Apple Invites Developers to Vision Pro Coding Labs, Reveals Top-Secret Rules for Tester Kits

[Piplodocus]

I know online posts have to be overly dramatic to get clicks, but honestly, I don't think those terms are really all that crazy. Basically protect it, don't lose it, don't let others access it. I guess they are very specific, but the intent isn't very odd to me.

Exactly. It's currently in beta. The idea you can access something early for development advantages, but you can't let everyone else in the business try it, look at it, play with it and generally let every man and his dog have a fiddle while it's still in beta and before any reviewers are allowed to give reviews on the final released product, is what I'd deem normal. To think it's insane you can't take it home and let your kids have a go, or say it's been "stolen" and it turn up at Engadget for a full teardown or something means this person clearly has little experience dealing with any big tech companies' NDAs on unreleased products.

 

[Vulkan]

Oooops I already showed mine to my wife. RIP.

 

[AppleTO]

It's almost guaranteed that at least one of these units will somehow make it to a review site....

 

[Piplodocus]

Top-Secret rules for what?

Apple already announced the Apple Vision Pro. It's really not a top secret anymore. The Vision OS is also already out too!

They've already announced *limited* info, but very few people have had a hands-on, and certainly of very limited time. It's also still in beta, so it's a long way from everything being known. So there's still secrets about it, and certainly opinions on a still-beta product Apple don't want everyone discussing before final release.

 

[Piplodocus]

It's almost guaranteed that at least one of these units will somehow make it to a review site....

Which is exactly why they come with these terms attached...

 

[farmerabc]

I wonder if the reason for the secrecy is because it can't actually do everything they announced at WWDC and they're still hoping they can figure it out in time for the launch.

Maybe they don't want other people using it because they fear it will leave a negative impression.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

It's almost guaranteed that at least one of these units will somehow make it to a review site....

One already did, and here's news footage of what happened...

But now we actually know why the new campus is shaped like a saucer. So one secret revealed to keep another one suppressed. Progress!!!

Update: I just got word on a development team in Africa also getting one and sharing with the entire village. Response...

Like M1 to M2 forecasting, I'm seeing a pattern of handling leaks here.

Don't tread on Apple.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I wonder if the reason for the secrecy is because it can't actually do everything they announced at WWDC and they're still hoping they can figure it out in time for the launch.

Maybe they don't want other people using it because they fear it will leave a negative impression.

...the "half empty" imagination. Here's a "half full" alternative...

I wonder if the reason for the secrecy is because it does much more than they announced at WWDC and they don't want to show all of their cards this far in advance of when people can actually buy them.

Maybe they don't want these developers letting all cats out of the bag until people can immediately lay down some big cash?

The "half full" view seems just as plausible.

A simpler view: this is Apple being Apple. They like to reveal whatever they want to reveal WHEN they want to reveal it. See the whole "doubling down on secrecy" wave not so long ago.

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

I can imagine some may be interested in stealing the developer prototypes.

This isn’t an iPod or a new Mac we’re talking about. When was the last time developers got new hardware to develop for?

Probably apple Silicon A12X-based Mac minis. Before that it was Intel Macs.

They didn’t do it with Apple Watch. Or IPod. Or any iPhone.

I do not find these terms unreasonable for Apple’s sake.

 

[rp100]

I think the issues are damage, theft, and reverse engineering.

Competitors will get their hands on it eventually, but Apple has to do what they can to slow that process. Once competitors see how it’s made, the market will be flooded with clones.

 

[SAIRUS]

Curious if they’ll restrict this to devs with perfect vision?

 

[mmm...really]

Top Secret. You keep using that term. I don't think it means what you think it means.

 

[jimbobb24]

So basically the same rules as all unreleased products like Xbox, PS, Nitendo consoles, etc.

Super SECRET.

 

[zach-coleman]

I suspect some of this might also be to hide things they don’t have working yet. We already know the fake eyes face scan thing doesn’t work yet because it has never been shown outside of the heavily edited announcement video, and I think there is likely a lot more. Probably don’t want an investor scare.

 

[NT1440]

What is the point of all this extreme secrecy when the product has already announced and surely devs will talk about it? Seems like letting friends and family use the kit is a good way to get word of mouth going.

This is standard practice across almost all industries when a product is being tested but not released.

 

[Apple Fan 2008]

Coming soon to an eBay or Craigslist listing near you!

 

[ZMacintosh]

nothing insane about it, just seems over exaggerative. Apple has been this way about all prototypes. They had "insane" rules for testing and developing for the intel switch and the Developer Mac Pros and machines they provided. its new tech with all sorts of things they want to keep strategic and in-line...dont see any problem on this whatsoever

 

[DailySlow]

Now that's what I call genius marketing.

 

[DailySlow]

This is about PR hype. By being extra secretive, Apple creates hype.

Yup, and it's a way that works, among other marketing schemes.

 

[mike2q]

Apples dirty little secret is that they themselves haven't been able to come up with a killer app or marketable use case for the Vision Pro. Their current strategy now is to put the dev kit out and hope some 3rd party developer will emerge with an answer. Considering how Apple lords over developers in the iOS store it's hard to imagine a developer would want to take that risk with a new untested product that doesn't even have a built in user base. If the Vision Pro fails it will not only change public perception of Apple but investors confidence as well. I imagine there will be a lot of stress at the HQ over the next year.

 

[Corefile]

Is this a joke? We don't even have such restriction on USA Highly Top Secret documents that can be stored in boxes at unsecure locations in FL.

 

[Ctrlos]

I really miss Steve Job's era. The iPhone 15 will use same design as the iPhone 4 from 13 years ago 🤣 https://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/2...-next-generation-iphone-acquisition-examined/

Dude, every phone still uses the iPhone 4 design from 13 years ago.

 

[BGPL]

It makes Apple extremely nervous releasing proprietary IP prior to a public launch, but they know there's no other way. This is the most vulnerable they've ever made themselves by far. Timmy not sleeping well rn.

 

[MallardDuck]

This is what you do with a product that wasn't ready for release. Something has Apple really really scared about getting out.

I smell smoke...and mirrors.

 

[MallardDuck]

Apples dirty little secret is that they themselves haven't been able to come up with a killer app or marketable use case for the Vision Pro. Their current strategy now is to put the dev kit out and hope some 3rd party developer will emerge with an answer. Considering how Apple lords over developers in the iOS store it's hard to imagine a developer would want to take that risk with a new untested product that doesn't even have a built in user base. If the Vision Pro fails it will not only change public perception of Apple but investors confidence as well. I imagine there will be a lot of stress at the HQ over the next year.

That may very well be it. Why would anyone want this?

Especially if it's heavy and has poor battery life.