Tim Cook Admits Truth About Vision Pro Following Lackluster Sales

Price is not the only thing keeping it from being mass market.

The fact that you have to socially isolate yourself with it is probably the biggest problem. Even if it drops to $1,500 and prep time to wear is near zero, people will be asking whether they want to strap on a computer with an iPad interface and block out the world.
 
No, AR/VR device itself is a niche market. Even Meta who sold 40 millions in 2023 admitted as a failure since customers were rarely using it.
 
JPack said:
Price is not the only thing keeping it from being mass market.

The fact that you have to socially isolate yourself with it is probably the biggest problem. Even if it drops to $1,500 and prep time to wear is near zero, people will be asking whether they want to strap on a computer with an iPad interface and block out the world.
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what's wrong with social isolation. it's nice to get away from people lol.
 
JPack said:
Price is not the only thing keeping it from being mass market.

The fact that you have to socially isolate yourself with it is probably the biggest problem. Even if it drops to $1,500 and prep time to wear is near zero, people will be asking whether they want to strap on a computer with an iPad interface and block out the world.
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Hardly an iPad interface. The fact you can run nearly as many apps as you want at the same time makes this beyond an iPad
 
vertsix said:
We all knew it wasn't a mass market product. But glad he is acknowledging it.

I am a Vision Pro owner, and I've been decreasingly "excited" about the product line as a whole. I have mixed feelings. On one hand, it's an amazing device with top of the line technology, but on the other the App Store and content situation has not improved and has gotten worse in some ways. A lot of apps have been abandoned, a lot of critical ones are still missing, and many barely get updates. It's incredibly nice for occassional media consumption (such as immersive video) - of which Apple TV+ still lacks a lot of!

Ultimately, the success of Vision Pro is heavily dependent on the App Store and content. Price as well, but I'd argue it's less so. Content was the inflection point with the iPhone and the iPad. I hoped to see some of that progress, but I am disappointed to not have seen it. And Apple's hostile relationship with developers in recent years is of no help.
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As soon as I saw the size of it, regardless of cost I knew I'd never buy one. Now admittedly I've never actually tried the Apple one on but I've tried other VR headsets and for me they're just ridiculously uncomfortable to use.
I might try one if I'm in store one day just to actually see but I don't hold out much hope - I don't even like the weight of a pair of reading glasses.
 
No one thought it was going to be a mass market product at that price. It's really for early adopters and developers targeting niche markets.

But some of the things Apple could do to improve on it is to eliminate the CPU/storage/battery and make it a display only for laptops. It's absolutely great as a remote display for your laptop. The cost could come down to below $1000 for something like that.
 
JPack said:
Price is not the only thing keeping it from being mass market.

The fact that you have to socially isolate yourself with it is probably the biggest problem. Even if it drops to $1,500 and prep time to wear is near zero, people will be asking whether they want to strap on a computer with an iPad interface and block out the world.
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When the wife says turn that TV off, kids are going to bed, one example.
 
CasinoOwl said:
"Admits" is such a loaded click-bait word to use. Maybe unintentional, but I like Mac Rumors because it's not as cheap and dramatic as the other sites. Was Tim hiding this info, or did we all know it was the case?
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We all knew it was the case, and some of us continued to echo this by reminding the price complainers that it was deliberately labeled "Pro" for a reason. This version of the product was never meant to be a Consumer-level device.
 
goonie4life9 said:
Wow, that's quite the change marketing. When the AVP was announced, Apple said, "The era of spatial computing is here." Now they are saying, "Hey, this is an early adopter product. The era is tomorrow, not today."
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Just like all of the new "features" the new 16 Pro were supposed to come with that are now...."coming soon"
 
Jamie0003 said:
TlDr: it’s a beta product. Has been since the beginning.
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There is a difference between "beta" and early adopter.

I assumed people understood that, but maybe this also explains why people get so upset with actual betas have bugs-- they think they're early adopter releases.
 
MacLoveMacHate said:
From what I know it's great hardware, Apple just doesn't have the content or justification to support the need to buy it. I always assumed Sony would crack the VR space with gaming, but not yet.
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MacRumors said:


The Wall Street Journal's Ben Cohen this summer interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook about the Vision Pro, innovation, Apple Intelligence, and more.


Tim-Cook-Vision-Pro.jpg


Image Credit: Vanity Fair​

Cook admitted that the Vision Pro headset is not a mass-market product due to its high price.

"At $3,500, it's not a mass-market product," said Cook. "Right now, it's an early-adopter product. People who want to have tomorrow's technology today—that's who it's for. Fortunately, there's enough people who are in that camp that it's exciting."

In July, research firm IDC estimated that Vision Pro sales would be under 500,000 units this year.

Cohen said Apple's approach to innovation can be described in four words: "Not first, but best."

"We're perfectly fine with not being first," said Cook. "As it turns out, it takes a while to get it really great. It takes a lot of iteration. It takes worrying about every detail. Sometimes, it takes a little longer to do that. We would rather come out with that kind of product and that kind of contribution to people versus running to get something out first. If we can do both, that's fantastic. But if we can only do one, there's no doubt around here. If you talk to 100 people, 100 of them would tell you: It's about being the best."

Cook said Apple Intelligence makes the experience of using Apple products "profoundly different."

"I think we'll look back and it will be one of these air pockets that happened to get you on a different technology curve," said Cook.

The wide-ranging interview touches on many other topics, including Cook's daily routine, lessons he learned from Steve Jobs, and more.

Bloomberg today also published a story about Cook's role on Nike's board of directors, which he joined in 2005. The report states that Cook supported the appointment of Elliott Hill as Nike's new CEO this month, after the shoe maker experienced declining sales and profit this year. Cook is often spotted wearing Nike shoes, and Apple has partnered with Nike on several products and accessories over the past few decades.

Article Link: Tim Cook Admits Truth About Vision Pro Following Lackluster Sales
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AVP was never a mass-market iPhone-type device. However many folks insist on pretending that it is one, just so they can claim "fail." Personally I do not respect those folks and their lack of vision [pun intended].

Cook's observation is correct: ""I think we'll look back and it will be one of these air pockets that happened to get you on a different technology curve..."
 
Bodhitree said:
What would make the Vision really great was if it actually was a pair of glasses. Unfortunately that product is a decade or more away.
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It’s a lot of work to put it on. Sure it takes 5min but in your mind you’re thinking “now I’m separating from everyone around me.

If I lived alone the equation would be different Glasses form factor would make a difference because what’s great about the device is actually the software experience and interface far more than even just the admittedly excellent screen.

So any great software has a massive hurdle to overcome.
 
vertsix said:
Also I want to add, Apple under Jobs cut the price of the original iPhone in less than a year to boost sales (and cut losses presumably to boost adoption).

Apple has not done this with Vision Pro.

Here's the open letter from Steve Jobs to customers on the logic on reducing iPhone's price:


Since Web Archive takes a trillion years to load sometimes, I have attached it here as a picture too.

View attachment 2440046
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Steve was a great leader, and I love that he defended their decision with confidence, while explaining it to Apple customers. It was the right choice to only give $100 store credit, not to cave and give the full $200 difference as store credit. This supports that decision that the iPhone was still well worth $599 at the time (which was super cheap for what it was, by the way!).
 
spaxxedout said:
The word admit, per Oxford:

“confess to be true or to be the case, typically with reluctance.”

There’s nothing being admitted here. Just another example of MR playing to the popularity of Vision Pro dissent for the sake of clicks / engagement.
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I'm shocked it wasn't: Tim Cook *Finally* Admits Truth...
 
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ProbablyDylan said:
A platform is only as good as the software that runs on it. This was true for the Mac, the iPhone, the iPad, now AVP. The only thing that's changed is Apple's attitude towards this fact.
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Apple hasn't changed anything. So many of you act as though the IOS App store and App market launched fully-formed on the day the iPhone launched. It's revisionist history by omission. VisionOS and apps are going to take some time.

Meanwhile, I use my AVP daily, and use it for productive work, today.
 
JPack said:
Price is not the only thing keeping it from being mass market.

The fact that you have to socially isolate yourself with it is probably the biggest problem. Even if it drops to $1,500 and prep time to wear is near zero, people will be asking whether they want to strap on a computer with an iPad interface and block out the world.
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Yeah... like those things called books that some people read.
 
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