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Apple Vision Pro Customer Interest Dying Down at Some Retail Stores
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I still consider it the best device to watch movie alone if the price is right. And apple need a better solution to record spacial videos, at least rearrange the cameras on iphone.
Just checked both stores in Austin (closest ones to me), and the demos are completely open for today. The only time slot that seems to be unavailable is at 5:30 at one of the locations. Not sure how many demos they have per time-slot, though.
For reference, there are 2.5 million in the Austin-metro area.
Also, I do not think the price is the issue. I think most people would be uninterested even if it was $100.
For reference, there are 2.5 million in the Austin-metro area.
Also, I do not think the price is the issue. I think most people would be uninterested even if it was $100.
I’m still not a fan of being cut off from the world, “out there” as Nilay Patel said in the AVP review for The Verge.
AR is where it’s at, but we aren’t there yet technologically. So this was Apple‘s best effort through camera pass-through to make it seem “augmented”.
AR is where it’s at, but we aren’t there yet technologically. So this was Apple‘s best effort through camera pass-through to make it seem “augmented”.
Unless, of course, for your work, there is a good reason to be cut off from the world.
Still not quite there yet, but we need to keep trying. Maybe rethink your target audience for something like this and price accordingly? In some places eggs are $6 a carton and gas is almost $4/gal. again (for me, anyway). Most people can't throw away $3500 on something like this right now.
I'd be very curious if they dropped the price to $100 if the actual usage of the thing went up all that much 😅
This is an important point for me too. Before I even would consider buying an AVP, I would rather upgrade one of the many Apple devices I already own. This gives me much more utility than investing in yet another platform.
Well, it’s obvious that this would happen. There is WAY too much friction between potential buyers and the Vision. It’s big. It’s ugly. It’s not obviously useful for anything necessary. It isn’t actually AR. The list goes on and on.
Apple’s genius was in making devices that present no significant friction. That are instantly obvious as to functionality, necessity and usefulness. Devices that look cool and feel cool to own. Vision is none of those things. The price is the LAST issue with it.
Apple’s genius was in making devices that present no significant friction. That are instantly obvious as to functionality, necessity and usefulness. Devices that look cool and feel cool to own. Vision is none of those things. The price is the LAST issue with it.
Thankfully someone found a use case for it. /sarcasm
I don't think there are many people who deem the AVP completely and utterly useless, the appeal and usage are just not wide enough - yet?
Honestly it's a lot like the iPad-as-a-notebook-replacement thing, some people and some jobs see this as a possibility, many others don't - and one of the reasons is that Apple didn't go far enough to broaden that possibility.
It's not really a tech issue, it's a priority and roadmap issue, it's a messed-up product decision issue, it's an inability to define a clear spot for it issue, it's a set of roadblocks that some folks keep in place for all kinds of reasons - but in the end, it hinders the product from reaching its full potential and market viability.
I don't think the AVP is dead yet, but Apple has a lot of work ahead to make it shine - putting it out there isn't going to be enough.
Not sure about most people, but for me, yeah, I would be uninterested even it cost a fraction of the price. It's not about the price. I'm willing to spend $3500 on a MacBook Pro, but that's because I know I'll use it every day for all kinds of tasks. The same can't be said for the Vision Pro. I would have to be willing to replace at least one or perhaps multiple devices with this thing; it can't just be another way to consume content, and a headset as "the new iPhone" just isn't there yet.
I don't even think AR is gonna be for most people.
Everyone has a smartphone. This is all most people want or need. Once you had one, there was no way to go back without sacrificing convenience.
Some people have smartwatches. Some people get them and then stop using them, because all they really do for you is keep you from taking your phone out of your pocket as much. That's not a huge inconvenience that it solves the have the inconvenience of having another device to worry about charging and wearing.
Think about it. If you forget your phone at home, you are turning around and going to get it. If you leave your smartwatch at home, you'd just go without it.
So then to AR smartglasses, which is what people keep saying Apple will eventually make (but I'm doubtful the technology will get there in the next 20 years). My prediction is not very many people will ever have AR smart-glasses, maybe 10% at most, even when they are fully mature and inexpensive. It just comes down to convenience. Whatever convenience AR smartglasses would provide outside of specific commercial applications is unlikely to exceed the inconvenience of having a screen in your face all day, even if it is see-through.
Everyone came to have a smartphone because it was a phone and texting device. Once everyone had a smartphone because all phones became smart, then society changed to where it was the expectation that everyone has one. Now some restaurants don't have menus because they expect you to have a phone to pull up their menu on. Thus, even if someone wants to go back to regular cell phones, the inconvenience of doing so is too great.
There's no such vector for smartglasses to ever become expected for everyone to have, and thus inconvenient for someone to NOT have. The only way would be if everyone already wore glasses (just like everyone already had a cell phone), and then all glasses became smart. But, not everyone wears glasses. In fact, some crazy people actually put little pieces of plastic ON THEIR FREAKIN' EYEBALLS just to avoid wearing them.
Why would it? Once you own it how does the amount you paid for it impact usage? If anything I’d think that the high entry price would cause people to use it more out of a sense of guilt that they spent so much money on something so obviously lacking in usefulness. If the price were $100 it seems pretty clear that most people would use it even LESS because the investment is low. Where’s the friction to throwing it in a closet and never using it again when the entry price is only $100?
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Because it's a $3500 VR/AR headset; a product nobody asked for. Does it do spacial computing? Yes. Does the general public care? No. Even if the MSRP was $999 I still don't think they would sell all that well...
Exactly. Friction. Why would you want to wear a computer on your face? That’s the FIRST question ANYONE should ask. But Apple doesn’t answer this essential question for us in any significant way. Why? Because THEY don’t know why the average person would want to wear a computer on their face.
I meant if they dropped the price - unit sales would increase but usage would remain low. Taking the price out of the equation. Anyway, just a thought.
For most sane people, we saw this coming despite some thinking this VR headset was going to be the future.
Apple of course isn’t too fussed as initial buyers are now far past the return window so have made their $3500 per unit from people who fell for the marketing.
International launches should be interesting as I think the headset market is much smaller than even in the US so it’s likely to reach this stage much quicker abroad.
I would imagine Apple may take another crack at it with an updated headset before giving up and brushing the headset under a carpet and pretending it never existed along with the iPhone 5 and Apple Car.
Apple of course isn’t too fussed as initial buyers are now far past the return window so have made their $3500 per unit from people who fell for the marketing.
International launches should be interesting as I think the headset market is much smaller than even in the US so it’s likely to reach this stage much quicker abroad.
I would imagine Apple may take another crack at it with an updated headset before giving up and brushing the headset under a carpet and pretending it never existed along with the iPhone 5 and Apple Car.
Exactly. The price is basically inconsequential when it comes to evaluating how much or little people would use it.
I personally think there are specific use-cases for it. But it seems Apple's marketing is targeted toward "normal" people wearing it around the house. That's what I see as unrealistic.
Also, is adding sports in 3D someone everyone wants, or is that just you extrapolating your own personal view to everyone else?
I'm not big on sports, but I know a lot of people that are. They seem to enjoy watching with other people. It seems to be a communal thing. That's why people have parties and come to watch events together. How many people are going to want to watch sports alone or with everyone else around them either being ghostly avatars or also wearing a thing on their face?
nobody wants to strap a heavy brick to their face for 3500 dollars.
VR/AR will always be DOA. This will only take off if the device is identical to a pair of sunglasses in size and weight.
VR/AR will always be DOA. This will only take off if the device is identical to a pair of sunglasses in size and weight.
Apple Vision Pro finally convinced a couple of my hesitant friends to purchase Quest 3s. I found that amusing. So, in part, AVP did work to attract new users/sales. 
How is THAT so? A maxed out iPhone 15 pro is $1600. The AVP is OVER 2x that cost.
Apple without Steve Jobs has never been able to answer the ‘why’ question. Execs are great at giving us the what and the how but rarely the why. They still haven’t given good reasons for why the iPad Pro exists and who exactly it’s for. I love my 12.9” Pro but mostly because it’s iOS on a big screen not because it’s as good as/better than a laptop for productivity.