Apple CEO Tim Cook on Using Vision Pro: 'It's an Aha Moment'

[fonzy91]

A huge part of convincing people to buy the Vision Pro, and that it’s worth $3,500, is going to be in-store demos. I’m so excited to see what kind of demo experience they come up with. Apple has worked for years to create a large network of stores around the US and you can bet they’ll leverage them to create a top-notch demo area that will pull us all in.

 

[MrJM]

He’s hardly going to say it’s a load of bollocks is he? 😂

 

[slb]

I think it’s astounding that there are people who believe VR won’t matter… Maybe it won’t be the 1st generation Vision Pro, maybe not at this price point, but betting against VR in the long term is really shortsighted…
Besides, it’s a good idea for Apple to explore potential future technologies, even if there’s a risk that they’ll fail. Resting on their laurels, on the premise that smart phones, of the kind and in the form factor that they exist right now, will be a thing until the end of times, would be suicidal. Better to invest in new developments now, rather than when it’s too late.

Keep in mind the industry has been trying to push virtual reality since the 1980s. I think skepticism is warranted.

 

[NightfallOrchid]

Keep in mind the industry has been trying to push virtual reality since the 1980s. I think skepticism is warranted.

Sure, but I think all it takes is an implementation that makes it as simple and user-friendly as possible for it to find wider acceptance. If there’s anything that Apple’s good at, it’s that. If the Vision Pro offers the same simple setup and deep integration with their ecosystem as their other devices (and, in the future, a lower entry price) it just might work…

 

[DaveN]

I’ll probably get one. I did work in spherical panoramas in the late 1990s and early 2000s and always found immersive technology fascinating.

 

[newyorksole]

this is what I think when I hear AHA!

 

[hugogogo2003]

Costs coming down is inevitable. That's how technology works. I wouldn't take your side of the bet on this one. This is where we're headed.

Not really. iPhone costs have never come down, the technology improved but not the costs, they're vastly more expensive today than when it came out. Macs started to cost less in recent years and then costs went up. Their high-end display still costs a fortune and its cost has not gone down.

 

[sevoneone]

Agreed. Even though one could argue that building Apple's insane financial success and security is his legacy, Apple is a product company and "spatial computing" (I find this term exceedingly stupid) will be his legacy.

Yeah, I don't understand his need to have this kind of mark on the industry. From his time as COO to now, the man has a lot to be proud of.

I agree, but even if costs can be brought down significantly, I still have serious doubts about whether people even want this. Too much screen time has made kids kill themselves in record numbers. The public seems pretty miserable these days, stuck on their phones, constantly comparing themselves to others, constantly feeling like they are missing out on something yet unable/unwilling to connect with their fellow human beings...because that would mean, gasp!, putting the phone down.

I honestly think it isn't any better or worse than the phone. The pervasiveness of technology and communication is not going away. AI is where people need to really focus their concern when it comes to the health and safety of kids. There are already statistics that show Gen Z and younger are more likely to fall victim to phishing and impersonation scams than Boomers are by virtue of them growing up in connected world and having more inherent trust in technology. AI impersonation is going to make it worse. Then you have kids that are already using generative AI to do awful things to their peers: https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...e-ai-generated-images-naked-minors-2023-09-25. I am not happy about being a father to a daughter growing up in a world where several AI models trained to undress any photo of a woman exist and are easily available on demand to any bully. I'd rather battle VR addiction in kids than face the outcomes of the inevitable AI generated torments hormonal teens and pre-teens will unleash on each other.

 

[tk ldr]

Epic fail. Or at least we hope. Otherwise it’s the end of humanity. We already have a hard enough time putting down our freaking smartphones. As if we can handle a portable “holodeck” without destroying all connections with humanity.

+1 for design
-10 for destroying humanity.

 

[NightfallOrchid]

Epic fail. Or at least we hope. Otherwise it’s the end of humanity. We already have a hard enough time putting down our freaking smartphones. As if we can handle a portable “holodeck” without destroying all connections with humanity.

+1 for design
-10 for destroying humanity.

To me it’s obviously a device you would use when you’re at home, preferably on your own, I don’t see people regularly using it in public or in company…

 

[citysnaps]

Epic fail. Or at least we hope. Otherwise it’s the end of humanity. We already have a hard enough time putting down our freaking smartphones. As if we can handle a portable “holodeck” without destroying all connections with humanity.

+1 for design
-10 for destroying humanity.

Depends upon what your view of AR is.

It's not VR. It's not just another way to view computing, or used for entertainment.

AR is a tool that's used to help solve problems and produce better outcomes. AR-assisted cardio-thoracic surgery comes to mind, at one end of the spectrum. There are, of course, many more AR applications that business and consumers would benefit from.

 

[Jensend]

Indeed, this is something I've gone back and forth with for a while. You are not in the minority at all I think. Actually I suspect most decision makers at Apple are on your side: their design goal with the AR glasses platform will be to get you actively "using" the device as little as possible, unlike your iPhone.

On the one hand I absolutely agree that always on AR can very easily be a lot more invasive than passive but it will come down to the minutiae of implementation. For example in macOS Sonoma I like having a widget on my desktop that shows me the air quality in my house. It works great because it's always passively available to me in the same way looking at the time in the top right is. On iPhone the same widget is only accessible once I unlock the phone (or if I place it on the lockscreen widget section). The act of picking up my phone and taking a look at the lockscreen already commits me (somewhat) into using my phone and engaging with iOS, a big part of this is seeing all of my notifications because I can't help but read them.

Focus modes will be key to this, in particular I might go as far as saying notifications shouldn't appear in the AR glasses at all. I think Apple have introduced these two features (widgets and focus modes) in preparation for how they want people to use the AR glasses, not as a replacement for iPhone that demands your attention with constant notification pings, but as a means of complementing the function of a clock on your wall: glanceable information that tells you something without necessarily demanding your attention and bringing you out of the real world.

If the AR glasses are in a sense invisible to you then they've accomplished their goal.

I think we are a long way from AR glasses that are good enough to more useful/convenient than a smartwatch while simultaneously being close enough to the form factor of traditional glasses that people will be willing to wear them all day.

 

[Jensend]

Has anyone who has IOLs (intraocular lens implants) commented on how the AVP works for them? With implants one loses the ability to focus, and I wonder how that will work with the AVP.

The AVP is fixed-focus, so in some ways, the AVP should be better than reality for people who have eyes with fixed focus.

 

[anthogag]

Vision Pro will be limited edition...limited to how many they can make.

Soon enough I will be able to say ahaaaaaaaaaa🤩

Perhaps the only thing they need to make VisopnPro fly off the shelves is getting something like the new GTA on it. GTA (special spatial version)

 

[Macalway]

I'm almost certain it will be a flop. Sure there're nerds who will by this, just like they buy other nerd stuff. Nothing more than what's already out there, as the price offsets the benefits. Definitely top notch though.

Trying to create a mainstream need like a phone. Cook is like some average inventor who keeps coming up with the next great thing

Good luck.

 

[ratspg]

This product is revolutionary and dangerous at the same time. I hope people stop saying "but technology!!" and realized what I mean here. I've asked people in the industry about this product because I love Apple products, I have all of them, I make a living using Apple products, but I am not the only one with the same sentiment as below.

From one of my close tech friends who used to work for IBM and Google: The Apple Vision Pro, while touted as the next big leap in technological innovation, carries with it a slew of potential societal repercussions. Its immersive features and unparalleled user experience can lead individuals to prefer the digital realm over the tangible world. As people increasingly turn to this device for entertainment, work, and social interactions, there's a risk that genuine human connections will wane, causing an increase in feelings of loneliness and isolation. Instead of engaging in face-to-face interactions, individuals may find themselves lost in the virtual world, sacrificing authentic relationships for digital ones. This could foster a society where the line between reality and the virtual is blurred, diminishing the value of real-world experiences and connections.

 

[Lynxpoint]

This product is revolutionary and dangerous at the same time. I hope people stop saying "but technology!!" and realized what I mean here. I've asked people in the industry about this product because I love Apple products, I have all of them, I make a living using Apple products, but I am not the only one with the same sentiment as below.

From one of my close tech friends who used to work for IBM and Google: The Apple Vision Pro, while touted as the next big leap in technological innovation, carries with it a slew of potential societal repercussions. Its immersive features and unparalleled user experience can lead individuals to prefer the digital realm over the tangible world. As people increasingly turn to this device for entertainment, work, and social interactions, there's a risk that genuine human connections will wane, causing an increase in feelings of loneliness and isolation. Instead of engaging in face-to-face interactions, individuals may find themselves lost in the virtual world, sacrificing authentic relationships for digital ones. This could foster a society where the line between reality and the virtual is blurred, diminishing the value of real-world experiences and connections.

Isn't this already happening? I think it is, which makes your projection all the more frightening.

If so many people already prefer to text rather than talk on the phone, or face-to-face, for example... what happens when we can present ourselves as idealized avatars (I am thinking of the Instagram 'perfect life effect' taken to the next level).

 

[anthogag]

This product is revolutionary and dangerous at the same time. I hope people stop saying "but technology!!" and realized what I mean here. I've asked people in the industry about this product because I love Apple products, I have all of them, I make a living using Apple products, but I am not the only one with the same sentiment as below.

From one of my close tech friends who used to work for IBM and Google: The Apple Vision Pro, while touted as the next big leap in technological innovation, carries with it a slew of potential societal repercussions. Its immersive features and unparalleled user experience can lead individuals to prefer the digital realm over the tangible world. As people increasingly turn to this device for entertainment, work, and social interactions, there's a risk that genuine human connections will wane, causing an increase in feelings of loneliness and isolation. Instead of engaging in face-to-face interactions, individuals may find themselves lost in the virtual world, sacrificing authentic relationships for digital ones. This could foster a society where the line between reality and the virtual is blurred, diminishing the value of real-world experiences and connections.

A device like VisionPro can also make interactions with people you connect with better and easier. One of the problems with "real-world experiences" is all the people you don't really connect with because you share little in common.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Why? Enlighten us.

The Vision Pro raises the bar of the spatial computing industry by at least 5 years.

Yeeah this isn't really a thing.

 

[Morod]

But… But, what about the emojis?

 

[nostaws]

Apple used to be all in in K-12 and higher ed. I think that could be a commonsensical place to start with the Vision Pros. Pretty easy for a school to justify (with the right app/environment) the purchase of a few classroom sets of these to be used in a classroom setting.

I can imagine several ideas for these to be used in K-12 education, but I am not a developer, and not quitting my day job (at the moment).

There are ~98,000 public schools in the USA. Let's say 10% (9,800) buy 40 vision pros for a "vision pro lab." Those would be 392k units.

I don’t think he’s wrong, they are just up against 2 big issues since their last blockbuster product, iPhone:

1. They took a phone and made it take great photos and use the internet, all things that made sense being out in a phone, and they did it well. Everyone was accustomed to using a phone, not everyone is accustomed to using a headset.

2. An iPhone was not $3,500. They are up against a significantly higher price tag to try something new. People who need a $3,500 MacBook Pro will buy it. People will be hesitant to pay that jus to try something new.

 

[bobcomer]

Costs coming down is inevitable. That's how technology works.

You bought a Mac lately? Costs aren't coming down for that market.

 

[bobcomer]

Apple should make a cheaper Vision model without personalization and allowing to wear prescription glasses (no need for inserts) just to watch 3D movies. Just for that.

I don't think that's possible, the focus in the VP will be quite different than normal glasses.

 

[ratspg]

A device like VisionPro can also make interactions with people you connect with better and easier. One of the problems with "real-world experiences" is all the people you don't really connect with because you share little in common.

I think it’s actually important to have relationships with people you don’t share everything in common with. I have friends that we share a ton a common and others we don’t and we all get along and enjoy the real world. I personally wouldn’t want to connect with people I only have things in common with.

In regards to the Vision Pro making interactions better and easier, how so exactly? I’m just curious how it can improve on me meeting with somebody in person. If it’s someone thousands of miles away maybe then yes?

 

[anthogag]

I think it’s actually important to have relationships with people you don’t share everything in common with. I have friends that we share a ton a common and others we don’t and we all get along and enjoy the real world. I personally wouldn’t want to connect with people I only have things in common with.

In regards to the Vision Pro making interactions better and easier, how so exactly? I’m just curious how it can improve on me meeting with somebody in person. If it’s someone thousands of miles away maybe then yes?

Relationships with people you don't share everything in common...it's called the work place