WSJ: Some Apple Vision Pro Buyers 'Feel Total Regret'

I've used it in an Apple Store and at my brother's place where he owns one. He has made good use of his and really likes it, but it was only exciting for the first 10 minutes for me. He's happy with his purchase and I'm happy with my decision to skip it.
 
The Vision Pro is Apple playing the long game and getting a complete device and OS to the market early so they can get a head start on this next generation of computing hardware. It was never supposed to be a massive success nor gain mainstream market appeal. In fact they couldn’t produce enough units annually if it did end up gaining mass market appeal. Nor does it work for all eye sight. There’s certain prescriptions that are just not available and therefore those people couldn’t use one even if they wanted one.

This is step 0 and we have a long ways to go but by the end of it, we will no doubt have a much better Vision OS alongside hardware that is even sleeker than the current Ray Bans Meta glasses. It may take several more years but Apple getting by the Vision Pro to the market and in hands of developers was a good first move.

No regrets on my end as both a consumer and developer.
 
For me I can’t see a use for this type of technology manufacturer agnostic. I don’t know if the VP2 is really going resolve the social issues stemming from a device of this type.

the matrix must be awesome on the VP.
 
Not a universal device like iPhone or iPad or other computing platform. It is a very niche product but I am happy Apple is trying to experiment. It does not have to successful like other Apple products. I hope they keep iterating it.
 
In interviews conducted by The Wall Street Journal, early buyers of the Vision Pro reported that the device now sits largely unused due to a range of practical issues. Dustin Fox, a real estate agent in Centreville, Virginia, said:
It's just collecting dust. I think I've probably used it four times in the last year.

It's way too heavy. I can't wear it for more than 20 or 30 minutes without it hurting my neck.
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Apple is working on a solution to this issue. Introducing the Apple Neck Brace

brace.png
 
I was absolutely one of them. I tried to love it but knew after about a week that it was a product that I wasn't going to enjoy using regularly due to it being so ridiculously uncomfortable for me. I returned it and am glad I did.
 
ImAlwaysRight said:
You don't need a lot of common sense to realize those realities prior to purchasing.
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People get wrapped up in hype and novelty.

It was easy to predict the novelty would fade, and you would be left with discomfort and isolation.

That wasn't a dig at the AVP. It applies to all the VR Goggles. Which is why I don't think version 2, 3, or 4 will solve the fundamental issue here.
 
FSMBP said:
high-price but no killer app...
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What was the original iPhone killer app? I remember lots of complaints about the high price, lack of keyboard, no 3G, and lack of flash. Surely will never replace a BlackBerry or Windows Mobile device. I remember lots of regret posts after the $200 price drop.

The original iPod was $100 more than the original Xbox and they were released within a month of each other.
 
Quite happy with mine. I do wonder about the ergonomics though - it is fairly heavy, but I'm a 6'1" male, with a pretty big head. So relatively the headset will feel way lighter to me than to smaller people. Reducing size/weight has to be a top priority for the next release.

Watching movies is great. And I use it when traveling to have a very nice workspace basically anywhere, alongside my 14" MBP.

The real problem though, is this product is not ready for the consumer market, and I feel it was priced as basically being an expensive dev kit. It is great if you are a remote mobile app developer who uses a mac and enjoys movies. If you are not in that group...it isn't quite ready yet.
 
Hopefully their rumored glasses will fair better. At least it seems Meta's glasses are doing well. Maybe even better than their Quest headset which is one of the better selling headsets currently.
 
Each to their own.

Seems like a disingenuous article frankly.

I own a Meta Quest 3 and I personally feel it's better than the VP. People might disagree and thats fine but the price point alone makes it compelling. In my opinion the MQ3 does pretty much everything the VP does and then some and for a fraction of the cost and weight etc.

I am not at all surprised to see a lot of people who parted with the eye watering 3,500 for the gen1 device to find themselves not using it - perhaps they should have tried something cheaper first but money and cost doesnt seem to factor in to those choices. Sitting in a store and being wowed by a dinosaur in 3d doesnt translate to day to day usage of the device.

I am also not surprised to see some buyers vehemently defending their decision to purchase and making a lot of use out of their VP - and good for them!

The more balanced view is that it is a gen 1 product. There are more mature versions in the marketplace at much less money. There are elements of the VP which are totally unnecessary such as the front screen which I guarantee will be the first element to be dropped in gen 2 to bring down the cost.

Sadly, as much as some people will want to defend Apple here (and im a huge apple nerd myself) - something with this functionality needs to be WAY cheaper to ever get some mass appeal.l... but its not that simple. You still don't see people walking round with Meta Quest 3s strapped to their head and those are $500 - the technology itself is very niche and has some compelling use cases but its far from a device that will ever have mass appeal.

Even if the VP, or some close future iteration of it, was under $1000 I still don't think it would sell well or in significant numbers. People just don't want to have something like this strapped to their head for prolonged periods of time and any perceived use cases that expect that kind of long term use are probably not going to land.
 
It's one of these things like 3D, which is cool for a minute but after a little while, you get used to it and it just doesn't feel like anything special anymore and you start to wonder "why go through that hassle to adjust the fit, complain about the weight" etc when you can just turn in the TV and thus, ending up collecting dust
 
The EyeSight feature is essentially pointless and needs to go. That alone would reduce the overall weight significantly. Then if Apple can adopt next-gen silicon batteries it could integrate the power source into the headset and nix the stupid battery unit. Combined with progressive miniaturization of all the components and parts, along with some sort of communal multi-person mode where several headsets link up wirelessly so users can share the same mixed reality space, only then do I reckon it could be onto something.
 
attohs said:
What was the original iPhone killer app? I remember lots of complaints about the high price, lack of keyboard, no 3G, and lack of flash. Surely will never replace a BlackBerry or Windows Mobile device. I remember lots of regret posts after the $200 price drop.

The original iPod was $100 more than the original Xbox and they were released within a month of each other.
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The web browser. It could view full sites with relative ease, instead of the neutered WAP sites on other phones.
 
They had the money they will be okay lol Tim Cook even stated the product was designed for early adopters who wanted to try next tech
 
turbineseaplane said:
That really isn't the impression one gets from reading this piece from back around launch time.
[…]
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That really isn’t the impression I got from reading that piece from back around launch time.

“Of course, the niche crowd is easy. What Cook and his army of executives know is that the company still has to convince everyone else... they need to spend $3,500 on a spatial computer.”

“It feels like we’ve reached into the future and grabbed this product... You’re putting the future on your face.”

A device priced at $3,500 alone is enough to support the premise its a niche product not made for the mass market.
 
I can wear it comfortably for hours… I love it for productivity. The problem is you have to know how to wear it - when I put it on, if it feels too front-heavy then I know I have to slide the back strap down slightly and then it’s comfy.

I feel like people are just putting it on improperly and putting up with discomfort that doesn’t need to exist. It’s an easy device to put on wrong… I’m sure lots of people are overtightening it which feels fine at first but over time will lead to discomfort. Also lots of people are overcomplicating it with third party strap modifications and it’s just so unnecessary. I just use the solo band, which is the best band.

I’ve worn it nearly every day and I think it’s a great device. Software support is a huge letdown but for productivity and videos it’s unrivaled.

Anyone who replies to this sarcastically with “you’re wearing it wrong” etc is just proving my point by expressing their skepticism. These are the people who think they can just put it on casually and expect comfort without putting any effort into learning how it should sit such that the weight isn’t being supported by the wrong parts of your head. It’s just physics.

I’d also like to say AVP is way more comfortable than PSVR2. The ventilation with AVP is just so well thought out. I look forward to future models and while I will skip any minor spec bump for now, I’m sure the first redesign will be exciting.
 
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