Apple Vision Pro Immersive Video 'Arctic Surfing' Available Now

[sw1tcher]

These videos aren't going to help with Vision Pro sales, not when available apps for it are on the decline according to https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/21/app...oblem-a-year-into-existence-too-few-apps.html

When Apple revealed the Vision Pro in 2023, it called the $3,500 headset its next “major platform.” Two years later, and a year after going on sale, the device is thin on apps.

Apple doesn’t regularly release stats on the number of Vision Pro apps that are available, and it’s hard to tell how many new apps come out in any given month. According to consultancy AppFigures, which tracks Apple’s platforms, the number of new Vision Pro apps has declined every month since the device hit the market in February 2024.

When Apple unveiled the Vision Pro, executives said that developers would be able to create new experiences that weren’t possible with traditional computers. But so far, top developers remain mostly focused elsewhere, and major tech companies like Google, Meta and Netflix have yet to release their most important apps for the headset.

[ . . . ]

Apple updated its most recent Vision Pro app count in August, with CEO Tim Cook telling investors on an earnings call that the platform had 2,500 apps. That number covers fully immersive apps that overlay virtual objects over the real world as well as 2D apps with some spatial components.

By AppFigures’ count, less than 1,900 of these apps remained active at the end of January.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

holographic projection will be how this niche is filled in the future

That will be fantastic. But we live in the present.

strapping screens to your face is a clunky stop gap that will seem even more ridiculous in the future then it does now

Maybe so, but needing to carry a brick around in our pocket may seem just as "clunky" or having to ride around in a vehicle with wheels, etc.

My guess is that almost ALL we use today will seem "clunky" antiquated in the future. But I live now, not then. If I want to worry about seeming advanced to those who pass judgement in the future, I need to lay extremely low and hope they only assume I was ahead of my time.

VR/AR is not new, and has seen virtually no mainstream uptake

OK. But companies like Apple are trying. In my lifetime, wireless phones did not exist at one point. AT&T once exited the cellular business to focus on the real potential of wired long distance. Home computers once got the "no one will ever need..." mentality. Why do I need a car when my horse gets me anywhere I want to go. If a man was meant to fly...

Good thing that innovators for any of those and so much more didn't give up on early rejections/resistance. Else, I might be writing this with a quill & ink under candlelight to have to mail to you by horse.

 

[nathansz]

In my lifetime, wireless phones did not exist at one point.

VR headsets have existed longer than mobile phones
modern consumer headsets have been around for 30 years

CyberMaxx by VictorMaxx – The Video Game Kraken

videogamekraken.com

Virtual Boy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

even the oculus has been around for more than a decade

 

[Ghengis LeMond]

Good thing that innovators for any of those and so much more didn't give up on early rejections/resistance. Else, I might be writing this with a quill & ink under candlelight to have to mail to you by horse.

Yes, but you are not likely riding around on a Segway, watching Betamax content, drinking New Coke or using Juicero in the mornings. Most new product/technology introductions fail - some of them spectacularly. I (and the marketplace) put VisionPro in that category - All the Apple hubris and pretentiousness is just the cherry on top.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I (and the marketplace) put VisionPro in that category - All the Apple hubris and pretentiousness is just the cherry on top.

..and let's be honest

If this exact product situation (AVP) had come from any other company, this forum would eviscerate it and dump all over it -- justifiably so

 

[Mr_Ed]

These videos aren't going to help with Vision Pro sales, not when available apps for it are on the decline according to https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/21/app...oblem-a-year-into-existence-too-few-apps.html

Apple couldn’t come up with a “killer use case” and decided to still launch the product to all consumers and rely on developers to come up with one. If they ever had a shot at that (I don’t think they did), that went bye-bye when talk of “only producing 400-500k units” got out. If I was a developer that had to first come up with a compelling app concept, develop it, and try to sell it to an already limited customer base, why would I?

 

[Rychiar]

I still think this will be discontinued within 2 years.

well duh cus the new one will be out.

 

[Rychiar]

There’s 4 now? Not long ago there were 3, who’s the fourth person that got tricked into buying one?

still The best product apple has released in years

 

[macplow]

Do these things require stereo vision? I can only use one eye at a time

No. You're good to go! Vision pro has setting for single eye (you can select which eye) Of course you won't see 'true 3d' with single vision, but the experience is much more than 3d (and many people who use both eyes don't actually see in 3d)

 

[BabyBoii]

image how much apple spent on this vs how many people will watch.... like no joke probably $100 per view.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Yes, but you are not likely riding around on a Segway, watching Betamax content, drinking New Coke or using Juicero in the mornings. Most new product/technology introductions fail - some of them spectacularly. I (and the marketplace) put VisionPro in that category - All the Apple hubris and pretentiousness is just the cherry on top.

That's fine but since the industry wants to go bigger MOBILE screens, why don't we call the replacement? Do we want folds? Hop into any of the folds threads and watch how we rip that to shreds. Do we want rolls? I can only imagine the ridicule that one would get. How about projectors which only work well in the dark? What doesn't work is to cling to the "as is" as if it is some kind of pinnacle and we happen to live at the magical point in time of peak phone, peak laptop, peak tablet, peak television, etc.

So pick the replacement while we bury this one. Even Apple keeps trying to grow Apple products larger. It feels like existing form factors are towards about as big as they can get. Fold? Roll? Projector? Else the argument is "keep it all the same as now"... which has never worked in all of tech history.

Note that I'm not saying Vpro is the ONLY way forward... just offering that relative to the other "larger" options, it certainly has some meaningful advantages. I don't know how to cart around a 100" folding or rolling screen. I do most of my screen-needing work in the daylight. Privacy of what is on that screen is important at times. It would be hard to get my fellow airplane row seat mates to let me unfold/unroll a 70-inch screen in row 17. Etc.

 

[bmark]

I still think this will be discontinued within 2 years.

Tim Cook won’t even wear the Apple Visionless Paperweight! It’s already out of production.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Tim Cook won’t even wear the Apple Visionless Paperweight! It’s already out of production.

He uses it every single day, along with every other Apple product

Source: Tim
Probably level of BS: High

 

[bmark]

He uses it every single day, along with every other Apple product

Source: Tim
Probably level of BS: High

Fact check: 3 pinocchio’s

 

[MacKenzie999]

No. You're good to go! Vision pro has setting for single eye (you can select which eye) Of course you won't see 'true 3d' with single vision, but the experience is much more than 3d (and many people who use both eyes don't actually see in 3d)

Oh that's very good to know thank you. I've mostly ignored these assuming they weren't for me because of that. Now I can just assume they aren't for me due to price.

 

[BelgianChoklit]

Great bews for all 4 Vision Pro owners

 

[BelgianChoklit]

still The best product apple has released in years

That's hilarious.

 

[svish]

Good to know about the additional content. It will be great if Apple releases the normal 2D version for those who don't have access to Vision Pro but would still like to see the content.

 

[Rychiar]

That's hilarious.

well what else do they make now. more boring iPads?🥱

 

[nathansz]

well what else do they make now. more boring iPads?🥱

They make excellent computers

 

[Rychiar]

They make excellent computers

any way you look at it vision pro is the future. the form factor will change and Vision OS will keep getting better but this is the future. And for now nothing makes movie theaters feel more obsolete

 

[nathansz]

any way you look at it vision pro is the future. the form factor will change and Vision OS will keep getting better but this is the future. And for now nothing makes movie theaters feel more obsolete

complete non-sequitur

you are obviously a true believer so nothing will change your mind

 

[nathansz]

And for now nothing makes movie theaters feel more obsolete

how do you take someone on a date to your goggles?

 

[nathansz]

I'm one of the seemingly odd-man-out people who thinks Vpro is great and offers much potential. With the whole industry chasing a bigger mobile screen goal, it seems like an ideal crack at the target in that it can stay the same size & weight while delivering ANY size screens... far superior to fold & roll options (where size & weight scale with screen size)... and it works in brightest day (too) vs. the projection option. That said though...

These cartoon-length videos are great and all but so little. Watch this one for 6 (SIX) minutes and the experience is complete.

Put some of that 46.9% margin-driven cash hoard to work and line up a deal for March Madness VR which virtually puts Vpro owners courtside for any of the games. NBA tournament will not be far behind. USFL? NHL? Soccer & MLB (with which Apple already has a business relationship)? NCCA F this Fall? NFL this Fall? Nascar? Formula 1? Ringside? WWE? Olympics? World sports? And on and on.

And for those who don't care much about sports, Broadway show series? Cirque? Music concerts? Travel "explore the world" series? Museum VR? And on and on.

I don't get why Apple doesn't allocate a budget and talent like they did for AppleTV+ to forge deals with those in control of such exhibitions to simulate the illusion of being there. There's big wins- including monetary wins- for all parties involved. Get some of this kind of thing going and Vpro as an entertainment device gains much opportunity.

For example, in various playoffs, tickets to one event can be north of $10K. Again, that's for ONE game. Send in some "look around" cameras and partner with whoever owns the event for optional play-by-play and all not able or willing to pay $10K could get great seats to that game for much less (even after paying "too much" for the Vpro device one time). Seat 20K virtual bodies in that same virtual seat to make the money part work for the venue/team, the partner and Apple.

Yes, Apple would have to put up some tangible money to buy their way into these kinds of deals but that's comparable to putting money towards software for any brand new platform. Even the now-ubiquitous TV wouldn't have sold had there been nearly no investment in programming to watch on it. Apple seems to have built this relatively amazing tech but then kicked the ball to third parties to come up with the content/apps/programming that can make it a success. I believe whatever investment went into developing the product should be allocated to developing desirable content/apps for it too. The quality of the content (experience) will draw an audience to new tech platforms. Few- if any- are "build it and they will come" propositions.

Imagine if TVs were just getting launched now... and there would be 5-8 minute programs to watch, being released every couple of months. Why buy one of these "crazy expensive TVs"?

The PlayStation VR2 will get a drastic price cut, but that might not be enough

This could revitalize the platform—or demonstrate that things aren’t going well.

arstechnica.com