It's probably easy to forget that Magic Leap still exists, but its 5-year-old, first-gen product is not long for this world.
Augmented reality was all the rage for a while, with both Magic Leap and Microsoft battling it out with respective AR headsets. But both were disappointing for shockingly similar reasons: AR headsets tend to be bulky, uncomfortable, and have a narrow field of view.
Microsoft's ambitions rolled back quickly, with the company aiming its second-generation HoloLens solely at developers and enterprise. But Magic Leap continued offering consumers headsets when it released its second-generation product.
Magic Leap even beat Microsoft to the punch in the first generation by offering its product to consumers before the tech behemoth. It differed from the HoloLens in key ways, such as relegating the computing module to a puck worn on the hip (rather than built into the headset) and a controller module for interaction. But much like the original HoloLens, the lackluster Magic Leap 1 didn't provide a large enough field of view, and its "holograms" were too transparent.
Alas, you're in for more disappointment if you purchased the Magic Leap 1. The company is reportedly sending out emails to owners warning that Magic Leap 1 headsets will cease to function after December 2024, UploadVR reports.
According to former Magic Leap Senior Manager Steve Lukas, the problem isn't hardware or the OS itself. Instead, it comes down to a firmware-level security check. The company plans to shut down Magic Leap 1 cloud services; without those in place, the device can't pass the security check.
Lukas goes on to state that there's no way around the problem with an OS update, and "[e]ven if there were, an OS image needs to be generated / signed per device serial number. Thus there is no root or generic OS image that can be loaded to avoid this kill-switch."
Considering the $2,300 price, it's sad to see hardware bricked by a cloud security check, which seems avoidable. Given that it launched in 2018, that the incredibly pricey headsets will cease to function after just six years only adds salt to the wound.
