People are inherently mistrustful of new things, especially in the tech world. Sure, there are early adopters, but they don’t make up the vast majority of consumers. Most people want something reliable and familiar. That’s exactly what Apple has offering for years. Apps, software features, services, they work the same across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and now, on Vision Pro.
Apple not only used hardware design cues from other devices in its product line-up, but it’s also made the software experience on Vision Pro the same as what you’ll find on Mac, iPad or iPhone. That familiarity immediately overrides any fears anyone may have about a new product because “hey, I know how to use this”.
It’s the same thing that the company is offering in the upcoming updates to its various operating systems, familiarity by putting you at the centre of it all. The company’s new features are all based on how we’re all using our devices and how personal tech has become in our lives.
Some may attribute that in part to the iPhone, and while I don’t like to give any one company too much credit, I believe that the iPhone spawned a new culture of consumer technology the likes of which we haven’t seen since. Whether the Vision Pro is the device to replicate that cultural zeitgeist remains to be seen, but it’s clear that Apple themselves aren’t hedging all their bets on Vision Pro as the future of the company.
For now, I’d hold off on hailing the headset as the next iPhone moment for Apple, and I’d also be wary of leaning into the dystopian Black Mirror-esque future that some people say Apple is creating.
Apple’s Vision Pro is a long-term bet on a future we may never see
Image: Supplied
Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) is usually the Coachella of tech for developers working within the Apple ecosystem. It’s where Tim Cook and co usually unveil the next iteration of operating systems, with the occasional hardware unveiling thrown in from time to time.
This year’s WWDC was all that and a whole lot more. Prior to the event’s keynote, rumours abounded that Apple was finally going to be unveiling its long-awaited mixed-reality headset, making WWDC 23 one of the most highly anticipated Apple events in a very long time.
After showcasing the new M2 Ultra chip, a new 15-inch MacBook Air and all the new features for iOS, tvOS, watchOS, iPadOS and MacOS, Tim Cook uttered the iconic “one more thing” line famously used by Steve Jobs.
This was followed by the unveiling of the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset as well as the VisionOS operating system.
Described as spatial computer, Vision Pro looks like something that only Apple could’ve designed, with a price tag to match.
While the $3499.00 price tag drew surprised murmurs from the attending crowd, it’s the use cases and videos that Apple showed off to promote the headset that has sparked the biggest conversation.
Facebook gets Meta, and we get a metaverse explanation
In a companywide meeting, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said; “I think that their announcement really showcases the difference in the values and the vision that our companies bring to this in a way that I think is really important.” He then continued to espouse the virtues of the Meta Quest line, stating that it was about “people interacting in new ways and feeling closer”.
If you look at it from the perspective that virtual reality (VR) headsets like the Quest have been primarily focused on gaming and creating virtual worlds and spaces where people could engage and interact with people from around the world, then sure, he’s right, Apple’s vision showed people sitting in isolated environments (mostly) enjoying things alone (unless you count FaceTime and the fact that Apple’s mixed reality approach allows you to blend the real world and the digital world without isolating you in a virtual world where the only way someone can engage with you is by buying a VR headset and joining said virtual world). Apple certainly could’ve showcased more social and communal usecases for the Vision Pro, but why create offerings like virtual hang out spaces that in the past have been used to harass people?
Meta’s attempts at virtual worlds haven’t worked out the way they’d hoped, much like marketing VR to gamers in the hopes that it would go mainstream hasn’t worked in the many years every VR maker has been trying it. Why replicate features and offerings that don’t have mass appeal?
Image: Supplied
Now, I’m not saying that capturing 3D videos of your children while wearing Vision Pro is going to have mass appeal but it’s clear that Apple’s intention for the headset is more than just recreational, they want it to be an integral part of your daily life, just like their products.
Apple is at a stage where they need to look at a future beyond the iPhone. The culture and industry shifting device is a juggernaut that cannot be stopped, but that won’t always be the case. Ultimately, a phone is a phone. There are some that charge faster or have higher megapixel count cameras and even some that can fold, but fundamentally they all do the same thing and no amount of folding or crazy high megapixel count is going to change that. So, what’s next?
Clearly Apple sees spatial computing as a potential future for its ecosystem.
The beauty of what the Cupertino tech giant has done isn’t in the hardware design of the headset but rather in its steady, always the same, approach to its software offerings. For years there have been complaints that all Apple products look the same and behave the same way and that there’s really very little way to tell the difference between them. Instead of jumping and deriding Apple for that, ask yourself why they would do that and why that’s worked for them (and maybe ask why the company’s most vocal opponents are now following the exact same playback)?
Familiarity.
Image: Supplied
Image: Supplied
People are inherently mistrustful of new things, especially in the tech world. Sure, there are early adopters, but they don’t make up the vast majority of consumers. Most people want something reliable and familiar. That’s exactly what Apple has offering for years. Apps, software features, services, they work the same across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and now, on Vision Pro.
Apple not only used hardware design cues from other devices in its product line-up, but it’s also made the software experience on Vision Pro the same as what you’ll find on Mac, iPad or iPhone. That familiarity immediately overrides any fears anyone may have about a new product because “hey, I know how to use this”.
It’s the same thing that the company is offering in the upcoming updates to its various operating systems, familiarity by putting you at the centre of it all. The company’s new features are all based on how we’re all using our devices and how personal tech has become in our lives.
Some may attribute that in part to the iPhone, and while I don’t like to give any one company too much credit, I believe that the iPhone spawned a new culture of consumer technology the likes of which we haven’t seen since. Whether the Vision Pro is the device to replicate that cultural zeitgeist remains to be seen, but it’s clear that Apple themselves aren’t hedging all their bets on Vision Pro as the future of the company.
For now, I’d hold off on hailing the headset as the next iPhone moment for Apple, and I’d also be wary of leaning into the dystopian Black Mirror-esque future that some people say Apple is creating.
Image: Supplied
The way we engage with technology has been changing for years. Now, many of us can speak to Siri or Alexa or Google Assistant and ask it to perform a task, which its does (with varying levels of success). An expansion of that type of ambient computing seems to be the most likely future for the technology world and Apple appears to be hoping that Vision Pro can add a visual element to that in the most natural way that’s possible now.
Vision Pro isn’t about a world beyond the iPhone now; this is a long-term bet that Apple hopes will help it continue to be the world’s most valuable tech company well into the next few decades.
I’m not saying that it will fail or that Apple is only doing this for money, but with an uncertain future ahead for the tech world and every major tech brand throwing out its vision of the future, Apple’s going to need to create a watershed moment that tips the public in their favour and cements spatial computing as the tech world of the future, and right now, they don’t have that.
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