Apple's Vision Pro could inspire innovation
I wasn't able to attend Monday's big Apple event in-person. But I watched it live and read several reviews. While I haven't had a chance to try on Apple's new Vision Pro, I have used several other VR headsets, including Meta's Quest Pro, which I own and have used quite a bit, including to help write ConnectSafely safety guides about the device, in partnership with Meta.
Reminded of Steve Jobs announcements
Based purely on Apple's demonstration and description of the Vision Pro, I came away impressed. It's a familiar feeling. I attended nearly every keynote and product announcement during Steve Jobs' tenure at Apple, and even while he was at NeXT, Jobs was almost always able to suck me into his famous “reality distortion field” and convince me — however temporarily — that whatever it was he was announcing was the greatest product ever. That feeling didn't always last, but it still got me excited.
Jobs' successor, Tim Cook, is an incredibly competent CEO, and although he's perhaps more likeable than Jobs, he isn't nearly as charismatic. Still, his enthusiasm for the product combined with the way it was presented at the event felt a bit Jobslike, not because of his delivery style but because of the message itself. The Vision Pro, for Apple at least, is an entirely new product category. Based on what I could tell by watching it through my screen, it could be a game changer.
While an extended reality headset may be new for Apple, it's not a new category. Meta, Microsoft, Google, Epson and numerous other companies have already released virtual reality, augmented reality (AR), and — like Apple's Vision Pro — mixed reality headsets that let you experience VR as well as AR, where computer-generated images can be superimposed on what you see in your real-world environment.
Apple has a history of coming up with a new take
on an existing product category. It wasn't the first company to launch a personal computer, a digital music player, a smartphone or a watch. In each of those categories, however, Apple got everyone's attention with a stunning and innovative product that made other entries in that field look weak by comparison. And, with the exception of PCs, it wound up dominating the category — at least in the U.S. and other wealthy countries. But Apple products aren't just good for Apple and its customers. They can raise the bar and inspire other companies to create better products and attract their own share of customers. As I explain later, Apple's Vision Pro could even be good for Meta.
It takes a while
Category domination didn't happen all at once. The iPhone was immediately a huge deal among tech journalists and enthusiasts. But the iPod struggled at first because it required the user to own a Mac. After it opened up to Wndows users, it took off.
The Apple Watch achieved success fairly quickly, but that's partially because Apple already had an enormous number of iPhone users. To this day, the watch requires an iPhone yet still dominates the category. It's also because Apple was able to launch the watch with a large number of apps and quickly turn it into a health and fitness monitoring device, taking at least some market share away from Fitbit and other fitness trackers.
At $3,500, it's hard for me to imagine Vision Pro dominating the field, but it's also important to note that, like the iPhone was to the Blackberry, the new headset is more than just a better VR headset. It adds functionality not just because of its arguably superior hardware but because of Apple's secret sauce — the operating system that makes it work and the ecosystem of apps that will make it useful.
Lower prices and competing products will come
At this price point, I don't expect Apple to sell millions of Vision Pro headsets, but I do expect developers and well-heeled early adopters to buy as many as Apple can make, at least for the first few months. I also expect the price to drop over time and hope that Apple inspires its competitors to up their game, just as happened in the smartphone market where Android phone makers, including Google and Samsung — eventually started selling phones that compete with Apple in both price and quality. Even in the PC market, it took a while for Microsoft Windows to be arguably as good as Mac's operating systems. Now, based on my use of both Macs and Windows machines, they are both excellent, which is great for PC users regardless of whether they're in the Mac or Windows camp.
Could be good for Meta
Obviously, Cook isn't the only tech CEO to embrace extended reality. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is betting his company on it and is spending billions to develop so-called Metaverse products. I don't know or particularly care if the term “Metaverse” will catch on, but now that Apple has its hand in extended reality, I am much more confident in the product category.
If I were Zuckerberg, I'd be worried, inspired and excited. Worried that Apple will steal its thunder and market share, inspired by seeing what can be done by a company with amazing hardware, software, developer and ecosystem expertise and excited to see a category he championed expanding and getting more respect.
If I ran Meta, I would also be having my engineers look very closely at what Apple is doing and try to match or even exceed Apple's functionality, ease of use and app ecosystem. I don't know if Meta can accomplish all of that, but if it keeps improving its products and makes them more affordable, it can remain a player in the hardware business.
Perhaps more important than competing with Apple, Meta can leverage the Vision Pro for what it does best — social interaction. Meta's Horizon Worlds doesn't necessarily have to only run on Meta hardware. Just as Microsoft made its Office available on Macs that competed with Windows, Meta could make its VR apps compatible with Apple hardware, creating a win-win, or what some in the industry call coopetition.
I'm not sure where all this is going or how long it will take to get there, but I'm glad to see Apple on board.