by Apple’s (AAPL) Vision Pro is coming. And so on. The company announced Monday that it will begin taking pre-orders for the headset starting January 19 at 8 a.m. ET, and that it will officially hit the company’s online and physical stores in the US on February 2.
This isn’t just a product launch, though. This is Apple’s first new product category in nearly 10 years. It jumped into a new industry segment with the Apple Watch in 2015. But there is a big difference between the Vision Pro and the Apple Watch, outside of one going on your wrist and the other on your face.
The Apple Watch came on the market at a time when fitness trackers and smart watches were already established products. Fitbit was a household name when the Apple Watch hit, and people couldn’t stop talking about tracking their steps.
The AR/VR headset space remains largely untested, however, with the Quest Meta (META) line of devices standing as market leaders. And consumers don’t seem to be as impressed with those headphones as Meta had hoped.
In 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported that more than half of Meta Quest headset owners did not use their devices just six months after purchase. And according to the Verge, Meta’s Vice President of VR Mark Rabkin specifically called for user interest in the company’s Quest 2 headset during an employee meeting in February 2023.
But Apple also has a powerful weapon that Meta doesn’t: a huge number of service subscribers who have access to Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade. And that alone could give Apple the kind of leg up on Meta it needs to dominate the AR/VR headset industry.
“Apple is walking into a market that hasn’t really been doing well … meaningfully in recent years,” IDC research analyst Ramon Llamas told Yahoo Finance. “But, you know … where Apple goes, markets tend to go up.”
Apple is entering an uncharted market
Apple’s Vision Pro headset, or spatial computer, as the company refers to it, will test the company’s ability to interest consumers in a product category that still feels like an answer seeking a question.
To date, gaming has been one of the main reasons consumers have chosen AR/VR headsets. But even those experiences are far from being in their minds. I’d rather play games on my PlayStation 5 and 65-inch OLED TV than on any headset. Wearing a headset for more than half an hour can be uncomfortable, the graphics on the PS5 are far better than any headset can produce, and some games don’t translate well to the factor headset form.
“People don’t play ‘Fortnite’ on headphones,” said Forrester vice president and principal analyst Julie Ask. “They’re playing it on their computer because it’s so fast and the graphics are so good.”
AR/VR companies are also following further into the enterprise space, with Meta promoting its headset as a way to have meetings where you can interact with your coworkers in virtual spaces.
But let’s be real. It is quite difficult to turn on your laptop camera for a virtual meeting. Therefore, the idea that the average person will be willing to strap on a headset to join another meeting is still a little hard to swallow.
That’s not to say that headphones can’t help when it comes to productivity. Using them as a way to see multiple windows and apps on a giant virtual display would be much better than trying to see all my work on one laptop screen.
In fact, Apple demonstrated the ability to use the Vision Pro as a kind of high-powered virtual display during a high-tech demo at WWDC in June. But it’s hard to imagine the average consumer dropping $3,499 for a bigger screen.
Apple services could be the secret to the Vision Pro’s success
Gaming and enterprise capabilities will certainly be part of Apple’s formula for success for the Vision Pro, but the company’s secret weapon is its services business and its many offerings.
“[Apple has] a fluid base that is already subscribing to their media services,” said Ask. “If I can immediately start watching movies and doing all these other things, Apple has games, one, … they have movies and TV shows and they’re compatible with my computer and my smartphone and all these other things, I don’t need to go. buy gaming titles one after the other and build a library.”
Being able to watch your existing apps, movies, photos and more on the Vision Pro is a powerful feature for Apple, as it works to convince users that AR/VR headsets are need them.
Apple’s army of app developers should be extremely helpful in increasing interest in the Vision Pro. After all, no one really understood how powerful the iPhone would be until Apple launched the App Store and allowed third-party apps on the smartphone. Getting more developers to build for the Vision Pro will be huge.
There’s also the ease of use factor. While other headsets require you to learn how to use separate controllers and navigate new operating systems, the Vision Pro is relatively straightforward. Your eyes act as a kind of cursor that highlights whatever you’re looking at in an app. To select an item, simply tap your finger and thumb together. It’s that easy.
There will definitely be a learning curve for some apps and features, but it will be incredibly helpful that you can jump into the world of Vision Pro and start using it right away.
All that said, it will take some time for Apple to see much traction from the Vision Pro. It is still a very expensive device for most consumers. As Llamas explains, you would be able to buy a MacBook Air, iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch for less than the Vision Pro. But if any company is going to get out of AR/VR, it’s going to be Apple.
Daniel Hawley He is the technology editor at Yahoo Finance. He has been covering the tech industry since 2011. You can follow him on Twitter @Daniel Howley.
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