Deciphering the Vision Pro

Sometimes objects have an obvious purpose. You look at it and you know what it is for and how to use it. The Vision Pro is not in that category. And Apple hasn’t been forthcoming in explaining it either.

Photo by Vinicius "amnx" Amano on Unsplash

This years “one more thing” was weird. I have never seen the same use case of “you can use it as a screen” repeated this much. As if the real showcases had been delayed and the presenters were left empty handed. They showed off the product, but no partner came up to show a use case. Except Disney that showed that you can use it as a screen for Disney content…

So we had a VR headset without VR games. An AR Device but no AR content. And a device that for Apple standards was announced far into the future, without betas delivered to developers. As if the presentation was rushed.

So let’s forget the presentation, take the features of the device and reconstruct the working environment:

For professionals

The price is everything you have to know. 3,499$ is way beyond the consumer market. And the price tag isn’t going to change in the near future. If you haven’t noticed: The era where technological advancements converted to cost cuttings is nearing its end. The devices get better, but at a higher cost. Given the high-end hardware, a Vision Pro has to be more costly than a MacBook. And the limitations on battery life makes it a bad replacement for a laptop.

Yes, there are fanboys out there, that won’t hesitate to buy it. And maybe well off people living in cramped conditions needing virtual space (Think New York or London). But do they form a sizeable market?

For the office

At the first glance the front display and showing the face of other people when they are looking at you seems to be more of a toy. But it is essential for use in office spaces. If you have ever been caught off guard while wearing NC headphones you know what I mean. The feature provide for a mode of communication without taking off the headset. You are meant to keep it on.

The battery life shows, that the device is mostly worn at the workplace. But it can be taken to meetings. It’s not enough for extended trips or field work. That leaves the office as its natural habitat.

There are fields of work with the need for more and larger displays. Stockbrokers, surveillance, process monitoring and software development come to mind. If the quality of view is sufficient, there would be a break even at 4–6 displays. With the advantage of portability and reduced space consumption. The concept of spaces allows you to sit in front of an empty wall without noticing. It would be a very portable device for home office or on-location work.

A personal device

One could think, that the Vision pro could be used as a marketing vehicle. Strap it on your customer and showcase whatever you like. But unlike other VR Headsets, you can neither keep your glasses on in the headset, nor adjust the optics manually. Instead they force you to visit an Apple store for selecting the correct lenses, straps etc. for you. This might increase the quality of view, but it definitely makes it the most personal Apple device you can own. A private non-transferable working tool that has to be used extensively to be cost effective.

For games but not for gaming

Both Meta and Sony captured the “low end” (still pretty expensive) gaming market. It is noticeable that the presentation showed no VR game despite Unity support. It is not meant as a gaming device.

But developers usually have faster machines than their customers, same goes for designers. The headset has the right specs for creating and inspecting assets. The support for Unity out of the box, but also Universal Scene Description help with the integration into a development workflow. This adds a couple of additional professions to the target audience:

• Designers
• Game Developers
• Animation Studios
• FX/ Post Production Facilities

With additional applications this extends to all professions with a modelling aspect, like engineers and architects. Interestingly enough the same target audience as Apple Workstations. Low in number, but high in prestige.

Collaborative, distributed spaces

During lockdown it became popular to keep a MS Teams channel open all time, so that developers could talk like they were in one big room. It wasn’t perfect but helped to minimize the feel of isolation. The Vision pro could make this a new default by being the basis for collaborative space that really use the concept of space to convey further information. The “infinite” screenspace allows for sidechannels to be positioned outside your main view. Think of showing other workplaces, whether someone is absent, who is talking to whom etc.

It’s the package

From a technical viewpoint the core functionality of the Vision pro is decent, but not ground-breaking. Other headsets provide better resolution, higher framerates and less latency, but not in a standalone device and not at this price tag. The whole set of features, the support from a larger corporation, a promise of a stable platform and of cause Apple fandom will push the device into design and development in the near run and other professions further on. The integration into the Apple ecosystem is an incentive to go Apple all the way.

Why Gaslighting?

The vision pro is definitely meant for professionals. But it is presented as a consumer device. And it has been shown almost a year too early. So why? I have some ideas:

• Apple has no answer for the ChatGPT craze. Without the announcement every analyst would have noticed and put Apple stocks on a downwards turn. The Vision Pro diverted from this shortcoming and formed a new narrative.
• Apple is working in rapidly maturing markets. They produce premium products, but the differences are only noticeable in direct comparison. There is always the looming problem of new buyers getting price sensitive and abolishing the iOS ecosystem for mid-range Android/Windows systems. Apple needs a new consumer device and better ways for lock in. The presentation shoehorned the Vision Pro into that gap.
• If presented as a professional device, the question of recouping the investment costs would have come up. Custom chips, new displays, new OS, 5000 patents. It all sounds expensive. Apple might have poured over a billion into the development. Only a mass market product can justify the investment.
• The happy shiny sketches of private use distract from the main use of allowing to work in smaller cubicles, at kitchen tables and in hotel rooms. A much darker narrative of further exploitation comes up.
• The appearance of Bob Iger covered up for two significant absentees: Adobe and Autodesk. Without their support there will be no professional usage beyond virtual monitors. So there was no use case to show.

Would I buy one for private use? No. But as a software architect the idea of taking my workplace environment with me, creating a space devoid of distractions is compelling. I am looking forward to a test run.