Tim Cook Admits Truth About Vision Pro Following Lackluster Sales

[PsykX]

for a company Apple's size, AVP is not a home-run

I find these comparisons ridiculous. Size has nothing to do with it. I think you wanted to say Apple's user base.

When you compare Apple to Apple, yes it's bad.
When you compare Apple against the rest of the world, they've created a really successful product.

If I create a product and sell 500,000 during its first 6 months of existence, I will definitely think I hit a home-run.

This is just the 1st-gen. If they make a 2nd or 3rd gen and make it cheaper, the Vision Pro Division at Apple will be a Fortune 500 company by itself, just like AirPods.

 

[surferfb]

I find these comparisons ridiculous. Size has nothing to do with it. I think you wanted to say Apple's user base.

When you compare Apple to Apple, yes it's bad.
When you compare Apple against the rest of the world, they've created a really successful product.

If I create a product and sell 500,000 during its first 6 months of existence, I will definitely think I hit a home-run.

Exactly. Not to mention, before it was released it was reported that Apple could only PRODUCE 400,000 AVPs in 2024. Now they've sold 500,000 and it's a major disappointment?

 

[JPivlit]

The AVP was doomed before it launched. It's extremely niche, even as an "early-adopter product". Hypothetically speaking, if it was already miniaturized to a more manageable form factor, it still wouldn't have that large of a mass market adoption due to the practicality of things like laptops and consoles/PCs for gaming.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I think Tim was pointing out the obvious. And many of us didn’t need to wait for this statement to know otherwise.

 

[JohnnyThrowaway1]

I think like some municipalities for officials who are paid by the taxpayers, MR needs some kind of "Sunshine List" for members who have a high level of APPL stock (I'll let the moderators decide how much is "a lot"; to me, over $100k is a lot). Because for a decade I've been sifting through this forum, I feel a sizable amount of posts have been purely to protect their own investments (the way Apple does by being stingy on RAM, or squeezing the Mac Mini to fit an Apple TV box).

Also, it's rather rich for that one guy here to say "if you've never bought & used our VR headset, your inspections/questions of it are meaningless; I have and love it". Same person who says "I don't own a Pixel Tablet, but I know it's crap". Hmph.

 

[Hobbes42]

While other companies are reshaping cutting edge AI technology, Tim Cook is busy fawning over the Vision Pro like it’s a masterpiece. In reality, it’s a $3,500 monument to failure, an embarrassing reminder that Apple is now the slow kid in the tech race.

The Vision Pro definitely does have the stink of failure on it.

My opinion is that fundamentally any product that you have to strap to your head and shut out the world around you is a bad idea. I said this when AVP launched, and it looks like I was right.

Know why? Because I’m a human and I like having my peripheral vision. I live with someone who I already feel like I’m ignoring too much just by being on my MacBook or iPhone.

Even if I lived alone I just don’t like the idea of people sitting alone inside, goggles-donned, isolated. It’s a depressing mental image in my opinion.

And it seems like the market agrees. Also the utility of the Vision just isn’t there, from what I’ve heard on all the tech podcasts I listen to.

It’s a neutered isolation machine. Absolutely terrible direction to go for Apple.

 

[ryanmp]

The Vision Pro definitely does have the stink of failure on it.

My opinion is that fundamentally any product that you have to strap to your head and shut out the world around you is a bad idea. I said this when AVP launched, and it looks like I was right.

Know why? Because I’m a human and I like having my peripheral vision. I live with someone who I already feel like I’m ignoring too much just by being on my MacBook or iPhone.

Even if I lived alone I just don’t like the idea of people sitting alone inside, goggles-donned, isolated. It’s a depressing mental image in my opinion.

And it seems like the market agrees. Also the utility of the Vision just isn’t there, from what I’ve heard on all the tech podcasts I listen to.

It’s a neutered isolation machine. Absolutely terrible direction to go for Apple.

Do you even own one? Or any other headset? Seems these comments are about the form factor in general rather than AVP specifically.

 

[John_Blackthorne]

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

Profoundly different?

Now that is a load of horse bleep.

 

[No5tromo]

to be fair apple watch is hardly a device that even needs apps. I'd be cool if it was totally closed.

I disagree. One of my most used Apple Watch apps is a third-party app for fitness tracking which offers stuff that is natively absent. Messaging apps not offering or having withdrawn support is one of the most serious drawbacks, and while Spotify is terrible on the watch, not having it at all would be even worse. I also hate it that certain smart home apps are not offered on the watch (and don't have home app integration either). I'd be very much interested in controlling my A/C unit or lighting from the watch but I can't.

 

[John_Blackthorne]

Admits? Were that many calling Vision Pro a "mass market" product at this point?

The original Macintosh wasn't a mass market product either. It was over three years before Apple sold its 1 millionth Macintosh computer (making average annual sales during that time less than 333,000).

However, over time as the market grows/expands and prices come down the Vision product line will likely become more of a mass market product.

Yes, but a Macintosh is useful.

And I say this as someone who has and enjoys the AVP.

But does it really help me do anything better?

No. It's just cool. I'm fortunate to be able to purchase one, but I am also not under any illusion that this is something other than an Alpha product without a clear use case.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

I can't imagine how anyone would've expected VP to be a "mass market" product early on, or sell like the original iPhone.

Yet most [IMO clueless] commenters grade AVP performance that way.

 

[wbeasley]

It's rather odd that the AVP is a "failure" because it competes against laptops and "only" sold 500000 units...

Then we get people complaining the iPad doesnt do enough to be a laptop replacement...
And they demand Apple let them run full MacOS on their iPads (and no doubt some would like their iPhones too as well).

These are all unique products that balance features and battery life.
If iPads ran full MacOS and only lasted two hours there would be an uproar.

I'm not against iPad or iPhone getting more MacOS-like features:
a better Files app with more flexibility...
a more natural multitasking solution...

But these products are designed to meet task needs.
And they work and play nicely together with tight integration.

And anyone complaining about the iPads should have MacOS on it because it's easy to carry around obviously has no memory of the early 90s laptops that were more luggable than portable. A Macbook Air is a delight to carry and offers a great keyboard and trackpad experience that fits the power tasks it is capable of. Full fat power apps rarely work well with touch interfaces even in Windows. And the AVP is an extension of interaction in a totally different way. Getting the software sorted to do that takes time and mindset change. It is version 1. It is a public beta product in many ways.

Perhaps Apple Marketing got a little too hyped up and oversold it for the general public? Hence the "failure" tag.

 

[JPivlit]

Do you even own one? Or any other headset? Seems these comments are about the form factor in general rather than AVP specifically.

It doesn't matter which one, there are inherent issues with both. I know plenty of people in tech that tried it but were not interested. For day to day tasks, they don't want to put on a heavy device on their head every time. Peripheral vision is a bigger determining factor than some people think as well. The biggest draw seems to be movies and shows but a device like this should be compelling in more ways than just media consumption. It's an expensive novelty that is lacking in many ways and isn't interesting enough for people to use it regularly over time.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

The Vision Pro definitely does have the stink of failure on it.

My opinion is that fundamentally any product that you have to strap to your head and shut out the world around you is a bad idea. I said this when AVP launched, and it looks like I was right.

Know why? Because I’m a human and I like having my peripheral vision. I live with someone who I already feel like I’m ignoring too much just by being on my MacBook or iPhone.

Even if I lived alone I just don’t like the idea of people sitting alone inside, goggles-donned, isolated. It’s a depressing mental image in my opinion.

And it seems like the market agrees. Also the utility of the Vision just isn’t there, from what I’ve heard on all the tech podcasts I listen to.

It’s a neutered isolation machine. Absolutely terrible direction to go for Apple.

Perhaps you were not alive then, but if you had been you probably would have been saying that about the Newton, which as a tech-development platform helped Apple become the world's most successful tech company.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

The AVP was doomed before it launched. It's extremely niche, even as an "early-adopter product". Hypothetically speaking, if it was already miniaturized to a more manageable form factor, it still wouldn't have that large of a mass market adoption due to the practicality of things like laptops and consoles/PCs for gaming.

You build and sell 500k $3k devices in a year then tell us your product was doomed. Plus folks like me consider it primarily an internal tech development platform that would be OK with zero sales.

 

[turbineseaplane]

We have to remember that Apple themselves could come out and say "AVP cancelled, huge mistake, not sure what we were thinking, refunds available for all who want them, "this aint it"..."

.... and some portion of AVP owners would still celebrate it and defend it

It's the nature of the cultish end of the Apple fanbase

 

[ryanmp]

We have to remember that Apple themselves could come out and say "AVP cancelled, huge mistake, not sure what we were thinking, refunds available for all who want them, "this aint it"..."

.... and some portion of AVP owners would still celebrate it and defend it

It's the nature of the cultish end of the Apple fanbase

We have to remember that Apple themselves could come out and say “We continue to believe in the product line and the future of Apple Vision”, release new products in the future, continue to iterate over the years.

…. and some portion of people would still hate it and those that own one

It’s the nature of the cultish hatred against Apple by some.

 

[platinumaqua]

We have to remember that Apple themselves could come out and say "AVP cancelled, huge mistake, not sure what we were thinking, refunds available for all who want them, "this aint it"..."

.... and some portion of AVP owners would still celebrate it and defend it

It's the nature of the cultish end of the Apple fanbase

Maybe then they'll understand how the iPhone mini lovers felt when Apple discontinued them

 

[ryanmp]

It doesn't matter which one, there are inherent issues with both. I know plenty of people in tech that tried it but were not interested. For day to day tasks, they don't want to put on a heavy device on their head every time. Peripheral vision is a bigger determining factor than some people think as well. The biggest draw seems to be movies and shows but a device like this should be compelling in more ways than just media consumption. It's an expensive novelty that is lacking in many ways and isn't interesting enough for people to use it regularly over time.

If you haven't tried any headset, you really should consider it before embarking on the copy/paste approach of others opinions.

 

[webkit]

Did Tim forgot he works for a global corporation who are supposed to manufacture FULLY FEATURED and complete products?

In that case, did Steve Jobs forget he was working for a global corporation who is supposed to manufacture "fully featured" and "complete" products? When the original iPhone launched, it didn't have features that had been available on some other phones before 2007 including an app store, video camera, front facing "selfie" camera, GPS hardware, 3G, etc.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Maybe then they'll understand how the iPhone mini lovers felt when Apple discontinued them

Right?

"A dish served cold", that's for darned sure

 

[webkit]

Yes, but a Macintosh is useful.

And I say this as someone who has and enjoys the AVP.

But does it really help me do anything better?

No. It's just cool. I'm fortunate to be able to purchase one, but I am also not under any illusion that this is something other than an Alpha product without a clear use case.

Both Macintosh and VP could/can potentially be useful yet neither was/is a "mass market" product early on. As I noted, Macintosh sales averaged less than 333,000 per year during the first three years or so.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Yes, but a Macintosh is useful.

And I say this as someone who has and enjoys the AVP.

But does it really help me do anything better?

No. It's just cool. I'm fortunate to be able to purchase one, but I am also not under any illusion that this is something other than an Alpha product without a clear use case.

^^ This sort of honesty is refreshing
Bravo to you John

👏

 

[GrayFlannel]

“Admits” truth?

"Admits" is such a loaded click-bait word to use. … Was Tim hiding this info, or did we all know it was the case?

Exactly. The headline is an editorial comment.

 

[GrayFlannel]

It's $1.75 billion sales. I call it a freaking home-run.

Oh really? Apple cut their first year shipments by 50% from 800k to 450k. Q2 2024 sales were down 80% from Q1 and that doesn’t contemplate the Q1 returns.

Only 10 apps were introduced to the Vision App Store in September. Something like 1500 apps are available for the Vision Pro with only 34% of those apps built specifically for the Vision Pro.

Baseball probably isn’t your sport.