In June, my day-of remarks focused on my preference of not purchasing a Version 1 of a new Apple platform, the price and overall my case that this is going to be a great first version. Apple makes platforms and Apple Vision Pro on launch will be a promising new platform unlocking the dreams of developers all over the world. Without apps, Vision Pro is just a way to see the world through two screens attached to your face and sometimes, a big screen television. Subsequent hardware improvements won’t fundamentally change how it works but lower price options, longer battery and lighter weight will work in unison with 3rd party developers and OS improvements to make this an exciting new platform.
Version 1 will probably still have issues that are unforgivable for a device at this price but completely reasonable for the 1.0.
There are truths that I expected to not be at release such as it being M2 powered instead of M2 Pro or a newer M3 if only for the power savings. I expected Apple to announce they’d reduced weight or managed to double battery life but what we saw in June of 2023 is completely unchanged. Here are a few:
- The Apple Vision Pro will start at $3499 but AppleCare and additional storage options along with sales tax will increase the price beyond $4,000.
- We’re still powering it with an M2 chip. An M3 would be more power efficient and could have been a drop-in considering how low-volume this device will be
- Apple is now including the dual-band which goes over your head. This was the right move. Everyone who’s worn this device and can talk about it says how much it helps balance the weight of the device
- Weight…it’s pretty heavy. That weight is setting on your cheeks, nose and being carried by two bands around your head. If you style your hair with product and use a Vision Pro at work or on a plane to a business meeting, you’ll need to re-style it after your session because your head will be shaped like a band
- Also no matter how soft the light shield is, wearers will probably have marks on their face right after taking it off
- The battery life has not been improved. Two hours of battery life when you’re not connected to a power source. At my MacBook Pro, I can run the USB-C cable to my Mac or Thunderbolt hub and likely won’t need the battery pack except for an extreme situation. I’m always near a plug and in-fact, always using this plugged in is probably going to be 99% of my use, yes even on planes
- Seeing the on-screen keyboard and hearing how it’s like to use it has me concerned. This means, like the iPhone and iPad (thanks Magic Keyboard), I’ll once again be yearning to have a full size keyboard with real buttons. Apple makes amazing keyboards or has for most of their history and yet personally, I dislike every software keyboard they’ve made. I expected with apps like Slack, Fantastical, iMessage and iWork that the virtual keyboard would be usable for quick messages. I’m disappointed to hear you’ll need to carry a keyboard with you to get any work done
- Apple is promoting streaming video exclusively. They tout immersive scenes, panorama photos, meditation spaces and 3D movies as the tentpole feature. This worries me. I expected to see a few independent apps highlighted showcasing their productivity and design prowess such as an interior room decorator, architecture, photo editing and a video game where you fly a spaceship or work aboard the ISS but no, just video which I don’t need. I have a gigantic television screen with amazing audio which I used to watch TV with my family. I don’t need a TV watching device and given that I have never watched a video on my iPad or iPhone, I doubt this new device will replace the time I spend every night watching movies with my wife on our couch…my kid who will be 13 in 13 years may have one of these as her only consumption device and that’s fair and expected
- Then there are small things like today’s news that this device won’t ship with WiFi 6E and with a base configuration of 256GB and a video I saw today in the simulator showing OS takes 10GB and “system data” takes up a LOT with only 64GB free on the 256GB device, this has me worried. Could be a simulator glitch but, like the Series 0 Apple Watch or iPhone 1, just how many VisionOS updates will this first version be able to receive before it reaches EOL status?
- I also akin this device to how home computers were in the 90s. Everyone had shared time on the family PC and one phone line for dial up along with limited minutes and would share what they were going to do. Apple Vision Pro won’t unlock this in version 1. Every family that can afford one will have just one. There will be very few families with multiples of these yet VisionOS 1.0 is single user. When I sign in, it’s entirely my device just like today’s IPhone and iPad. The only difference is Apple’s adding a “guest mode” so a family member can use a couple of apps and experience it but almost all of the features and certainly the apps won’t be available to your guest. Sign on is through your eyes so you can’t fake it for your partner and have them view even your calendar or iMessages. That’s a huge miss when you also add in the light shields and custom lenses are also uniquely personal. I can unlock an iPhone and hand it to my wife but Apple is about to release the most personal computer ever where the band, Zeiss inserts, FaceID unlock and entire experience is linked biometrically to just one person and no one else can use it without adjusting all of these things and using Vision Pro as a guest. So weird especially if someone has a large family who just wants to try it but doesn’t want to go out and spend $200 on prescription inserts only to have the experience locked to a dinosaur 3D experience
- Finally, there’s the Personas feature that won’t be available at launch and will come “later”
Given how few of these will be made (less than 1 million) and there are close to 50 million registered developers globally, this means that Apple can just sell to Apple Employees (150,000) and 500-600K developers and a few to YouTube people and sell out every single device they can make in 2024. This will enable those groups to build up enough hype and make enough amazing apps that Version 2 that ships 15 months later is twice as fast, twice as long battery and half the weight for half the price (okay, probably not) and be a viable platform thanks to 100,000 amazing apps with a working on-screen keyboard and anyone who bought version 1 just beta-tested it for a year.
I want Apple Vision Pro to be on my face all day long working on my computer, using iPad apps like Slack, working in Chrome on Google Docs and the Jira Cloud app, taking calls and meetings and living with the thing every day I’m at my home office and then taken with me on road trips or airplane trips as an entertainment device like my iPad is today. I don’t think Version One will be as powerful (software or hardware) to do that for me.
So no one should buy this first version unless you’re going to hype it up on YouTube or develop great apps for it. The rest of us should just wait.