Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Exploring Lower Resolution Displays for Cheaper Vision Headset
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
there is no universe where apple could or should start with AR glasses. AR glasses are a pipe dream.
Plenty of original iPhone owners argued that web apps were fine and native third party apps were unnecessary. History has proven those owners wrong. Owning the phone didn’t help them form an informed and objective position, as they just parroted Apple’s talking points. Meanwhile many people who didn’t own an iPhone were right.
This played out again with screen size. The bigger screen people (usually Android owners) were right. As an iPhone mini owner, this trend disappoints me, but even I wouldn’t want to go back to a 3.5” size just so my thumb could comfortably reach the corner. I definitely argued in favor of this point endlessly at the time though. My ownership of a iPhone didn’t make me right on balance, and Android users had already experienced the screen size transition and their experience turned out to be relevant on the iPhone too. IMO, this is something to keep in mind when quest owners talk about controller support…
First gen adopters have a lot of people that fall into this category of overlooking and denying legitimate issues or necessary area of improvement. Obviously not all do, but the ones that do often come to forums like this.
My point is simply that ownership doesn’t determine the legitimacy of a position held. I think this is an obvious conclusion given that humans are capable of rational thought and can take their combined experience and imagine how they’d use something they haven’t used. Obviously they can be wrong, but they can also be very very right. Not everything from non-owners can be written off as conjecture.
Just wanted to add that over the past month or so I went to 2 separate Apple stores to look at new iPads and really paid attention to the AVP for the first time. In both stores, the table with AVP was right at the front- the first table on the left when you walk in. And there was NO costumer anywhere interacting with the display AVP, and no costumer even at the table. The stores were filled as usual and as I looked over at the AVP at random times, I was struck as I never saw people hovering or interacfting with the display units. This is the first time I ever seen a relatively new Apple product, prominently displayed and advertised so completely ignored. After this, I really don't understand how AVP will become broadly adopted in its current form, even if made less expensive. I understand folks that have AVP generally like it and see its value, but if what I saw by average costumers at 2 Apple stores doesn't raise some kind of concern about AVPs future, I am not sure what will. However, I am interested in alternative interpretations.
The price here is $6000 for the base model which is ridiculously expensive. With corrective lenses it will be even more. Even if the price is dropped by $2000, it will still be too much. And resolution is not something that should be reduced. Apple need to significantly reduce their profit margin for it to reach a larger market.
i think this is only a problem if it happens after apple releases a non-pro version
Gaming companies are losing money on their headsets in order to make money on selling games.
There's exactly zero reason for those who simply hate the product to participate in these threads. That's where the vitriol comes from. Pointing your finger at those who love it makes zero sense.
Given the 10? year Vision Pro development costs and cost of materials (almost $1600) the profit margin is likely very small, if there is even one.
Honestly don't think any VR headset will have wide general appeal, given that people hate putting things on their face so much that 3D TVs died and contact lens invented
How about coming up with one for yourself? I've done that all on my own, no god-like figure needed to dictate a use for me personally.
If Tim Apple wants to save Vision Pro and make it a success, Apple need to quickly make a cheaper device that the average consumer would buy.
The Apple Studio Display has a top-end price of $2299, and it needs a Mac to operate. Is that a problem?
I use my AVP as an extension of my MacBook Pro, and it enhances the value of my Macbook Pro. But I also use the AVP as a fully standalone device. It's not one or the other; it's both.
That's great, I'm very happy for you... Feel free to continue to base your purchase decisions on forum opinions about Apple products (sadly, often laden with juvenile Apple burns), from people who don't own the product and have never used one. What you choose to do doesn't bother or interest me in the slightest.
I'll go with forum members I respect, who own devices such as AVP, with views coming from actual use over a long period of time, without the juvenile burns about Apple. Ditto with reviews by Dan and Hartley who put considerable time and thought into their reviews hitting both pros and cons of what they're testing.
The external display is still around $70 in cost. Sure, that’s 30% of the cost of each main display (~$228 each), but that’s not nothing. The materials to house the display and the glass cover also add to that cost and overall size/weight. It’s the most useless thing I’ve ever seen on a headset.
100% agree with everything you said. The front display is generations away from being ready to bring to the market. I was also disappointed with the AVPs narrow fov. I was blown away by the sharpness of its display though. I don't like the sound of a lower resolution display, but will have to withhold judgement until I can try it out myself in 2-3 years.
I don’t make purchasing decisions based on forum posts. I didn’t need someone else to tell me the AVP didn’t meet my needs. My non-ownership doesn’t make that assessment incorrect or invalid. I’m in the market for that perfect headset, and sadly this wasn’t it.
If you want to buy it, go for it. Maybe it will be worth it for you. Feel free to lionize whatever owner post justifies the purchase for you if you want, and ignore all the others. They must be wrong because they chose not to purchase the AVP.
In my mind, to make it cheaper there’s a few things they could do first.
1) Remove the forward facing panels, this could also decrease the sensors needed to accommodate this feature.
2) Remove the speakers/headphones and have it integrate with Airpod products for audio.
3) Use a newer iPhone (pro) as the main processor/memory/storage/network. connect via Thunderbolt 4.
4) Include smaller battery, sell bigger ones as a separate accessory. have the power connector be a standard USB-C charging port.
These would make it cheaper to manufacture and sell but would also increase sales of other products since it would be so deeply integrated with the ecosystem of Apple products, additional accessories, upgrading devices, etc.
All without decreasing what may arguably be the most important feature, its visual quality to the wearer.
1) Remove the forward facing panels, this could also decrease the sensors needed to accommodate this feature.
2) Remove the speakers/headphones and have it integrate with Airpod products for audio.
3) Use a newer iPhone (pro) as the main processor/memory/storage/network. connect via Thunderbolt 4.
4) Include smaller battery, sell bigger ones as a separate accessory. have the power connector be a standard USB-C charging port.
These would make it cheaper to manufacture and sell but would also increase sales of other products since it would be so deeply integrated with the ecosystem of Apple products, additional accessories, upgrading devices, etc.
All without decreasing what may arguably be the most important feature, its visual quality to the wearer.
Last edited:
Feel free to lionize? Why the juvenile snark? That's silly.
I'll pay attention to anyone who owns or has spent significant time with one and shares their views. It has nothing to do with them justifying a purchase for me. That's both silly and dumb.
Does a Studio Display have an App Store that Apple expects developers to build apps for? No.
A Studio Display is a niche peripheral, and if you’re happy with the AVP functioning as a niche peripheral too, that’s fine. That is worth $3499 for some people. That’s why there’s a niche; but that doesn’t make it a mainstream product or the future of computing like it’s seemingly intended to be.
If someone dropped an AVP in my lap, I’d absolutely use it as you do, and I’d love it for the things it’s good at. Those things just aren’t worth $3499 to me, and it appears, most people.
Why aren’t you interested in the opinions of people who considered the Vision Pro, but chose to buy something else?