Is Apple even serious about selling the Vision Pro?
My guess is probably not.
I went into the Apple Store today to finally try out the Vision Pro. I had on an Apple Watch Ultra, and a top of the line MacBook Pro, the latest iPhone, and the AirPods Max in my bag; that’s not even the whole of the Apple products I own.
As for VR/AR I own an Oculus, I was an early adopter of Google Glass back in the day, and am a software developer always looking to try the latest products. In short, I’d guess I’d be as close to the target market of this device as you could get. Early adopter; VR/AR curious; deep in the Apple ecosystem; deep pockets.
I went in requesting a demo and it took about 15–20 minutes to see me. I had to go up and request again at a certain point. When I finally did get a sales associate, it took a few tries for them to get it setup and then we were off to the races.
There are a few very cool things. The calibration is done via a combo of a face scan from an iPhone prior to putting the device on (a bit like setting up FaceID), then after the device is on by pushing the “digital crown” (same thing as on my watch) which then tightens the device around your face.
Once on, the spatial computing element does seem pretty natural. The eye tracking is nice, as is the fact that you don’t have to be clicking the physical place your eyes are looking. You select with your eyes, and can click with your fingers anywhere else, even if it’s not where you are looking. The other gestures (zooming, swiping) also seemed pretty easy to master. The most amazing things were the immersive content. If we were in a world where all our content had the option to be this immersive, I think a lot more folks would be wanting these things. The video at the end where you are sitting courtside/a passive bystander at a variety of cool sports and concert moments was pretty powerful, as were the immersive experiences which involved family photos and moments brought to live in immersive 3D. I tried out a medical application, where you could see inside a 3D rendered heart, presumably to help with learning medical concepts.
Now for the so-so. The pass through had some visual artifacts to me that seemed unpleasant. The device was way too heavy on my nose, to the point of discomfort. Typing was super awkward. Unlike pointing (eyes) being separated from clicking (hands anywhere in the frame) typing required you to poke your hands at a keyboard a foot or so from your face, which was slow, or point with your eyes click anywhere with your fingers which was even slower. There weren’t any custom apps I recognized as useful, even after 8 months on the market. This in an ecosystem that already has a lot of apps and amazing ones at that; none seemed significant enough to make it to the Vision Pro demo slate. I played a gaming app — which had board games, an awkward fit for an immersive 3D device. I plodded through playing a few chess moves in 3D wishing for a regular 2D board that was easy to move. Those beautiful immersive family videos? It was unclear who was at the camera (presumably someone holding the latest iPhone) in them, so they seemed disturbingly unnatural.
The finisher to the demo was that immersive 3D video, which was neat. After that there was no attempt to sell me the device, or even walking me through what the price was or the sales process might be like. I haven’t bought an Apple product in store for awhile, so maybe that is par for the course, but it seems like with this sort of thing they might want to try to close a deal or two.
After trying the product out, and trying out the sales process, my sense is that Apple doesn’t want to actually sell this product. I get the feeling I did when Apple had a collaboration with Motorola on a phone — like Apple was stalling for time in a market because their breakthrough technology wasn’t quite ready for prime time. I’m not an accountant, but noticing the wild ways businesses save on taxes I wonder if a failed product might let them write off taxes in a particular way that’s helpful to the rest of the business as opposed to continuing with R&D in secret, all while practicing ramping up manufacturing for the real deal product-market fit device to come. Someone who knows more about this feel free to chime in!
So much for the product, which seems not as serious as I was hoping. As for the market, it’s unclear if there is one. I think if I were Apple and serious about selling this generation of devices I would pick a niche, focus on a few pieces of software/content that knocks the park out of that niche, and market just to that niche even if at a loss to demonstrate that if content was made for other niches there might be something there there. Gamers. Remote workers. People living in isolation. Inmates. Psychotherapy. Academic conferences. Grandparents. Pick a niche, knock it out of the park, iterate.
But I don’t think Apple is really serious after my experience today.
The Apple Vision Pro isn’t really ready for prime time yet. Time will tell what the Apple Vision is…
