic Park Holoactive are also pre-installed, so I can go for a ride on a Tyrannosaurus right away. Ending the ride by double-blinking didn’t work straight away, the T-Rex had already started gnawing at me, but that’s what the emergency hand gestures are for.
My first impression: I am both fascinated and disconcerted by Apple’s artificial eyes. The 3D worlds are razor-sharp wherever you look, without the need for customized VR goggles as with that clunky Vision Pro. Hybrid mode, which superimposes the real environment and the AI world, works perfectly. For example, the Uber heli-gondola we had booked to take us from New Venice back to Donald Trump Ultranational Airport was easily recognizable from a distance: it glowed, visible only to me, a poison ivy green.
To summarize: with the iBalls, Apple is ushering in a new era of immersive optical computing. Apart from the steep price of 27,999 US dollars, there are only three flies in the optical ointment: First, the iBalls are currently only available in the iris colors white and brushed aluminum (see Apple’s promo picture above) – I had chosen aluminum because the white iris looked creepy even in Apple’s own promotional videos. Second, there are no AirTags integrated into the iBalls for quick tracking – if you lose one eye, you have to look with the other to see where it has scooted to. And third, the iBalls‘ battery unfortunately only lasts for five hours, after which you are blind for an hour until the eyes are recharged in their docking station. But then, hard-nosed Apple fans are used to a little suffering.
In any case, we can look forward to the iBalls Pro that Apple has announced for this fall. These will feature an AI-controlled automatic 20x zoom as well as the ability to upload snapshots to iCloud by quickly raising your eyebrows twice (Groucho Marx says hi). There will also be a wide selection of stylish iris designs and a battery life of up to 16 hours. The latter will most likely silence even those critics who joked that an important accessory was missing: the Seeing-iDog.
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Illustration: Dr. Wilhelm Greiner, AI-generated using NightCafé
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