Apple Reportedly Suspends Work on Vision Pro 2

[timshundo]

The $17k gold Apple Watch was to cement the Apple Watches place as a luxury watch and not just a Fitbit cheap and plastic competitor.

They were able to drop the gold Apple Watch after one of the most luxurious French fashion houses, Hermes, agreed to parter on watches with Apple.

So I'm not sure that's a great comparison.

The $3,500 AVP (the one I would want/need priced out to nearly $4,500) is a flop because the only great use case is cinema style movies while on an airplane. Most people are lucky to fly on 1-3 trips a year.

Everyone needs an iPhone and most people have been trained to desire/need a watch. But a VR device? None of the current VR devices have really taken off. And for nearly $4,500, there are a lot of other devices out there that do it for far less and the money I save I can take my family on a Hawaiian beach vacation too.

The device flopped. Nothing you listed makes it substantially cheaper. Other devices do the same for far less. There is no killer app or use case. Apple tried catching onto a fad and they flopped.

Apple has had other other flops, PowerMac G4 Cube and Apple Newton to name a few. AVP will join that list shortly after investors start to grill Tim Cook on poor sales.

Okay? Anyway...

The rumor is that they suspended work on the Vision Pro "2" for "Vision SE", not killed the whole product line altogether. Feel free to take it up with the leaker?

You're right, they don't even need to make the hardware cuts I mentioned, they can make it cheaper just by making it cheaper because they said so. The device has been thoroughly dismantled and the cost of parts have already been added up. We know its not $3500 of parts. I'm not getting into the whole R&D/profit margins conversation cuz it sounds like it would be a waste of time.

We get itttttt, Vision Pro was a company-wide mistake. Tim Cook is dumb and old and investors and shareholders know best. No one in the whole company raised their hand and said AR/VR was a bad idea. Execs actively hate the product and are lying through their teeth in interviews. AR is nothing but an ploy to scam investors. No one will buy a Vision Pro, not even the rich, traveling familyman!

I'm not even here to be like "FLOP? NO, VISION PRO IS AMAZING AND WILL SELL MILLIONS AND WILL TRIUMPH YOU'LL SEE!!!" I just wanna talk and speculate on tech with people that don't have a weird bone to pick with Apple, yall.

 

[MarkDeMoss]

Not surprising. In THIS economy when you can't even go to Taco Bell for under $10 and people frequently can't even afford rent/mortgages, did they really think there were THAT many people willing to fork over $3500 dollars for something that is incredibly niche and frankly not popular? VR just isn't something people care about, especially at that entry price. Jobs never would have let this see the light of day.

I think John Lennon said it best. Everyone loves you when you’re 6 feet under.

 

[dba415]

Meta literally changed their entire name to be about the "metaverse" and then Zuck about a year ago basically announced that they were going to deprioritize VR to focus on AI lmao. Then Apple comes in thinking they can save VR from death. Nope, not happening. Meta wasted billions on its VR stuff, and Apple will too.

 

[Abazigal]

What a bunch of weirdos in the comments section. It's like game industry forums where they just want products and companies to fail.

They will *never* ever kill the Vision product line, it's here to stay. The article says nothing about there never being another Vision Pro, they're stopping to put all the resources on the cheaper Vision model which everybody knew was going to come. I would bet all my money there will be another Vision Pro eventually. It doesn't need to be a yearly product, especially not being a major market penetration product.

I think people are jealous that Apple has been successful year after year while doing the opposite of what they wanted Apple to do. Rather than use this opportunity to reflect on whether their assumptions and understanding of Apple may have been wrong all along, the critics have instead opted to double down and in the hope that if they criticise enough of Apple's business model, at least one will eventually stick.

Just another day at Macrumours.

 

[PlainviewX]

This is what happens when you make it nearly impossible to watch VR porn on your headset.

 

[JapanApple]

Prices drop......so the people who can buy at this new level of cost will stop complaining. Besides everyone knew that Apple would lower the prices with the next Vision Pro. nothing new to this BS. Now I will buy it sooner than before.

 

[Velin]

Apple needs to make them as spectacles instead of causing a spectacle when you see someone wearing it.

Yes. Make the best possible OLED or micro-LED sunglasses with superb resolution, refresh rate, and HDR. Cut the price below $1499. Perfect device to watch movies, take on a plane, etc.

 

[ResolutionNZ]

I hate click-bait headlines where the body of the story directly contradicts the headline. Suspension of a project is not the same as reprioritisation and allocation of fewer resources. For all we know 2/3rds of those working on the Vision Pro 2 are still on the project and 1/3 have gone to work on the regular Vision.

 

[thatsmyfish]

I hate click-bait headlines where the body of the story directly contradicts the headline. Suspension of a project is not the same as reprioritisation and allocation of fewer resources. For all we know 2/3rds of those working on the Vision Pro 2 are still on the project and 1/3 have gone to work on the regular Vision.

It couldn’t even make it through the entire deadline before it started coming clean.

It’s allegedly suspending one of two tracks to consolidate on a single device.

 

[Surf Monkey]

I don't really need to repeat myself. Feel free to go back and check what I said in my first reply to you. Everything was laid out there. Not sure why two clarifications are required.

I’m not asking you to repeat yourself. You never specified which features you imagine will become so much more compelling with a lower price.

 

[Surf Monkey]

There are tons of use cases for it as has been shown since day 1, do you think we are blind?

To start with: massive desktop space beyond your tiny monitor.

A big virtual monitor is nice but there’s no way that’s the killer app that will make the device attractive to mainstream customers.

 

[Surf Monkey]

We get itttttt, Vision Pro was a company-wide mistake. Tim Cook is dumb and old and investors and shareholders know best. No one in the whole company raised their hand and said AR/VR was a bad idea. Execs actively hate the product and are lying through their teeth in interviews. AR is nothing but a ploy to scam investors. No one will buy a Vision Pro, not even the rich, traveling familyman!

Defending it is fine but the straw man arguments don’t help much.

 

[topmounter]

Focusing on price really seems to be missing the mark.

 

[trip1ex]

Another problem is it doesn't take place of anything else. You still need all your other electronics.

 

[Hillstones]

It needs the M4 so that it can possibly run Apple Intelligence.

Apple's AI only requires an M1 or A17 Pro, because both chips have 8GB RAM minimum. Second, Apple's AI has zero to do with Vision Pro. None of Apple's AI would do anything in Vision Pro. A complete waste.

 

[timshundo]

Defending it is fine but the straw man arguments don’t help much.

This isn't a debate hall and not trying to be the bigger man here. Just returning his energy.

 

[Hillstones]

I don’t believe that at all. Apple would not cancel a project like this just after launching the first gen product. I’m sure that they will even release a cheaper version along with the successor of the current one.

They do it all the time when nothing sells. Power Mac G4 Cube, iPod HiFi, iPhone mini, iPod mini, Mac Pro (2013), AirPower (failed before release), Apple Car (millions wasted), and next up, Apple Vision. No one cares about AR, it is a gimmick. And at $3500, or even $1500, no one wants it. It currently has a 76% return rate. I have seen them in Apple Stores, no one pays any attention to them. Apple's AR has no interaction with anyone in the same room, and no interaction in game play. It is a lonely product.

 

[doelcm82]

I’m not asking you to repeat yourself. You never specified which features you imagine will become so much more compelling with a lower price.

EVERY feature becomes more compelling at a lower price.

I know there are people who say they don't want it at any price, so maybe a lower price wouldn't sway them. But scan the comments. There is a market in people who say they wish they could afford one, if you make it less expensive. There's a market in people who say it's too uncomfortable, if you make it lighter and more comfortable. Extend the battery life and there's a market in people who say they like it, but two hours is ridiculous.

 

[triptolemus]

I have seen them in Apple Stores, no one pays any attention to them.

What are you saying? I can't wait to get down to the Apple Store and rub the AVP all over my face after a thousand other bozos rub it all over their faces and all up on their snot guns.

 

[thatsmyfish]

They do it all the time when nothing sells. Power Mac G4 Cube, iPod HiFi, iPhone mini, iPod mini, Mac Pro (2013), AirPower (failed before release), Apple Car (millions wasted), and next up, Apple Vision. No one cares about AR, it is a gimmick. And at $3500, or even $1500, no one wants it. It currently has a 76% return rate. I have seen them in Apple Stores, no one pays any attention to them. Apple's AR has no interaction with anyone in the same room, and no interaction in game play. It is a lonely product.

76

They do it all the time when nothing sells. Power Mac G4 Cube, iPod HiFi, iPhone mini, iPod mini, Mac Pro (2013), AirPower (failed before release), Apple Car (millions wasted), and next up, Apple Vision. No one cares about AR, it is a gimmick. And at $3500, or even $1500, no one wants it. It currently has a 76% return rate. I have seen them in Apple Stores, no one pays any attention to them. Apple's AR has no interaction with anyone in the same room, and no interaction in game play. It is a lonely product.

LOL! It currently has a 76% return rate. A single internet poll said that a group of social media users who likely didn’t even own the AVP were threatening to return it.

HiFi was a stereo. It wasn’t an area they intended to compete. Apple Car was a potential area that they researched and decided not to pursue. Selling a car is a Herculean task when all they really need is the software in an existing vehicle, which they now have. Mini versions of existing products didn’t sell as well because people wanted bigger, not smaller. Apple adjusted. Variants of computers sold well or didn’t. They still sell computers.

Vision Pro is the first step into augmented reality, immersive reality, and special computing. This is a single report from a single supplier who says one variation is being prioritized over another, which is exactly what happens all the time. If Apple scrapped one potential iPad you’d be running around screaming iPads are dead and you predicted it 17 years ago, no doubt. If they’re delaying the next pro to get the air version out first, I would imagine they wouldn’t be mass ordering parts starting now.

 

[thebart]

A big virtual monitor is nice but there’s no way that’s the killer app that will make the device attractive to mainstream customers.

According to ars technica, the pixel per degree of the AVP is better than the quest but "still less than half of a large 4k TV several feet away from you". I don't know how large a TV they're talking, but I have a 65" 4k OLED and using it as a monitor while sitting a few feet away is not that good an experience. I prefer to have a normal largish monitor and sit closer.

Obviously the AVP is different since you can move the screen around and pull it closer or push it away at will, but you'll have to have this thing strapped on your head. I can look away from my monitor at any time, not to mention I have the real world all around. Yes I can put on whatever nice virtual environment, but it's still a screen I'm looking at. Just screen on screen. While I'm working, I don't need this kind of immersion. It'd just become oppressive

I love listening to music on audiophile headphones, but after an hour or so it becomes tiring sonically if not physically. I have to take them off and put the music on speakers in the background. And my headphones are way way more comfortable than the AVP; I don't even need to try it to know this

I think if I got the AVP for free, I'd use it for watching movies. From all account, this thing is the best 3D movie experience you can get, even better than a good theater. I think that's what it's best for. Movies and games and immersive experiences like watching sports or skydiving or mountain climbing or concerts at the Vegas sphere. Fun stuff that isn't work-stressful made more stressful by the weight of the device and the inescapableness of the experience, if that makes sense.

 

[IbisDoc]

I could easily afford it, but it’s just not a very attractive product. I probably wouldn’t even buy it for well below $1k, knowing it would mostly just collect dust. Instead I bought two iPad Pros.

Sure at a lower price it would sell more units, but it would remain a niche/gimmicky product for most.

Agreed. I could also easily afford it, but decided not to buy it because, well, it's an epic fail.

 

[MDL-Steven]

Vision Pro really replaced my main PC display as it allow me to remotely connect to my Mac with a giant display, plus a keyboard & mouse (with Vision OS 2) to work on. I enjoyed watching movie and my iCloud photo with it. PCVR gaming with Vision Pro has potential - it already works for me. But for me that's all about it really. 4 killing use cases.

Go get a pre-owned unit for around USD2,500 then I think I could justify the cost for the benefit above. It remains a joy to use every time for around 1-2 hours per session max.

 

[Silverado]

It’s funny how many people are either upset or taking satisfaction out of this news. If true, this is just fine. A cheaper product would be much more popular. And whether they’re working in the Pro or a cheaper one, VisionOS will advance and run on the current Pro.

So, people should just chill.

 

[Surf Monkey]

This isn't a debate hall and not trying to be the bigger man here. Just returning his energy.

Didn’t claim it is.