GoPro is reviving its 360 camera Max line

GoPro, maker of action cameras, is stepping its foot back into the 360 camera world after its last release in 2019, with the return of the Max line.

GoPro’s last 360 camera came out in 2019. The GoPro Max was a 5.2K, 360 camera with a decent output. However, the world quickly shifted and its main competitor, Insta360, currently holds the crown.

However, since 2019’s Max camera, GoPro hasn’t touched 360 videos in any hardware capacity. The Max is still a decent camera but has been outpaced by Insta360’s continuous iterations since it launched its first consumer camera in 2017.

During the launch event for the GoPro Hero 12, the company’s CEO said that a successor was in development and “will be worth the wait.”

GoPro was actually one of the first companies to adopt the unique video concept. Initially, they had a rig for which you could purchase multiple cameras, as well as the Fusion that launched in 2017. However, after investing in the drone business, the company had to scale back its operations.

This meant culling its yearly lineup of cameras, with the usual lower-tiered versions of the Hero action camera missing for several years now.

GoPro eyes 360 video market once again

There are a lot of reasons for GoPro to step foot back into the 360 video market. The biggest issue when it launched to the masses, was that software and support for viewing it were limited. Independent VR headsets, like the Meta Quest, weren’t generally available and YouTube would only allow you to view it in specific cases.

With the advances of VR headsets like the upcoming Quest 3 and even AR glasses like the XReal Air, there have never been more ways to view the content in its originally imagined format. Of course, YouTube and plenty of video players support the content in a 2D plane.

There’s no indication if GoPro will follow suit with Insta360 and launch a 180-degree hybrid camera, allowing creators to shoot 3D video.