Apple finally released the Vision Pro device on February of this year, after an announcement on June 2023. This release set again VR in the spotlight. Even thoughMeta’s Quest 3 leads the pack in the AR and VR scene with solid basics: good 3D, efficient passthrough, and precise hand tracking, all at a great price, it has failed to gain the same traction as the Apple Vision Pro. And we are talking about a device though providing top-notch OLED screens and superior passthrough, has a steeply priced at $3,500. However, it falls short of expectations, raising questions about its high-end pricing strategy.
First of all the price tag, set at a premium, raises expectations for something extraordinary—perhaps a lighter build or groundbreaking software innovations that justify the hefty investment. Unfortunately, these expectations fall short of reality. The device is far from being portable: it’s even heavier than the Quest 3, has no reduced dimension and has even an external battery. Vision pro looks like a pair of bulky ski goggles. People using it outside on the street were ridiculed on the internet …
Apple’s approach mirrors its strategy across other product lines, from iPhones to iPads and MacBooks, aiming to capture the premium segment with high-end features. However this time, this strategy misses the mark. Before defining premium features, basic features need to be defined. Those are defined by the users and they do not have enough knowledge on this to be able to define those. What I mean is, users do not know what they are missing … how could you charge them $3500 for it. Many speculate Apple is releasing a tech prototype or a SDK, but not a product. Also Apple’s clearly testing the waters with this product. This is clearly a strategy of releasing a product that searches for their own purpose post-launch. This approach is reminiscent of the Apple Watch, which initially struggled to find its place in the market. Over time, it successfully carved out a niche as a premier health and sports device. Similarly, Apple seems to be taking a gamble with the Vision Pro, counting on its fanbase and market forces to discover or invent its utility. This strategy would state that Apple listens to its customer needs or creativity, but to me it looks like either simple laziness, lack of courage to put an idea forward or simply undecision due to corporate burocracy and politics. There are already lots of apps and experiments for the Quest 3, why not synthesize what was done for that device and improve it ? Even that would have been better than doing what they did. All of this shows that the Vision pro is nothing more than a SDK, not a real product. It is just VR technology according to Apple but not an actual product.
I guess one of the reasons for this is the fact that the AR/VR technology is not ready. VR suffers from serious readiness issues, specially around the processing needs (4K per eye), display technology (high resolution with high field of view), interaction (how are you even gonna type on it ? Hand tracking ? Controllers ?) and dimensions (weight and size). Until all those technical problems are solved, a product can not be built for VR. And this is just VR, AR adds a new set of problems (so that we do not have simply VR with passthrough). Many have pushed the date to 2025 or even 2026 for this. Finally, Apple’s tight control translates in a narrow scope of functionality. This strategy, aimed at supposedly ensuring a quality user experience, unfortunately restricts the device’s versatility. It effectively reduces the Vision Pro to a 3D iPad or also to a luxury screen for a computer, sidelining it from being a standalone tool for significant productivity. Real productivity tools can not be executed on the device, those are reserved for computers. The same happens for the iPad: This is problematic as touch interaction could bring a lot of innovation to the PC world as well. Examples of issues in the iPad are apps living in silos, limited automation and programming ( the only attempt being shortcuts app). Vision pro is heading the same direction, seriously limiting the impact of this new interface.
There’s this growing vibe that Apple might be getting a bit too comfortable in its spot at the top, which could mean bad news for the pace of tech innovation. Remember the days when Apple dropped the iPhone and changed the game? Or when the iPad came out and we were all like, “Okay, not as earth-shattering, but still pretty cool”? Those were the days, right? But now, it feels like we’re seeing less bang for our buck with each new gadget. The Apple Watch was neat, but it didn’t exactly turn our world upside down. And now, the Vision Pro… It’s like Apple is putting out products with a narrower focus and jacking up the prices for the fancy features. I hope competition will put the company in its place.