Some great details were shared today by Macrumors that really gave concrete examples of what the very first Apple VR/AR headset (not sure which one it will be yet) might have as far as features and a rumored $3,000 price.
It’s an exciting proposition but I’m not ready for what Apple is going to give us no matter how compelling that initial demo is and that’s for a few different reasons.
I believe this tool will be driven largely by how much it helps me communicate with others and I’m thinking most likely, work and for the first 3 years after its introduction, I don’t see my work using this as a way to communicate. We’re all returning back to the office, we’re all meeting face to face and those that are in other parts of the world will be able to talk to me in one of our conference rooms equipped with video & audio integration that makes it feel like they’re in the same room.
My family is not really big on FaceTime yet and neither am I so we’ll have to get there (past today’s reality of phone calls) before I foresee a goggle need for us.
There is a personal use case I can think of such as gaming but also augmenting how I plan out my day or plan a route, using Siri and Handoff to make using the goggles at my Mac or iPad a more rich experience but I’m incredibly anxious at wearing headphones without transparency active because of a fear of being stabbed in the back by an intruder. Seriously. I don’t even use headphones when I’m hiking or working outside. I like to hear the world around me and I especially wouldn’t wear them in my house so the rumors that the goggles work best with AirPods is fine but I’ll be doing it with transparency turned on.
Other than the adoption rate concerns and how useful this will be for my work life, finally there is the Apple Version One issue. I can’t think of any 1st gen apple device that gave me as much happiness as the 2nd gen. The first iPod and its faulty click wheel and lack of FireWire port cover. The first iPhone without any 3rd party apps and no way to record video. there’s the 1st Apple Watch which was slow, underpowered and had features that were really not necessary and eventually removed entirely like the heartbeat function sharing. The 1st HomePod was expensive, cancelled and I’m on my 3rd one after these continue to die on me. The first iTV in 2008 was just front row with a hard drive and I can really continue on and on. I continue to buy the 1st of many devices. Oh yes, AirPods, the Pro model is significantly better and I should have waited for that instead of buying the first generation but now I’m rambling. My point is, Gen 1 is for early adopters and you are a beta tester so much that in most cases, the 1st gen resale value drops off a cliff when the 2nd version ships.
If the headset ends up being over $2,000, I’ll wait for the 3rd generation. If the headset is $999, I’ll buy the 2nd generation. The 1st generation will be great but I need to force myself to wait because I know the 2nd and 3rd versions are going to be awesome and finally have both the features, battery life, price and user adoption numbers oh and the software from 3rd parties needed to be fantastic. I’ll wait for those. The 4th generation iPhone, 3rd generation AppleWatch, AirPods Pro, HomePod Mini, AppleTV 3rd gen, iPod Nano, iPad 3rd gen….these were when the product really became great and everyone started buying them. I should start with Apple’s headset of being in that camp. Being an early adopter is expensive and I’ve learned in my old age that no one really cares you have the new thing.
Fun story about the Apple Watch Ultra on my wrist. I’ve had a lot of people ask me if the ultra is worth $800. Truthfully, yes and that’s because since the 1st Apple Watch, I’ve always bought the Space Black Stainless Steel or Titanium model which was always $600-$800 and I bought one almost every year. So for me, the Ultra is an awesome upgrade from my Series 7 Titanium but I sound like a jerk when I put it this way so I always say YEP but I need to keep in mind most people get the basic Apple Watch and see the Ultra as 2.5X the price of the cheapest model. In that view, it’s really hard to tell them this model is 2.5X better.
So I think a bit of self control will probably make me enjoy Apple’s VR headset more and I look forward to seeing what all of the developers build with it in that first 24 months.