Apple Vision Pro: Tim Cook promises "blow-away" experiences
Apple Vision Pro is a one-of-a-kind product that will only be sold at Apple Stores, says Tim Cook.
Yesterday, Apple released its Q4 2023 earnings results. Afterwards, Tim Cook answered questions from financial analysts on a conference call.
When asked about the Apple Vision Pro, Apple's CEO talked about the developer labs and what consumer education and distribution will look like compared to other wearables like AirPods and the Apple Watch. Below is Cook's full answer:
"There’s a tremendous amount of excitement around the Vision Pro. And we’ve been very happy to share it with developers and we have developer labs set up in different parts of the world so that they can actually get their hands on it and are working on apps, and I’ve been fortunate enough to see a number of those, and there’s some real blow-away kinds of things that are coming out, and so that all looks good.
To answer your question about, is it similar to AirPods or Apple Watch, I would say no. There’s never been a product like the Vision Pro, and so we’re purposely bringing it out in our stores only so we can really put a great deal of attention on the the last mile of it. We’ll be offering demos in the stores and it will be a very different process than a normal grab-and-go kind of process."
Vision Pro: A cautious and slow start
Face computers are a relatively new product category for consumers, and Apple is committed to carefully introducing customers to this new paradigm. The comfort of wearing and using headsets depends on subjective factors such as head and face shape and vision. The device also features an entirely new operating system and interface based on eye and hand tracking.
Apple's strategy of demoing the devices in Apple Stores and selling them only there makes sense. The process will likely change at some point as the devices become more widely adopted by consumers.
However, the new product category is not expected to take off quickly: at $3,500, the first generation of the headset is out of reach for most consumers. And due to supply constraints, Vision Pro will also be available in limited quantities.
The device is slated for a US launch in early 2024. It is not known when it will be released in Europe. According to a report, it could be at the end of 2024 or even as late as 2025.
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