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Apple 'Carefully Orchestrating' Vision Pro Reviews With Multiple Meetings
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Yes! Be wary! Apple might FOOL you into spending $4K on the AVP!
The upside is it will give everyone a nice convenient list of "reviewers" to ignore.
-kp
I don't think I've seen any Apple product or any new technology product in general introduced with less hype, interest, or buzz than this.
Still waiting for clarity of what the killer app / key use case for this is. The $3500 price tag is mind boggling to me for a VR headset with some added bells and whistles
Still waiting for clarity of what the killer app / key use case for this is. The $3500 price tag is mind boggling to me for a VR headset with some added bells and whistles
omg i forgot about david pogue!
good find. didn't think we would have to go back 16 years for an example but yes that's accurate.
I'd say that it is still unprecedented. Did they do it with the macbook, macpro, apple watch, etc.
I've just recently come across his channel and he's very good. I like his style.
My guess is that Apple wants to make sure people understand the product and see what you can do with it since they’ll only have a short period to ‘review’ before the NDA lifts. By the way, I’m pretty sure there are developers and influencers who are playing with the AVP right now (I’m looking at you MKBHD 😎).
A product like this can not be truly reviewed after two days or two weeks, it will take developers and early adopters a few months before they can truly judge it. I’ll take these early reviews from Apple positive influencers as ‘first impressions’ and I’m OK with that.
As an aside: I own the Pico 4 and I’m impressed by it, especially for the price. BUT… I hardly use it. Great for VR demos and occasional gaming, but useless for productivity as I can’t stand to wear it for more than an hour or so. I hope the AVP tackles headset fatigue, otherwise it will end up as a tech demo headset on fairs and in shopping malls…
Yeah, it's pretty much like every review of everything in every industry. Healthy skepticism is a prudent way to go through life.
If reviews would have swayed your decision to buy this thing or not, probably best not to pre-order. This thing will be demand constrained for a few months, and by the time units are ready for people who aren’t sure it’s worth it, there will be plenty of consensus on the product by then.
I’m getting it Day 1. I’ve known that since June. But if you’re not sure, or if the price is making you hesitant, there’s no benefit to buying something on the first day other than having it earlier (i.e., it’s not going to make people like or respect you).
I’m getting it Day 1. I’ve known that since June. But if you’re not sure, or if the price is making you hesitant, there’s no benefit to buying something on the first day other than having it earlier (i.e., it’s not going to make people like or respect you).
Exactly. This is going to need to be experienced to really understand what it's all about. I'm looking forward to going to a store to find out for myself.
I would have generally agreed with you here if Youtube wasn't such an attention seeking **** show. If you have reviewers that actually want to provide quality information as a service, then micromanaging them is a disservice to the market. If you have a room full of children more interested in whether it blends and wondering if it works after bathing it in maple syrup ("which is totally the kind of real world use you'd expect for a device like this, guys, people will want to use this to export 8k Final Cut projects during breakfast"), or can you wear it when you drive, or how many tabs can I open, or, or or...
Apple explaining what this is meant to do, and making themselves available to answer questions before the Youtube monkeys publish their ignorance as fact with big, brash thumbnails of shock and fire makes sense.
For something like this though, I think it's all entertainment until I can put one on my own face. Everything so far suggests that this is really hard to describe verbally.
Even with these selected reviewers one should understand many things about the headset. Even when a thing is mentioned in a positive way, you can usually understand if the reviewer is actually excited about it or not…
This excludes brain-dead iJustine
This excludes brain-dead iJustine
Apple is forcing someone to pre-order?
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
They will all be excited about it. As very first "reviewers," gigantic numbers of eyeballs will watch the reviews and google ad revenue will runneth over. They will be excited about the revenue. 💰💰💰
They can't offer a negative review because Apple isn't going to invite them back for first reviews again. So the ad revenue is in jeopardy unless the review is gushing, glowing, OMG, best thing ever made, etc.
A few might try to imply some objectivity with a very soft crit of something... to be quickly followed by "but..." and then a simple & easy remedy that undermines the crit as fully as possible.
Bottom line: "friends of Apple" wants to stay in the club. There's a LOT of ad MONEY to be made in this club. So they won't bite the hand that feeds them. If they dare to do so, they will be expelled from the club and all of that future, easy revenue will be sacrificed.
Again, I lean positive on this product. I'm not one of those extremist pessimists that has frequented every Vpro thread from the beginning. But because I don't bias to either extreme, I can see this for what it is. If one needs objective reviews to help them decide about this product, WAIT for about a week or so AFTER these are in the wild. Then, somewhat no-name reviewers will post their opinions & experiences without any incentives to influence them... including the incredible volumes of views the "friends of Apple" will have for being first. That's where one has a much better chance at objectivity & truth.
Huh? Why do you assume these won’t be objective? Do you believe reviewers like MKBHD and The Verge, who are always invited to do early reviews, are never objective?
I stopped following her. When it's not an Apple video it's a sponsored video. That's the only time she covers any other company other than Apple.
It's funny, I both agree with every word you wrote, and have three original HomePods and I love them.
I think you nailed it with regard to headset fatigue and needing some time with the device. My job sometimes requires me to wear a ‘headset’ of similar design for hours at a time. I loathe those days and cannot wait to get it off.
I think this is probably why they want to carefully ‘hand hold’ the reviewers. Headset fit can be finicky. Between the headset fit and the prescription lenses, there is a lot that can lead to frustration or discomfort. In addition, there are many new variables with regard to device setup and control.
This is not the Apple iPhone where they had a very strict set of Developer Guidelines and most users having had at least some experience with a mobile phone. In fact, what partially made the iPhone so great is that you could just hand it to someone and they could just use it (Brilliantly simple!). I think Apple knows that the Vision Pro will not and cannot be this due to all the variables mentioned above despite massive efforts to make the device seamless. While it may prove to be a huge success, from experience, this product would keep me up at night as an executive.
Reviews have become so predictable, I could write them myself:
The Verge
Typical passive aggressive crap, they actually had a blast using it, still give it a 7.5 because they're oh so tough and the last bastion of tech journalism on Earth.
iJustine
Passes out of excitement, throws in some serious thought here and there but -as usual- goes completely unnoticed by Apple haters because she's a woman and women can't do tech. A joy to watch for entertainment and (light) information.
Gruber
Should be costing more. Has preordered 4 Vision Pros for himself, his wife, son and dog. Also ordered an extra set of Mac Pro wheels because his old ones caught some dust. Apple should increase its 30% cut on the App Store.
MKBHD:
Tries (and largely succeeds) to be balanced, asks some tough questions, has some doubts, very excited nonetheless. His viewers compliment him on the new intro graphics and matte black shoelaces.
The Verge
Typical passive aggressive crap, they actually had a blast using it, still give it a 7.5 because they're oh so tough and the last bastion of tech journalism on Earth.
iJustine
Passes out of excitement, throws in some serious thought here and there but -as usual- goes completely unnoticed by Apple haters because she's a woman and women can't do tech. A joy to watch for entertainment and (light) information.
Gruber
Should be costing more. Has preordered 4 Vision Pros for himself, his wife, son and dog. Also ordered an extra set of Mac Pro wheels because his old ones caught some dust. Apple should increase its 30% cut on the App Store.
MKBHD:
Tries (and largely succeeds) to be balanced, asks some tough questions, has some doubts, very excited nonetheless. His viewers compliment him on the new intro graphics and matte black shoelaces.
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I went looking for people who said that the iPad was a solution looking for a problem when it was first introduced, but I found something more interesting (if slightly off-topic).
An article published 10 years ago today in Fast Company that predicted what iPads would look like ten years later:
This why it’s very difficult to imagine that an iPad five or 10 years from now will look, feel, or even function very differently from the ones we have right now. It’s also why all the tablets of Apple’s competitors at CES feel even more irrelevant than ever. Once you perfect the design of a window down to its essence, the only thing that matters about it anymore is the vista it overlooks.
I think they were largely correct.