Takeaways after Six Months of the Vision Pro
Venture capitalist, producer, and author (of The Metaverse) Matthew Ball writes in “9 Takeaways from the Vision Pro After 6 Months”:
Apple’s biggest bet in 17 years released on February 2. Before giving any detailed thoughts on the device, I wanted to spend a few months using it and seeing how other users and developers did (or didn’t). Here are my “nine thoughts after six months” on Apple’s own expectations and spend, what the Vision Pro has and hasn’t achieved, fair and unfair evaluations, and more.
Ball’s analysis provides an interesting perspective on the Apple Vision Pro, suggesting that EyeSight is not worth the tradeoffs (and likely won’t appear in a less-expensive device), that the Vision Pro is currently mostly a VR device, and that similar headsets (or spatial computing devices, if you prefer Apple’s tongue-twisting terminology) face an uphill path to adoption because, for most people, they don’t replace another device in everyday use.
Nothing I’ve read about the Vision Pro, nor my in-person demo at an Apple Store several months ago, has made me wish I had bought one. The hardware is impressive, and it works largely as advertised, though I was highly perturbed by several of the spatial photos and videos that put me too close to their subjects, making me feel like I was invading their personal space. I’m sure others have different opinions and experiences, but I still can’t see where a Vision Pro would fit into my current world of computing and media consumption.
About five years ago, a coworker brought their VR headset to a work event and I got to play Beat Saber. It was addictive. Ever since then I’ve wanted a VR rig just for that. I was hoping it would some day come to VisionOS and a less expensive future version of the hardware. Unfortunately, Facebook bought the company and you can only play through a Facebook account. That’s a non-starter. Now I can only think back wistfully on the fun I had that day.
I bought one because I was very interested in what user-interface decisions Apple made to implement a visual OS, and on how well they worked. Generally, I think most of the decisions were sound and work well, but there are a number of “could use tweaking” moments.
I am not a game player: I mostly use mine to watch TV and movies, and the Vision Pro does a wonderful job of that—a baseball or football game viewed on it is definitely more rewarding than watching it on a TV across the room. Movies are equally rewarding: a true big-screen experience from the comfort of one’s sofa. As an e-reader, however, it falls short; books really ARE handheld devices and work best in that context.
Would I buy one just to use as a TV replacement? Depends; if I were very well-off, why not? For the rest of us, it’s too pricey to serve as just a single-person home-entertainment system. Nonetheless, I am glad to have mine and enjoy using it as one almost every day.
I’ve wondered who their buyers were. There are the ones who just want to have the latest, but how many are using it for games or recreation. There is also a group who will use it for scientific or commercial applications. What is the market for people who want to look at molecules or wander around designed cities? For people who really need it the price is probably cheap, and Apple will be hoping to make enough sales to justify future and cheaper models.