Apple
’s
Vision Pro
is not a year’s work but has been in the works for years, but it is still years away from being “ideal.” That’s not us saying but the people working in the Vision Products Group, the team that is responsible for the development of Apple’s Vision Pro headset. They believe that it could take “four generations” before the
headset
reaches its “ideal form,” essentially being a replacement for
iPad
or
Mac
.
In the latest edition of his newsletter, Power On, Mark Gurman discusses that the Vision Pro is still not ready for consumers. According to Gurman, the development team believes that there is a lot of work that needs to be done before the device is refined enough for daily use.
It is not clear what specific issues the team is facing with the current prototype hardware and software. However, early adopters of first-generation devices often complain about problems related to comfort, visual quality, software capabilities, and other factors.
Critical pain points cited by early adopters include the Vision Pro's heavy, uncomfortable design, short battery life, lack of dedicated apps, and buggy visionOS software. If Apple can refine and miniaturise the headset over four generations, as it did with previous products like the
iPhone
and
Apple Watch
, Gurman believes the device could eventually replace the iPad.
As a result, Gurman asserts that "The device lost its original purpose and has become a more confusing piece of Apple's product portfolio," now occupying an uncertain place amongst Apple's other product offerings.
According to Gurman, Apple's attempts to position the iPad as more of a Mac replacement have yielded "mixed results". He states that despite Apple equipping the iPad with features like Stage Manager to facilitate increased multitasking and productivity, the tablet has struggled to replace the Mac as a "workhorse" device.
Gurman states that for the Vision Pro, which has a starting price of $3,500, "it's going to take some hardware upgrades, a slew of software updates, and far better support from app developers and content makers to actually make the headset the iPad replacement that it's capable of being." He argues that in its current form, the Vision Pro is still a prototype that consumers must pay Apple $3,500 to beta test. He further contends the device remains an unfinished product that Apple is charging customers to demo.
Its current prototype form requires substantial improvements across areas like comfort, battery, apps, and software stability before it's ready for consumers' daily use. Before launching a headset intended for mainstream consumer adoption, Apple will need to address these common pain points.
English (US) ·