Apple Vision Pro AR Headset

Max Power

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It looks like a replacement for the Microsoft HoloLens. It may find some success in engineering, medical, or defense niches, but I can't imagine it's going to be any kind of consumer success at that price point and with that battery life.
 

Hendu for Kutch

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Yikes. As soon as I saw that price and how bulky and obtrusive it looks, I knew the stock had to be dropping fast after such a buildup of excitement around it. Sure enough, it's down 3% in the last hour.
 

canderson

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I don't get this whatsoever.

As a blind guy I wish companies would pour their resources into glasses that corrected vision electrically (eSight has this but it's SO cumbersome and $10,000 - I went to Toronto for a trial and it just was too bulky to deal with).
 

Ale Xander

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I’d rather have 500 months of Netflix (with commercials)

(long winded way of saying the price point is ridiculous)
 

ifmanis5

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Oof, it needs to be tethered to a battery pack and the cycle is two hours per charge. Not great.

https://www.macworld.com/article/1940428/apple-vision-pro-design-features-specs-price-release-date.html

Oh, and it's not great if you need a prescription.

https://9to5mac.com/2023/06/05/apple-vision-pro-availability-price-glasses/
Somewhat frustratingly (but also probably for the best experience), Vision Pro requires magnetically attached corrective lenses from Zeiss for users who wear glasses – like me and Tim Cook.
Other headsets use physical spacers to accommodate glasses, but Vision Pro’s advanced eye tracking capabilities help drive visionOS. That probably means eye glass reflectivity is a deal breaker for Vision Pro, thus the less convenient solution.
Vision correct accessories are sold separately, Apple says, which should explain the $3499 starting from price. However, and this is a big but, Apple adds that “not all prescriptions are supported.”
 

soxhop411

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I don't get this whatsoever.

As a blind guy I wish companies would pour their resources into glasses that corrected vision electrically (eSight has this but it's SO cumbersome and $10,000 - I went to Toronto for a trial and it just was too bulky to deal with).
As someone who wears glasses I agree, these VR headsets are cumbersome... Because of multiple eye surgeries, and a somewhat Lazy eye, I cant wear contact or get LASIK.. Google unveiled the below last year which has an actual practical utility purpose...

View: https://youtu.be/lj0bFX9HXeE
 

Jungleland

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I'm closer to an apple fanboy than not, but I'm looking forward to this flopping magnificently. I don't want a goggled future, and I'm fairly confident the majority of other people don't either.
 

Ed Hillel

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I'm closer to an apple fanboy than not, but I'm looking forward to this flopping magnificently. I don't want a goggled future, and I'm fairly confident the majority of other people don't either.
Video games and AI are gonna make it a thing imo. Playing Skyrim and speaking to AI characters is going to blow the present away.

Now, I'm not sure how these companies are going to weave all this together, in terms of selling these headsets separately or with their new consoles etc., but I don't think we're all that far off.
 

ifmanis5

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Video games and AI are gonna make it a thing imo. Playing Skyrim and speaking to AI characters is going to blow the present away.

Now, I'm not sure how these companies are going to weave all this together, in terms of selling these headsets separately or with their new consoles etc., but I don't think we're all that far off.
Apple Store going to be extra filled with teens playing for free on the demo models.
 

Jungleland

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Video games and AI are gonna make it a thing imo. Playing Skyrim and speaking to AI characters is going to blow the present away.

Now, I'm not sure how these companies are going to weave all this together, in terms of selling these headsets separately or with their new consoles etc., but I don't think we're all that far off.
I definitely think there's potential there, and Apple has a good track record for perfecting/mainstreaming things that already exist. That said, VR video games don't seem to be catching on as quickly as companies are hoping them too. I imagine that as the tech gets better there will be more interest, but to this point it seems like the market is closer to rejecting it than embracing it.
 

johnmd20

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This is a beta product, priced like a beta product, in hopes Apple can figure out what works.

But at 3500, yeah, it obviously won't be a big seller. This isn't spending 3500 on a monster computer that will last for years and has gobs of utility. This is a product that genuinely has no uses yet. It will have uses in the future and I think people are going to be surprised how massive VR will be eventually, but it's still years away.

This will be interesting. When Apple released the iPhone, there were plenty of people laughing about how overdone, pricey, and unnecessary it was. And then it created the entire App business, one of the biggest businesses in the world.
 

the1andonly3003

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Disney can create a virtual Disney Universe. Can this replace the television, where you can watch enhanced live sports in a single view, without needing to own multiple monitors/screens.
 

Caspir

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I have to say, I watched the video, and some of this is really cool.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX9qSaGXFyg&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title&ab_channel=Apple


I love the idea of an immersive experience for entertainment and watching Netflix, etc. The photo gallery part was neat, and the 3D pics will be really cool looking. Linking it to your Macbook seamlessly and creating a larger workspace would be nice, and they answered my biggest question (do I look like a weirdo on Facetime?) by using machine learning to AI my face.

Am I walking around with this thing on my head in public? Nah. Am I paying $3,500 for something that is basically designed for future use, and has limited functionality (for me, right now)? No. But overall, this could be a really cool device.
 

dirtynine

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I want "this", but not like this, if that makes sense. Much like the Apple watch, it will probably get significantly more interesting / worth it at version 3-4.
 

Cellar-Door

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This is version 1 of something that will be huge in a few years.
maybe, but there have been a ton of these things along the way that people thought that about and it just never happened.
I'm particularly dubious because one of the trends in modern technology has been short duration multi-tasking, people's desire has been to move away from immersion not towards it.
 

Dollar

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I would never in a million years buy the thing, but if it was offered to me to rent on a 14 hour trans-Pacific flight, I'd consider spending some money on it. Or maybe if I was stuck in a hospital bed for a few days/weeks.
 

brandonchristensen

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maybe, but there have been a ton of these things along the way that people thought that about and it just never happened.
I'm particularly dubious because one of the trends in modern technology has been short duration multi-tasking, people's desire has been to move away from immersion not towards it.
For professionals it’ll be great.
I can already see using it for video editing and having all of your bins and all of your preview monitors all spread around you and making the workflow more fluid.

But we are still in the beta phase. This will show off the tech, then the tech will get cheaper and shrink and eventually be where it needs to be.
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

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I just watched the video. I'm pretty much the opposite of a fanboy and based on comments was expecting to hate it, but I think it's beautiful with some amazing capabilities. I look at it a bit like a laptop from years ago. The battery life used to suck, just a couple hours of use, so you'd mostly use it plugged in. That'll be the case for this first version of this, but it'll be easy to unplug and move around for a little while without it. I see this potentially be way more efficient than multiple high resolution monitors for working.

Am I buying it? Absolutely not, but for the first time in maybe 10 years it feels like Apple has launched a completely unique product that is going to push everyone else to get better. I remember watching Apple press conferences with almost a jealousy in the early 2010s as they'd release completely innovative products and features and it'd be a few years for the market to catch up. The good news is that it always forced the other manufacturers/competitors to get better. I'm excited for that again and I'm totally and utterly shocked that I feel this way.
 

nvalvo

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Obviously, v.1 is quite expensive because they won't move enough of them to achieve economies of scale for some time.

And I think this tech is probably going to be more appealing for certain specialized applications than for, just, like, wearing around. But it also really, really matters how high the quality and fidelity is. If using something like this can actually replace meaningful portions of a workstation or home theater setup and free up a ton of space, then it suddenly doesn't seem that expensive.

Especially when the status quo for many of us involves our employers in effect colonizing our apartments...
 

voidfunkt

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If you approach this from the idea that it is a beta device and the people shelling out 3500 are basically looking to get I'm and figure out how that thing can be used 5 years from now its not that crazy.

I think Apple knows what they're doing here. They're gonna need to build up an ecosystem for this slowly and pricing it high will keep things focused while they iterate on the idea for v2.

The technology doesn't exist to get something Google Glass sized right now with this kind of power but if they think the tech will exist in say 5-10 years from now and during that time they can build an ecosystem around it...
 

NortheasternPJ

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If you approach this from the idea that it is a beta device and the people shelling out 3500 are basically looking to get I'm and figure out how that thing can be used 5 years from now its not that crazy.

I think Apple knows what they're doing here. They're gonna need to build up an ecosystem for this slowly and pricing it high will keep things focused while they iterate on the idea for v2.

The technology doesn't exist to get something Google Glass sized right now with this kind of power but if they think the tech will exist in say 5-10 years from now and during that time they can build an ecosystem around it...
I agree. They also have a pile of patents and IP in this and needed to get it released to have them be valid. I think this thing looks amazing and look forward to owning one in 2026.
 

staz

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The cradle of the game.
I bought a 120" UST projector for $2500 (that only I watch) last year and upgraded my external monitors for another $800 this year. If I hadn't, this would be a no-brainer.

Apple has gotten really good at merging tech.
 

AlNipper49

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I could definitely use these for work. Let's say that they actually did work for replacement of a computer monitor. One could downside a workstation from my current approximately 8x20' space that is the minimum that I need for what I use for computing now. This is mostly monitors. If $3500 could make me 5% more efficient I'd buy them without hesitation.

With that said, I'm with brandon. I think they're be super cool now, but probably a few years away from being seamless.
 

sodenj5

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I could definitely use these for work. Let's say that they actually did work for replacement of a computer monitor. One could downside a workstation from my current approximately 8x20' space that is the minimum that I need for what I use for computing now. This is mostly monitors. If $3500 could make me 5% more efficient I'd buy them without hesitation.

With that said, I'm with brandon. I think they're be super cool now, but probably a few years away from being seamless.
I think that they started marketing this brilliantly as a working device more than a video game head set. Also the ability to use it with your hands and not having to use peripherals is enormous in terms of viability.

I’m with you. I work hybrid, and work with 3D models as well as coding. If I could replace my dual screen setup and actually use this efficiently to model, code and use it as a collaboration tool for zoom meetings, I would do it in a heartbeat.

I think we’re a solid 5-10 years from being at that point, but I think this is the first time I’ve seen a headset that didn’t look like a dumb FPS simulator or lightsaber game machine.

I’m an Apple fan, but this felt like an enormous day.
 

jercra

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I bought a 120" UST projector for $2500 (that only I watch) last year and upgraded my external monitors for another $800 this year. If I hadn't, this would be a no-brainer.

Apple has gotten really good at merging tech.
As long as none of the movies you want to watch are longer than 2 hours and you never want to watch with anyone else.

It's basically a modernized version of HoloLens. That's kind of Apple's sweet spot (consolidating and modernizing other people's tech) so I wouldn't bet against them, but I have my doubts they can pull off making it mainstream. I could see it for occasional use but even then, I bet it's pretty uncomfortable after a while. Great tool for specialized use though. They probably have a pretty big opportunity with DOD types.
 

strek1

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It's an interesting curiosity but frankly I have more urgent needs for $3500. Just when it comes to tech alone, I'd drop 3 grand towards a new Laptop before dipping into VR.
 

sodenj5

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As long as none of the movies you want to watch are longer than 2 hours and you never want to watch with anyone else.

It's basically a modernized version of HoloLens. That's kind of Apple's sweet spot (consolidating and modernizing other people's tech) so I wouldn't bet against them, but I have my doubts they can pull off making it mainstream. I could see it for occasional use but even then, I bet it's pretty uncomfortable after a while. Great tool for specialized use though. They probably have a pretty big opportunity with DOD types.
Airlines should be offering these as a premium service.
 

ifmanis5

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You can plug the battery pack in to mains power so that gets around the two hour limit.
The reviews from people who used it is that it is a great experience but the headset is heavy and using it for more than 30 minutes gets a bit straining.
 

jayhoz

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You can plug the battery pack in to mains power so that gets around the two hour limit.
The reviews from people who used it is that it is a great experience but the headset is heavy and using it for more than 30 minutes gets a bit straining.
That's just so Apple can sell a proprietary neck brace accessory for $199.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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Airlines should be offering these as a premium service.
Mmm, yes, wearing a device that's been strapped to someone else's oily face sounds delectable.

the headset is heavy and using it for more than 30 minutes gets a bit straining.
Non-starter for any productivity environment if that's the case.

Really not sure why someone would spend an 8x Apple premium when the XReal AR glasses have good reviews, are powered over USB-C, and can turn a Steam Deck / Switch into the equivalent of a 110" TV screen. Plus they only look like bulky sunglasses not something you're about to bang bumps at Killington in.

65677
 

NortheasternPJ

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Mmm, yes, wearing a device that's been strapped to someone else's oily face sounds delectable.



Non-starter for any productivity environment if that's the case.

Really not sure why someone would spend an 8x Apple premium when the XReal AR glasses have good reviews, are powered over USB-C, and can turn a Steam Deck / Switch into the equivalent of a 110" TV screen. Plus they only look like bulky sunglasses not something you're about to bang bumps at Killington in.

View attachment 65677
This is completely apple and oranges, pun intended. This is also the same argument against the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.

Apple didn’t make a ski goggle headset by mistake or didn’t think of glasses or priced it at $3,500 to make 95% profits. They have some of the most powerful chips and tech in this. I’m sure they have huge things planned for this, they need to get it into developers hands, get people pushing the envelope on it. I’m sure they could have cranked out a half baked product at $1,500 full of issues. They went for a grand slam we will see how it pays off. I have zero doubt the things developers will do this this will be mind blowing. Other companies are too concerned about price and make too many compromises.

Will it ever get mass adoption? Maybe? I’m sure Apples goal over the next 36 months is to shrink the enclosure, increase battery life and make it more affordable.
 

Scott Cooper's Grand Slam

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Apple didn’t make a ski goggle headset by mistake or didn’t think of glasses or priced it at $3,500 to make 95% profits. They have some of the most powerful chips and tech in this. I’m sure they have huge things planned for this, they need to get it into developers hands, get people pushing the envelope on it. I’m sure they could have cranked out a half baked product at $1,500 full of issues. They went for a grand slam we will see how it pays off. I have zero doubt the things developers will do this this will be mind blowing. Other companies are too concerned about price and make too many compromises.
That's right. iPhone is a great product, but what sold iPhone was "there's an app for that." Apple Vision Pro is Apple's attempt not just to advance spatial computing, but to create an App Store/app ecosystem that rivals/surpasses the ones they already have.