At least, so far, they seem to be not integrating the battery into the main unit. I’m sure a replacement battery pack will be $500 for “reasons” but at least you probably won’t have to buy a whole new $3500US unit after a couple of years because there was a built in battery that no longer holds a charge.
On the other hand, I don’t imagine they have enough momentum that it will ever make it to “must have” in two years, so you’ll probably not spend money on a replacement battery, and it will be gathering dust in a drawer.
Unrelated: Apple hates “adult” products, so they can’t even hope that this product will get the same boost that porn supposedly gave to the VCR and DVD (and other “new at the time” moving picture playing products.)
I am wondering why if the battery is external why does it only provide up to 2 hours, is there a problem with heat dissipation or possibly the stress on the high density display devices.
Also why does Tim Cook sound like a character from south park? I know you are Canadian, but is it a US regional accent?
Thank you. Joining Leo was a blast. I’m no Mikah, but it was great and gave me even more respect for all of the hosts who do this regularly. It ain’t easy.
This is close to what I think this device actually is in it’s current state; not a VR/AR headset, but an alternative/replacement for the Pro Display XDR for Apple users who have extensive disposable income and want the coolest display for their Mac.
I don’t think that there is consensus (even with Apple) as to what this device is. Like the Watch, they need to launch it, allow us to use it, and figure out what sticks.
They had a very clear idea around what they wanted the watch to be (premium timepiece that ushered a new app platform); they were just way off the mark and it naturally evolved based on feedback into the fitness/health first device it is today.
Based on the keynote, they seem (to me) to very much pushing this more in the AR direction (adjustable levels of immersion, EyeSight); to be something that can be comfortably used while doing regular house activities.
My argument aligns a bit more closely with Leo’s in MacBreak this week, that people don’t want to wear something strapped to their head most of the time. As a result, the more useful usage scenarios to me will be replacing stationary activities like working on a monitor or watching TV.
Totally disagree. This was a very Officehours.global esq take on the keynote commentary, which I thought was awesome. I was at work listening live from time to time and wish I could’ve chimed in with some comments I had… different yes but still the MST3K style commentary we’ve always had on the twit feeds
Agreed and I think the UP TO 2 hours battery life shows that, I wonder if that amount of power consumption in that time/space causes thermal reliability issues.
If the Vision Pro truly is the future face (pun intended) of computing the Chinese knockoff will be ready for market about the same time - 80% of the quality for 25% of the price!!!
Listening to MBW yesterday, the Vision Pro can also be fed power directly via USB-C, so you can sit at a desk and work all day, if you want, according to Maikah, who had a demo on-site at Apple on Monday.
The battery is also no Magsafe, it is magnet and twist, which makes sense, you don’t want it to suddenly release as you are moving around and make you suddenly “blind”.
Right, but to what end? “We want to launch a new thing” isn’t a vision, “we want this to be the best fitness/health wearable” is. My argument is that the Vision Pro is the former and needs to be the latter. That will take time. My money is on this becoming a platform to watch movies and TV and that is what Apple ends up focusing on as opposed to FaceTime, external displays for your Mac, etc.
Yes, and when the phone was released, it wasn’t much of anything, it was a smart watch, sort of, with a few fitness features. It was only when people pretty much ignored the smart boots and went for fitness, that Apple knew which direction they needed to go and doubled down on fitness.
I think it will be the same way here. The technology needs to evolve to make it really usable and the prices need to come down, but in the meantime, they have units out there to see how people actually use them.
Everything you say here @big_D makes sense. The hurdle for me is that price point. At $3500, they won’t have a lot of them out there.
When Apple moved to their custom silicon, they made dev units available for a $500 fee, refundable upon return of the device. They have done no such thing here. Even a dev kit available at $1500 would make more accessible to devs looking to port apps and develop new ones. For a company that makes luxury consumer tech products, this is the luxury product. That does not lend itself to any sort of mass adoption or really getting this in anyone’s hands - except the financially well-off.
When Microsoft and their ecosystem launched their MR system, Acer HP and others all made headsets and we developers could sign up for a free device.
Admittedly it was lower res and had controllers, but it worked and a second gen was mooted and was supposed to have video pass through, but due to lack lustre sales it was canned.
I belive people are right when they say Apple has launched it Apple watch style - not a clue what it’s for so let’s show anything an everything. It does seem to have a purpose, and you can guarantee that any video format it records will be an Apple locked down standard - I fell without opening it op, there won’t be enough users to sell it to - maybe hghend hotels will buy them to use as in room entertainment, much some places rent segways…
