Leading up to Apple's WWDC 2023 event there were rumors that Apple was finally ready to announce and showcase its latest innovation in Augmented Reality devices. Apple has expressed its interest in Augmented Reality technology for years now. As they have repeated several times in the keynote presentation, this device was in works for multiple years now. After going through lengthy updates on all of the Apples product lines, Tim Cook as expected uttered the words - "We have one more thing to show". It was time to reveal what everybody has been patiently waiting for - Vision Pro. It seemed as the entire keynote presentation was setup in a way to show the power of augmented reality technology, as speakers were talking about various aspects of different Apple products in different settings.
Apple has finally revealed its AR headset, which they named Vision Pro. It is going to be expensive with a price tag of $3500. Considering all the tech they tried to implement within this device, I can see how the price of the device can be justified if it delivers on everything they have presented. From what I am reading, it seems like after the event conference attendees were not able to hold, use, or test the device. It was only available for viewing from distance. They said Vision Pro will be available for purchase in the beginning of next year in the US, and more countries later the same year. I am a bit skeptical about their ability to deliver because they didn't have devices available for developers to try on, and also next years seems too far away. Perhaps there is still more work to be done. While Apple doesn't reveal products they are not confident they can deliver, there have been delays in the past.
Putting aside all of these concerns, Vision Pro looks amazing! We have already seen practical uses of VR headsets. Meta's Quest might be one of the examples of success. It may be due its quality, pricing, and no need for wires and connecting to computers or other devices. It does look like Apple have learned from experiences in virtual reality space and made improvements. VR devices are primarily used in gaming. Apple AR device seems to have multipurpose uses. In fact gaming seems to be a small feature of the device when focus is to bring all the experiences users have had using Apples other products, computers, iphones, ipads, etc.
I am super excited about this product and Apple's entry into the AR headsets space. This just shows how important of a technology this is, more competition will only benefit the consumers, and there are so many use cases I can think of such device can be used it. What I liked from the Apple presentation of the device is that have considered issues previous devices have had, and tried to improve one. Let me list some of these great improvements.
Resolution. The device will have a great resolution that users won't see the pixels. One of the problems other devices had was their resolution, and reaching a high resolution in such device is a challenging matter especially if companies try to keep the price of the device affordable for many. For such device to be complete it has to have resolution high enough that pixels are not visible and doesn't cause headache for using long time. It seems like Apple has solved this issue, and the headset can be used for productivity activities, getting work down, reading articles, writing documents, all things we normally do on a computer. Another cool feature was how users would be able to display the screen of their mac computers. Apple has always been good at integrating all devices within its ecosystem. But it also looks like they went extra mile making sure non-Apple software like Microsofts's office products can be used on the device as well.
Comfort of use. Since VR and AR devices are stand alone computers they require all kinds of hardware to be packed into small device which would make them heavy. Weight of the device is another challenge that companies have faced and had to balance the quality and comfort of wearing. It is hard to tell how comfortable the Vision Pro will be to wear and for how long without actually trying one. But it looks like they have considered these issues and designed the device to be as comfortable as possible. As it is with all of Apple's products they are good at making improvements year after year. I don't expect Vision Pro to be the best of what Apple can do. But usually at the third release they get most issues resolved. If we wait for more perfect Vision Pro it may take a few more years. But as it is, it does look like Vision Pro will be more comfortable to use than anything available right now.
While it is a stand alone device and doesn't need to be connected to other devices with wires. During the presentation they had a wire hanging from the side of the device which kept the viewer wondering what it was for. Towards the end they address that wire, and it turns out they had to come up with additional external battery that would be connected with wire to the side of the device and the external battery itself would be kept in users pocket or just hanging. This doesn't sound like Apple. But I can see why they would do this. Batteries are usually heavy and removing it from the device itself would remove significant amount of weight. However the problem is this external battery would only power 2-hours of use. It seems the device can be connected to other power sources as well for longer use, not sure how useful that would be.
What Apple was good at in the past is making the battery power of its devices last for many hours and which would be sufficient and more that what competitors would offer. In Vision Pro's case it seems like Apple still has some work to do in making battery power last longer. Especially with the price tag of $3500, ability to use the device for two hours at a time doesn't seem to justify the price.
See through illusion. When using VR headsets while users sometimes can see their surroundings the don't necessarily interact with their real environment and people around them. Apple have solved this with front screens and technology that displays the eyes of the user as if they are seeing it through the glass. Similarly user can see people around them and change their focus once they engage. It did look seamless in their presentation. Hopefully, it actually works as they have described. This would allow users to be engaged with their real environment and virtual reality at the same time and shift their focus as needed.
Vision Pro has many more features. Please visit Apple's website to learn more and definitely watch their keynote presentation to see how awesome this product is. I hope Apple will be successful in delivering this product and reinventing the technology once again. The price of the product does seem to be expensive. But Apple is used to selling products at higher price points, and making it a norm over time. Only time will tell if they can do the same again, or if they will have to reconsider their pricing to attract more people. I have not made up my mind about the Vision Pro yet. I would definitely want to try it. But at this price and it being the first version, I would probably wait for the second generation to arrive. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.