Source: Apple Official Website
Hi everyone, today we’ll discuss the decision-making traces behind the Apple Vision Pro. This isn’t an unboxing newsletter but an exploration of how Apple made decisions and positioned the Vision Pro, especially since this is Apple’s first-generation product, making its decision-making traces particularly evident. A must-read!!
For those unfamiliar with the Apple Vision Pro, you can check out this unboxing video: MKBHD Unboxes Apple Vision Pro. To save you time, I’ve summarized it below.
Apple Vision Pro Lets You Open Multiple Screens and Apps in Your Space
Using the Apple Vision Pro, you can open various apps in your environment while still seeing your surroundings.
Source: MKBHD Unboxes Apple Vision Pro
Vision Pro Offers Gaze & Pinch Interaction
When the iPhone was released, its most revolutionary feature wasn’t just the touchscreen but multi-touch support. Before the first iPhone, touchscreens—like those in parking lots or vending machines—only supported single-point touch, allowing just one finger at a time. The iPhone’s multi-touch let users zoom in and out of photos with two fingers, sparking a revolution.
Vision Pro uses highly accurate eye-tracking and hand-tracking systems. You simply look at an element and pinch your fingers to interact. For example, if I look at the [close window button] and pinch, the window closes. Your eyes become the mouse.
Source: MKBHD Unboxes Apple Vision Pro
This feature is hailed as the most significant achievement of the Apple Vision Pro.
Apple’s Decision-Making Analysis
Decision 1: Why Did Apple Launch a “Pro” Version as Its First-Generation Product, Hinting at a Possible “Air” Version?
Let’s first examine why this device qualifies as a “Pro” version.
The Vision Pro’s hardware specs significantly surpass those of the current market leader, Meta’s headset.
It’s equipped with the Apple M2 chip and a custom chip developed specifically for XR. In comparison, Apple typically installs only one chip in a MacBook Air, rarely two or more.
The Vision Pro’s display quality is equivalent to a 4K+ TV for each eye, while also providing real-time, lag-free views of the physical world.
Additionally, the Vision Pro features spatial audio, delivering an immersive surround sound experience.
Before its launch, some described it as a laptop + 4K projector + surround sound system combined, yet smaller in size than those devices put together. (So, a price of 100,000 TWD is justifiable; the real issue is my inability to afford it.)
So Why Did Apple Make the Product So Fully Featured, Creating a Pro Version?
Over-Engineering
In layman’s terms, over-engineering is when a customer wants a simple fruit knife, but instead of providing a 300 TWD lightweight knife, the engineer builds a 10,000 TWD multi-tool with 7,749 functions that’s heavy and expensive.
What’s the benefit of Apple’s over-engineering?
It allows users to test which of those 7,749 functions are essential, which can be removed, and which need adjustments. By starting with an over-the-top product, the second generation can use “subtraction” to meet broader market needs. Subtraction might be a simpler, faster approach (addition often leads to mistakes). So, Apple pushed the product to the extreme, enabling future generations to refine it through subtraction to better match market demands.
Decision 2: Why Did Apple Price Its First-Generation Product at Around 100,000 TWD ($3,499)? Did They Not Want to Sell It?
Apple’s pricing isn’t aimed at the mass market. After all, who would spend 100,000 TWD on a first-generation product? Apple knows this price ensures the product won’t be widely adopted, but:
Apple targets specific groups who will provide critical feedback.
These include people who aim to profit from the product (app developers), those who need to create content or reviews (YouTubers, tech reviewers, media, tech KOLs), those who use it as a productivity tool (high-level professionals), and die-hard Apple fans who don’t need a reason to buy.
Decision 3: Focusing on Mixed Reality Experiences
Before the Apple Vision Pro, VR headsets were primarily used for “gaming” experiences. Meta once tried to pivot its Quest Pro into a productivity tool, but due to resolution issues that made text unreadable, Meta returned to its core focus on virtual reality gaming.
If a device is solely for gaming, its price and market acceptance would be limited. Beyond the price ceiling for gaming consoles, current gaming trends are shifting toward mobile games—light, short, and playable anywhere, anytime.
Apple’s promotional videos barely mention gaming, instead focusing on daily task completion, multitasking, immersive video experiences, and multi-person calls with virtual avatars.
Clearly, Apple isn’t targeting the gaming market, despite it being the primary market for VR headsets.
Decision 4: Apple Didn’t Invest Heavily in Developers to Create Mixed Reality Apps
VR headset manufacturers typically invest heavily in developers to create games, ensuring enough compelling content to attract consumers. They often pay developers to build games or pre-purchase games to ensure availability on launch day.
However, Apple didn’t adopt this strategy. At launch, the Vision Pro lacked significant developer support for tailored apps—even YouTube and Netflix were only accessible via web versions, without dedicated Vision Pro apps. Many believe Apple overestimated its influence, as historically, developers rush to create apps for new Apple products. Yet, few developers were willing to build Vision Pro-specific apps early on.
Some see this as a major oversight by Apple. Is it?
Reflection: Are These Four Decisions Good Ones?
Apple likely never intended for the Vision Pro to be a massive seller.
Reports indicate Apple internally estimated shipments of around 800,000 units. In contrast, iPhone shipments in 2023 reached approximately 230 million units. This shows Apple never expected the Vision Pro to be a blockbuster or create a market sensation—it’s a small-scale experiment in terms of sales.
Decisions 1 and 2 reveal that Apple’s goal with the Vision Pro isn’t mass sales but to test the market and lay the groundwork for future products, identifying which features to remove or enhance (removing features and offering a lower price to dominate the market later).
For Apple, since this is an experimental product, they pushed its experimental nature to the extreme. There’s no need to heavily invest in developers to create killer apps, as Vision Pro iterations might occur every 1.5 years or more. There’s enough time before the next generation for developers to test the product and create killer apps. Spending money, time, and communication costs on external developers isn’t necessary. So, Decision 4 isn’t as flawed as many critics suggest—it reflects Apple’s experimental approach to this product.
Does the Vision Pro Have a Future?
Is this a primitive product or a problematic product?
A primitive product, despite its flaws, leaves people excited for the next generation. It’s a promising primitive product, needing only specific minor issues to be resolved…
A problematic product is a failed product, requiring a complete overhaul to regain consumer interest.
Based on what you’ve seen, do you think it’s a primitive or problematic product?
Here are two examples to better understand the Vision Pro:
- [Augmented Reality Multi-Screen/Tabs]
The image below is a screenshot from a WSJ reporter using the Vision Pro while cooking. The reporter can open a recipe in a specific spot in the kitchen and set different timers for various ingredients, showcasing the immense potential of mixed reality (or augmented reality).
Source: Video (I Spent 24 Hours Wearing Apple’s Vision Pro Headset | WSJ)
- [Shared Experiences in the Same Space]
Additionally, Apple’s latest Vision update introduced Spatial Persona, allowing multiple people (up to five) to feel as if they’re in the same space, even if they’re not. They can make eye contact, share screens, and watch movies, play games, or work together. Below, a male YouTuber calls a female friend, and they view the same page together, with the female friend navigating.
Source: New Spatial Persona on Apple Vision Pro is MUCH Better!
At this point, have you changed your answer? You might have guessed mine: the Vision Pro is a primitive product with tremendous potential to transform the consumer electronics market.
Whether Apple can unlock the Vision Pro’s potential depends on how they leverage the four decisions above to create a more complete consumer product in the future.
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