Beyond the Buzz: What You Might Have Missed with Apple's Latest Vision Pro Announcement

The XR community is buzzing from 苹果 ’s entrance to the market. The obvious initial impacts of this news have been excitement and an increase in consumer attention to spatial computing as a category mixed with a broader range of scrutiny as we march forward from a promising industry to the main stage.

After a fun week of discussion, our team sees some other interesting narratives that will unfold as one of the world’s largest consumer technology companies places its spatial computing bet:

• ?? A rising tide - While many jumped at the chance to discuss the competition Apple would create for existing XR hardware companies, a different take is that another tech giant investing in XR will be a tide that raises all ships. Attention to XR was already growing as companies like HTC , 联想 , and Meta have introduced impressive new devices recently. A new device from Apple does mean competition to an extent, but it also means new consumers paying attention to XR and more opportunities for XR platform companies and content creators. These are factors that will benefit everyone in the industry. Each hardware / platform company has aspects that are a unique value proposition to their approach and enterprises are savvy to choose what is right for their use case as they become more educated.
• ?? Apple’s device utilizes “pass-through” for the user experience. This is a decision that has several benefits, including easing new consumers into spatial computing. Similar to how Apple has made wearing headphones an all-day wearable experience, moving between noise cancelling and transparency modes, starting with a high-resolution passthrough device will enable consumers to seamlessly integrate spatial computing experiences into their daily lives. Apple focuses equally on behavior as much as they do user experience when launching products. Instead of deciding what sound needs to pass through and when, now Apple is teaching us the same behavior with sight.
• ??+?? The continuity camera coming to the big screen with Apple TV will further erase the form factor of computing as we move more toward an ambient computing model. Now we can pick up work on the device that brings the greatest value based on where you are and what you need to do. It makes social and workplace activities seamless across devices and modalities. Apple more than any. other player can make this model for work a reality.? The Vision Pro will benefit over time from this approach with its unique value proposition vs. an iPad, Apple TV, or MacBook Pro.
• ?? We believe SharePlay is going to be the star feature across the Apple Ecosystem once it has matured. The ability to do any digital activity with a friend, as if you are together, across all devices and apps, will be an exciting capability. This will introduce a level of synchrony that everyone is looking for in a hybrid work and social environment where we split time between reality and digital reality.

What’s your take on what Apple’s new Vision Pro product will mean for the XR community? Tell us below in the comments.