Apple’s March 4 media occasion might be hiding a shock for Components 1 racing followers — and Imaginative and prescient Professional homeowners particularly. A broadly learn Apple commenter suggests the “Apple Expertise” may exhibit immersive F1 racing on the Imaginative and prescient Professional headset.
Immersive F1 racing on Imaginative and prescient Professional
The timing is difficult to disregard, in accordance with John Gruber on his weblog Daring Fireball. He floated an intriguing chance: Apple may use its March 4 Apple Expertise occasion to announce and presumably demo fast-and-furious immersive Components 1 viewing on Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional. This wouldn’t come out of nowhere. Apple turned Components 1’s unique U.S. broadcast associate final October, a serious deal that signaled the corporate’s critical ambitions in reside sports activities.
The March 4 wrinkle stems from a reader tip in regards to the calendar. The 2026 F1 season kicks off in Melbourne, Australia on March 8 — simply 4 days after Apple’s occasion, which is about for six a.m. PT on March 4 and will likely be held concurrently in New York, London and Shanghai.
Gruber is upfront that that is pure hypothesis quite than insider info. However he notes the timing appears “price noting” and unlikely a pure coincidence.
Apple is already within the immersive sports activities sport
Apple has been quietly constructing out its immersive sports activities capabilities on Imaginative and prescient Professional (learn our evaluation: The M5 Imaginative and prescient Professional continues to be the last word leisure gadget). This season, a restricted slate of Los Angeles Lakers video games has been obtainable with immersive viewing on visionOS. That’s some early proof Apple is dedicated to bringing reside sports activities to life in methods a standard TV merely can not match.
Immersive Video itself has been round since 2024, initially debuting with a scripted brief movie earlier than increasing to music content material and choose sporting occasions. F1 looks as if a pure and spectacular subsequent step for the format — the velocity, the cockpit perspective, and the roar of the paddock are precisely the type of expertise immersive video was made for.
What Apple has — and hasn’t — stated
Picture: Apple
Apple has constructed up F1 racing content material on Apple TV, along with the Oscar-nominated F1: The Film with Brad Pitt. The iPhone large beforehand stated additional particulars on its F1 manufacturing plans and “new methods to get pleasure from F1 content material” throughout its merchandise can be coming within the months forward.
That obscure promise leaves the door large open for a March 4 announcement, even when nothing is assured.
A packed occasion both method
Even setting the F1 angle apart, the March 4 occasion appears to be like doubtlessly important. Observers broadly count on Apple to announce a number of new merchandise. They may embody iPhone 17e, MacBook Professional fashions with M5 Professional and M5 Max chips, an eighth-generation iPad Air, and a Twelfth-generation iPad. Rumors additionally got here up a couple of new low-cost MacBook powered by the A18 chip, a refreshed Studio Show, and doable updates to Apple TV and HomePod mini.
Whether or not or not immersive F1 makes an look on March 4, it appears like Apple will deliver the complete Imaginative and prescient Professional therapy to Components 1 quickly sufficient. For followers of each Apple and racing, that’s an thrilling prospect.
David Snow, an professional on Apple {hardware} and software program, writes on quite a lot of technological and cultural matters for Cult of Mac. They embody Apple information, know-how shopping for guides, and options about pc setups and Apple TV exhibits and flicks.
With 30 years of expertise masking know-how and different topics, he has written and edited for quite a few print and on-line publications, together with CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired Information, Purple Herring journal, Regulation.com, The Nationwide Regulation Journal and Regulation Know-how Information journal. Amongst different roles, he served as government editor of the Regulation.com community of internet sites and editorial director, know-how, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse College with majors in journal journalism and psychology. Whereas there, he labored as a reporter for The Each day Orange newspaper and affiliate editor of Equal Time journal.
Founding father of the weblog On the Waterline, he could be reached on X (previously Twitter) by way of @atthewaterline and on Mastodon by way of @dsnow.
