Is Apple Vision Pro a transformative product? I have some thoughts…

Back in June, in the days before Apple finally unveiled Apple Vision Pro for the first time, I wrote the following statement:

“We’re on the verge of either a significant misstep for Apple, or the launch of something that will transform lives and industries…”

Now that I’ve spent a significant amount of time with the product, I’m more bullish on the latter possibility coming into view, though we’ll still have to see how the market ultimately reacts to this product.

In his review for The Verge, Nilay Patel quipped, “it’s magic, until it’s not.” I think that’s a great framing, so let’s break it down.

It’s magic…

The screens you’re looking at are really, really good. Everything projected onto the real world looks crisp, and when you place a window in your real environment, it stays locked in place. This is great because you could have three large app windows placed above your real desk for productivity. Get up to go get a glass of water and those windows stay locked in place over your desk while you’re away. When you come back, they’re right where you left them.

Also, your brain is at times almost tricked into thinking that these digital objects are real. In the dinosaur experience app that comes pre-installed, there’s a moment where a digital butterfly flies into view. If you hold up your hand, the butterfly will light on your finger. It’s incredibly lifelike. You can also take an app window (say Safari), and tilt it so that it’s hovering over your lap. You can reach out your hand and scroll and tap just like it’s a big iPad. At times you almost feel as if your finger is actually touching a real object and feeling resistance. (Cue Morpheus from The Matrix asking, “What is ‘real?’”)

It’s an engrossing and engaging experience to combine your real and digital worlds. In that sense it’s truly immersive. When you take it off you’ll have moments when you feel as if you should really be able to call up one of those floating windows at any time.

…until it’s not

While the screens are spectacular, the cameras are not. Though the goal of Apple Vision Pro is to convince you that that you’re seeing the real world when you put on the headset. That you’re looking through Vision Pro, not into it. But the cameras betray this goal. You’ll see noise and other camera distortions. Reading text in the real world can be a challenge at times. The world looks dimmer in the headset, and when you remove it you may feel discomfort in a bright room as your eyes re-adjust to the real light.

As Parker Ortolani wrote, “I can’t wrap my head around the many people who have tried Vision Pro and thought it didn’t feel like they were looking at screens.”

I echo that sentiment exactly, and also feel that way about people who don’t notice the total loss of their peripheral vision when they put on Vision Pro. I described it today to a friend as like looking through a submarine’s periscope. The biggest improvement Apple could make, once technology allows, is a more natural field of vision.

Will Apple Vision Pro “transform lives and industries?” The jury is still out, but what makes me bullish on the possibility that it will is that the current product, with all its delights and frustrations, will be the worst version of this product that ever exists. And unlike some other companies that have entered and left the VR/AR/MR headset space, Apple will keep at this even though it won’t be profitable or mass market for a while, maybe years.

It’s fun to watch the development of a new Apple product/category again.