Apple's Vision Pro Layoffs Were Broader Than First Reported

[bige12]

I would of brought a Vision Pro if it was not so expensive, if it was like around $400 to $500 then yes I would get one

 

[DocMultimedia]

I personally wouldn’t mind if they continued working on them since they are being used very productively in a few places. Training, surgery, accessibility, and education to name a few. Pure research, even when it seems to be a waste of money, should always be happening. You never know what you’ll end up with.

 

[Starlifter]

The biggest disadvantages of Vision Pro were its comically high price tag and the fact it requires the user to attach it to their face lol. I remember people on here suggesting it was going to replace the computer and in years to come, and we'd all be wearing these at work! Can you imagine women walking around with smeared makeup and people complaining of headaches and dizziness? haha!!

VR/AR tech has always been niche and I would be very interested to learn what Apple expected when they launched it.

I see AVP as a nascent form of a holographic platform way into the future.

 

[Dirk Pieters]

Prius sales in 2026 have plummeted into the same dumpster fire like the AVP.

That's irrelevant, isn't it? The fact that something changed in the world of Priuses according to you (I have no idea what you're talking about really) makes no difference to the people who already own one. They can drive their Prius to work every day and use it to make a living. Just like I can boot up my 2019 Intel 15" MBP again and use it to do my work and invoice my customers, even if that computer is deemed obsolete and irrelevant.

The only way that could mean something is if you owned a Prius and somehow measured your Prius ownership by how well they are selling. The fact that sales have dropped makes absolutely no difference in the value and worth of the car. It still runs and does the thing you bought it for.

 

[Rychiar]

still the best and most exciting product apple has made in a long time. it would be ridiculous to stop development on. they need to iterate. it's insane they raised the price recently considering all the other components must be cheaper now to offset the memory. it's 3 years old tech. We coulda had something smaller and lighter by now if they put effort in like all these smaller companies are. ...I do think they were right to fire their gaming staff... since we have like no AVP games in the last 3 years 🙄

 

[Hajj.david]

The biggest disadvantages of Vision Pro were its comically high price tag and the fact it requires the user to attach it to their face lol. I remember people on here suggesting it was going to replace the computer and in years to come, and we'd all be wearing these at work! Can you imagine women walking around with smeared makeup and people complaining of headaches and dizziness? haha!!

VR/AR tech has always been niche and I would be very interested to learn what Apple expected when they launched it.

Definitely replaced my monitors at work with the AVP. Its nice having a clean desk with just my AVP, a keyboard, and trackpad. The only reason it hasnt completely replaced my computer is due to Apple's deliberate decisions to limit its ability to be its own computer such as no terminal access, inability to run mac apps etc.

 

[trafficdistro54]

That's irrelevant, isn't it? The fact that something changed in the world of Priuses according to you (I have no idea what you're talking about really) makes no difference to the people who already own one. They can drive their Prius to work every day and use it to make a living. Just like I can boot up my 2019 Intel 15" MBP again and use it to do my work and invoice my customers, even if that computer is deemed obsolete and irrelevant.

The only way that could mean something is if you owned a Prius and somehow measured your Prius ownership by how well they are selling. The fact that sales have dropped makes absolutely no difference in the value and worth of the car. It still runs and does the thing you bought it for.

How's it irrelvant when it's a dying product like the AVP? Prius will be killed off soon by Toyota just like the AVP. Prius will still have value based when discontinued unlike the AVP. I don't own a Prius.

 

[GUNSTAR1]

More people would have bought the device if it wasn't more than a macbook pro. This is one of those devices where you sell at a loss and recoup somewhere else until you get market saturation.

 

[Hajj.david]

I personally wouldn’t mind if they continued working on them since they are being used very productively in a few places. Training, surgery, accessibility, and education to name a few. Pure research, even when it seems to be a waste of money, should always be happening. You never know what you’ll end up with.

The glasses being the main stream version using the same Vision OS is such an obvious step (I remember a few members criticizing me saying there is no way glasses can run visionOS).

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I honestly kinda wonder how many women they had working on the product overall.

If I had to guess, I'd say "not enough".

Indeed, there are women who work at my work who won't wear over the head headsets for Teams calls, let alone a huge pair of goggles. VisionPro wouldn't be a practical solution to replace a laptop or desktop in the broader market. Not to mention a lot of men wouldn't be keen to be wearing it for multile hours a day.

 

[Hajj.david]

More people would have bought the device if it wasn't more than a macbook pro. This is one of those devices where you sell at a loss and recoup somewhere else until you get market saturation.

They ran into a manufacturing issue, Zeiss couldnt produce that many lenses and there was other manufacturing limitations such as their 4k OLED displays could only be produced in small numbers. Thats not to say it wont improve in the future (it most certainly will) but this was never intended to go buck wild. Plus Apple truly did not know where this product will stick (gaming? entertainment? productivity? filmmaking?) So now they can see the biggest users are enterprise and productivity they can make a much more focused product while developing out a more customer friendly version

 

[Hajj.david]

Indeed, there are women who work at my work who won't wear over the head headsets for Teams calls, let alone a huge pair of goggles. VisionPro wouldn't be a practical solution to replace a laptop or desktop in the broader market. Not to mention a lot of men wouldn't be keen to be wearing it for multile hours a day.

With the right strap and fitment I can and do it wear it all day without issue same with my other coworkers. Without the light seal and the A2 strap it feels like I am just wearing thick framed glasses.

 

[threesixty360]

If Apple only want to make main stream "iPhone success level" products I think they will lose their way eventually.
If it is still a consumer electronics company then it must take risks, and be involved in niche products every so often for the greater benefit of the company.

Famously, Xerox had the "mouse" and various other computing devices gathering dust in their labs for years because they weren't "mass market" enough at the time. I dont think apple wants to be in that position.

 

[Dirk Pieters]

How's it irrelvant when it's a dying product like the AVP? Prius will be killed off soon by Toyota just like the AVP. Prius will still have value based when discontinued unlike the AVP. I don't own a Prius.

What are you talking about? If you own an AVP right now and use it to get paid customer work done then it's just going to continue doing that.

No customer is going to say "Well, I'm not going to pay your invoices anymore because I know you use a Vision Pro and they are discontinued"

Don't you see that "discontinued" and "deprecated" are irrelevant when it comes to the value they can create?

As long as that Vision Pro works, it will deliver value.

As long as that Prius keeps driving, it will delivery value.

It might lose value when you sell it, that's true. So what? Don't sell it. Use it until it dies and get maximum value from it. Drive that Prius until it dies and get maximum value from it.

I could drive my Prius to a breakfast meeting with an investor who is interested in investing millions in my business. The value created would be similar if I drove a Prius to that meeting, a Ferrari or rode a bicycle there. That same investor would not care if my business was built on a 2019 MBP or a 2026 M5 MBP. They are simply tools that you use to make money. The fact that they sell well or are deprecated or not changes nothing in that regard.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Definitely replaced my monitors at work with the AVP. Its nice having a clean desk with just my AVP, a keyboard, and trackpad. The only reason it hasnt completely replaced my computer is due to Apple's deliberate decisions to limit its ability to be its own computer such as no terminal access, inability to run mac apps etc.

That wouldn't be a work setup I'd want tbh. I have a nice office atmosphere where we can talk from our desks and have people coming in and out a lot. The idea of sitting with a big pair of goggles on sounds hellish. I get the appeal for live sport and movies maybe, but not for replacing my laptop. Each to their own though and if that works for you, thats great btw.

 

[barkomatic]

My only use for an AVP would be gaming, content and immersive experiences which Apple was pretty poor at supporting. That device could have had the best VR games ever -- and Apple would have had to fund them -- but I would have been tempted. When you bring out a new product category like this, you've got to spend many millions on enough experiences to tempt the recreational crowd--not just the productivity folks. They didn't do that, so the AVP will be a collectors item one day. Looks like VR as a category is in a slump. I can't believe mixed reality creeper glasses are now going to be a thing instead. Great.

 

[nt5672]

Apple has been shifting towards enterprise recently because of this. They added almost 200 enterprise exclusive APIs and most new big releases on the device have been geared towards productivity and enterprise.

They did this in the early 2000's and then abruptly shut everything down. No one should trust Apple in gaming or enterprise. It is not in Apple's DNA. Apple makes expensive toys that sell to the masses, nothing else.

 

[Dirk Pieters]

They did this in the early 2000's and then abruptly shut everything down. No one should trust Apple in gaming or enterprise. It is not in Apple's DNA. Apple makes expensive toys that sell to the masses, nothing else.

I used to distribute a few iOS apps built for businesses through Apple's Enterprise Developer program and it wasn't the best experience.

At some point in time they ditched that program for something else which was an even greater nightmare to get into.

Your claim is 100% valid. 👍🏼

 

[Dirk Pieters]

My only use for an AVP would be gaming, content and immersive experiences which Apple was pretty poor at supporting. That device could have had the best VR games ever -- and Apple would have had to fund them -- but I would have been tempted. When you bring out a new product category like this, you've got to spend many millions on enough experiences to tempt the recreational crowd--not just the productivity folks. They didn't do that, so the AVP will be a collectors item one day. Looks like VR as a category is in a slump. I can't believe mixed reality creeper glasses are now going to be a thing instead. Great.

An unopened Vision Pro box is going to make tens of thousands in the future. There's always that one collector with cash who wants it.

Buy one now. Put it in the attic. 😁

 

[Carac]

They should have been what 99% of the market wanted, a media consumption device. A way to watch "IMAX" in your living room. All the exterior display, excessive compute, etc. fluff should have been tossed. It should have weighed half what it did for comfort (less glass/metal, more carbon composite/titanium). They tried to create an entirely new segment of computing instead of leaning into their strengths. Of course, I also think there should be a 15-16" iPad with hardware focused on media consumption (who needs to edit 4K video on their iPad?) with a modest SOC, the best screen you can buy, good speakers...and that's it.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

I remember when this thing came out my first thought was are we going to see Zombies walking the streets? I'm glad that didn't happen. Vision Pro (I've never used it) looks like a great visual software thing, but the hardware was too expensive and too big. Now if they can make regular glasses where you can turn on the vision pro and turn off and make them regular glasses again, that would be kind of cool. It also needs to be below 3500.

 

[CharlesShaw]

my first thought was are we going to see Zombies walking the streets? I'm glad that didn't happen.

Hehe, we but still have phone zombies. I regularly have to avoid or get the attention of people walking toward me on the sidewalk while they're staring down at their phones. I also watch out for phone zombies driving their cars when I cross the street.

 

[dbwie]

I think Apple misidentified their target audience. Ternus' skepticism is right. They should have marketed this thing to professionals in industries and enterprises and not the regular consumer. People pay a premium for Apple stuff, but not that kind of premium. The price hikes of a couple hundred dollars is hard to swallow, so what made them think the average person will spend $3500 on a first-gen product like this, at this price point?

The Apple premium is going up as we speak. That price doesn’t look as bad today, given the new prices on other Apple products. All they have to do is allow macOS to run on the Vision Pro. Then, this is a portable Mac computer with a very large multidisplay environment. Suddenly the price for that doesn’t look bad compared to a Mac with a Studio Display and two additional displays, which is not portable.

 

[Dirk Pieters]

They should have been what 99% of the market wanted, a media consumption device. A way to watch "IMAX" in your living room. All the exterior display, excessive compute, etc. fluff should have been tossed. It should have weighed half what it did for comfort (less glass/metal, more carbon composite/titanium). They tried to create an entirely new segment of computing instead of leaning into their strengths. Of course, I also think there should be a 15-16" iPad with hardware focused on media consumption (who needs to edit 4K video on their iPad?) with a modest SOC, the best screen you can buy, good speakers...and that's it.

I agree. The entire you-can-sort-of-see-my-eyes-blinking-from-the-outside debacle was Apple being Apple: trying to do something cool while not realising that it would add weight, complexity and cost for a gimmick that no one wanted.

visionOS looks great but hardware-wise I don't think Apple really researched the market and understood what people wanted. Unfortunately we will never know how Vision Pro would have sold had it been $999 and half the size.

 

[Ja Di ksw]

Serious question: Is there a product besides the Vision Pro that lets people see the spatial videos they've taken with an iPhone? I don't have a VP, it's too expensive, but I did take a lot of spatial videos of my kids playing. My idea was it would be nice once VP was on version 4 or something that I could grab a cheap VP 1 at that point and have some fun 3D videos of the kids. If they're never going to make more VP so the price doesn't come down, is there another way to watch those vids in 3D?