Saturday, April 27, 2024

Vogon Today

Selected News from the Galaxy

StartMag

Is Apple Vision Pro really cool?

3 months ago babelfish

Is Apple Vision Pro really cool?

Fans of technology and augmented reality experiences were eagerly waiting for its release and now that they have tried it, what do they think of the futuristic Apple Vision Pro viewer? Comments from experts and users (also compared to Meta's Quest) and sales forecasts

For a few days in New York and also in other American cities, people with a visor have been seen walking around the street, on the subway and – in one case, fortunately isolated – even in cars , while they gesticulate their hands in the air doing apparently incomprehensible to an outside eye.

They are immersed in what for technology enthusiasts is a beacon in the panorama of innovation: the Apple Vision Pro. But now that the wait is over, at least in the United States, here are the most popular comments among those who he tested.

HOW DOES IT WORK

As CEO Tim Cook explained during the annual Cupertino developers conference, “just as the Mac introduced us to personal computing and the iPhone to mobile computing, Apple Vision Pro introduces us to space computing,” that is, a computer that does not use a screen, but works in the space around the user.

The device, similar to a sort of large ski mask, uses 12 cameras and various sensors, records the surrounding environment and processes the images in less than 12 milliseconds, i.e. 8 times faster than the blink of an eye, and then returns them to two very high resolution screens placed close to the eyes.

PRICE AND FEATURES OF APPLE VISION PRO

Price is certainly not irrelevant information. Apple Vision Pro has a base cost of $3,499, which obviously does not include the case or other accessories or options such as corrective lenses.

Even the weight is not among the strong points of the viewer given that wearing 650 grams on the head is not exactly pleasant especially if for a prolonged time.

SALES AND FORECASTS FOR THE FUTURE

But despite these characteristics which objectively do not make it a device for everyone, according to Apple, over 200,000 units of Vision Pro were sold in the first 10 days of pre-orders.

And analysts cited by AI Business predict sales of 200,000 to one million units in 2024. Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities, estimates that Apple sold between 160,000 and 180,000 units during the first pre-order weekend, with total sales of 500,000 headphones expected in 2024; while brokerage firm Wedbush predicts they will reach 600,000 for the full year.

Vision Pro is currently only available in the United States but, according to internal sources reported by Bloomberg , the wait for the launch in other markets will not be "very long". The next ones to receive it should be the United Kingdom and Canada, only later will Cupertino look to Europe and Asia. Italy is not included among the countries listed, while there would be France, Germany, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea.

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT APPLE VISION PRO

Leaving aside extremely enthusiastic or extremely critical opinions, the most shared opinion is that Apple Vision Pro is remarkable, but there is still a lot to do to make it practical and attractive. Among the aspects to improve, in addition to price and weight, those who tried it highlighted the lack of important apps such as Netflix and YouTube, a more practical and long-lasting battery, as well as some shortcomings which according to experts are normal at the beginning.

This is the case of perfecting the experience with a smoother transition between the real and virtual world or some issues related to audio and Bluetooth. Additionally, excessive glare that can affect visibility.

THE CHALLENGE WITH META

Currently the competitor that Apple may have to fear is Meta, which has an advantage with its Quest Pro, launched in 2022. From his, Zuckerberg's company, he also has that the devices start from 500 dollars.

According to the research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), Meta is the leader in the AR/VR headset market with a 55.2% share. Furthermore, IDC is keeping low with its sales estimates for the Apple headset, which will probably not reach 200,000 units in 2024. While Meta has already sold 10 times the units expected by Apple in the first three quarters of 2023 (before the launch of Meta Quest 3) and will probably sell more this year.

Furthermore, according to some experts , Quest 3 is better than Vision Pro for at least five reasons: it has better weight distribution, it allows you to access games on the Steam platform, it is totally wireless, YouTube and Netflix apps are downloadable and, finally, last but not least , it is definitely cheaper.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/visore-apple-vision/ on Mon, 12 Feb 2024 06:56:22 +0000.