Apple Vision Pro, Dead on Arrival ?

After much hype, The Apple Vision Pro finally washed up on British shores mid-July 2024.

I had been awaiting this day since Apples announcement in June 2023, however my enthusiasm had been steadily decreasing following the February 2024 US release, the reviews from across the Atlantic were muted to say the least.

lets get the elephant out of the room, the Vision Pro is $4,799 to buy in the UK, yes thats a proper currency conversion because Apple likes to think $1 is the equivalent to ￡1, so charges $3,499 in the US and ￡3,499 in the UK.

Side note: Apple, many thanks from the British for selling us the exact same product with a 37% hike in retail price, be aware customers this side of the pond are at best at an equivalent wealth level with the people of Mississippi.

That lovely Apple currency quirk aside, in its defence, the Vision Pro is not outrageously expensive when compared to other premium mixed reality headsets such as the Hololens 2+ priced at ￡4,349 in the UK market.

Sure, there is the Meta Quest 3 at ￡479 and the ThinkReality VRX a relative snip at ￡1,599 but if price is your thing, get yourself a Google Cardboard for ￡9.99 and die happy.

So lets park the price, the real question, is it any good?

I decided to try for myself and visited a flagship Apple Store in Londons Covent Garden mid-July,

"No, no, no" exclaimed, the sales assistant, as I got a little too close to a pair of Vision Pro's out on display "Look but don't touch".

If you've ever visited Covent Garden, the clowns normally stick to the outdoor areas, but since we were in the Apple circus it was their rules. If the customers were not allowed to breath too close to it, then it must be good, thought nobody.

It was another two months before I ventured back to an Apple Store, this time Regents Street, another flagship Apple venue. "You'll need to book a demo", explained one of the assistants, "Download the Apple Store app and pick a time slot".

"No worries", I replied "Strike two", I thought.

Not really a huge bother as I was planning on being back in the area the following week. Time went went by and I totally forgot to make a booking until the day before, "Damn, left it too late", I cursed as I hurriedly installed the recommended app for booking, but to my surprise there were 30 minute demo slots available all day long, I made my booking and readied myself, that should have been the first red flag.

Interlude: When the Vision Pro was first announced, and only made available in the US, I toyed with the idea of flying to New York to pick one up. However, Apple frowns on the practice of buying in one region to use in another. Hence the risk of spending a not insignificant amount on flights, hotels and purchasing the device, to end up with a product non operational in the UK was too great.

It was a late summer afternoon, rays of sunshine peaked through grey clouds, as I made my way, once again to the Regents Street Apple store, to finally try on the VR headset to rule all VR headsets.

The demo area is situated upstairs, a small circular space with four headsets available to try on.

My Apple guide, I think thats what they call themselves, greeted me with an air of someone clearly going through the motions, yet was helpful enough. A quick bit of configurations with the lenses for the eye tracking and we were away.

"Select the photos app", she instructed, I pinched my forefinger and thumb together and up popped photos of how MAGA supporters must imagine America once was, bright wholesome photos, of families smiling together at Thanksgiving, children playing in the garden, dogs bounding into swimming pools.

Great, what better than looking at other people's family photos, next.

"Lets try the immersive video".

I have to say this part was good. I haven't tried other contemporary VR headsets but this was really good, the depth of the video was amazing, I was genuinely lost for words.

But, a couple of things, Apple. Content, content, content. Thats three things or maybe one big thing, are people still impressed by CGI dinosaurs walking amongst a forest? Jurassic Park 1994, anyone ?

The immersive sports demo was cool, personally I prefer company when watching sports, its hard to enjoy the drama of the moment on your own, but it was promising, I could see it becoming a thing.

"Are there any good apps"? I queried, I felt like I was talking to myself as my vision was completely obscured by sea-life in the oceanic section of the demo.

"You mean for productivity"? came a voice from the ether.

"Er Yeah", I replied as woman on a tightrope edged precariously across a bottomless canyon.

"You can try Keynote" came the voice again.

I tapped the crown and bought up the Home menu, which is sort of arranged the same as the Home screen of an iPhone and selected Keynote. The app opened and allowed me to drag it to a corner of my vision. I reselected the Home menu and launched Safari.

Executing these actions bought the eye tracking into its own, the accuracy with which the Vision Pro can pinpoint the controller you want to use is superb.

This is what I really wanted to get to, the spatial computing aspect of the Vision Pro. This was the Sci-Fi promised in years gone by, the various screens floating in front of me, once again I was lost for words, fantastic execution, real Minority Report stuff.

"Are there any non Apple apps to try" I asked into emptiness.

"Theres not a lot specifically for the Vision Pro", came the reply, "We are coming to the end of the session, so we will have to wrap up"

"Whats the battery life"? I asked.

"I'm not really sure", as she called across to a colleague, "I'm not sure, either" replied the colleague.

"Fine, ermm, was there supposed to be no sound during the demo", I asked.

"Did you get no sound in the immersive video experience" replied the guide.

"No, I didn't"

"Okay, maybe the sound was turned down, do you want to try again"

"No, its okay", I replied.

There came the end of my Apple Vision Pro experience and a chance to reflect on the journey home as the evening drew in and the rush hour loomed large.

There's much to be said about the technology, I cannot question the fidelity of the execution, its impeccably an Apple product with absolute style, finesse and quality.

That said, the reason that I don't think the Vision Pro will go mainstream as a consumer product regardless of price is not that its not useful, or that it has competitors in the VR space but rather its up against devices that are frankly more useful and accessible to the everyday consumer for much the same outcome.

The iPad for one.

I knew the iPad was going to be a hit, once my wife wanted one. If she wanted one, that basically meant the whole World would want one. The Vision Pro does not resonate the same, nowhere near.

The Vision Pro lives in the VR/Mixed reality headset space, its customers are those people that are already sold on VR headsets, thats not a mainstream market and it never will be, because if it was, it would be. Beat that logic Apple Intelligence.

Apple knows this, it will chip away at its competitors and grow its customer base, analysts predict sales of 7 million units per year by the end of 2028, almost a full five years after its release, compare that to the iPad that sold 50 million in its second year.

Yet, the Apple Vision Pro is a marvel. Peak Apple, technological boundaries pushed, new frontiers of excellence with the hardware and software. I can't decide if its come too late, dropping in where other devices have already consumed the publics excitement around VR, or if its come too early for a World that isn't quite ready for mixed reality to go mainstream.

Maybe it is too expensive, maybe there aren't enough compelling apps available, maybe Vision OS2, will help push the Apple narrative to "do the things you love in ways you never thought possible". Time will tell as it always does.

Would I like one, yes please. Do I want to pay ￡3,499 for the pleasure, no thanks.

Prices are correct at time of publication