Let’s start with what, according to some users given the opportunity to test out Vision Pro headsets in advance said,  is great about Apple’s latest product innovation: image quality, intuitiveness, and comfort.

First, the quality is impressive, as may come as no surprise for a new product introduction by Apple. The high-resolution video images and text (24 million pixels) surpass what are available through mobile phones; they also are far better than the level of clarity offered by competing virtual display goggles like those sold by Meta or PlayStation. The headset carefully tracks users’ eye movements, as well as hand movements and voice commands. Moving around the projection thus is as easy as shifting one’s gaze. The display also supports a range of opacity, such that users can make the virtual simulation completely opaque and become totally immersed, without seeing anything in the real world, or they can increase the level of transparency. Thus if they were using the headset to obtain a digital version of the assembly instructions for a new desk for example, they could see both the instructions in their field of vision but also increase the transparency of the goggles enough that they could watch their actual hands guiding a screwdriver to the right screw.

Second, with intuitive hand movements (i.e., pinches, like on a trackpad), users can move and adjust images on the screen, such as the placement of apps. In game settings, they control movements with just their fingers, rather than relying on external motion controllers, as is the norm for most competing virtual reality goggles. Apple calls the Vision Pro a “spatial computer,” because it enables users to do much of what they currently do on computers without constraints in terms of where they sit; they do not need a monitor in front of them but instead can navigate with just their own eyes and fingers.

Third, the goggles seemingly are quite comfortable. Apple plans to sell them in varied sizes, to match users’ head sizes and shapes. The adjustable strap ensures that Vision Pro devices sit securely on users’ faces, and an over-the-head strap ensures an even weight distribution.

But such enhanced quality and increased comfort offerings also come with some related detriments for the Vision Pro. One of its innovative abilities involves scanning users’ faces, then presenting a realistic simulacrum, in the form of a personal avatar, that others can see while engaged in FaceTime calls. Rather than seeing poor quality, juggled images of their conversation partner, they get a realistic, computer-generated, steady view. The avatar’s mouth movements match the user’s speech, so it really looks like the person is talking to you—sort of.

For many users though, this highly realistic representation of their friends and family induces what has been called the “uncanny valley effect.” When technology mimics humans too much, it makes human users uncomfortable. Thus the avatar was impressive technologically; Apple did a great job. But it also induced the “ick factor,” such that some users dislike the sense of interacting personally with someone else represented in technological form.

Such issues might be possible to overcome. There are consumers who must have the latest, most technologically advanced option—even if it does make their grandmother look like something out of Blade Runner and Minority Report, which anticipated just such advances. But those consumers also have another hurdle to jump: the price. At an introductory price of $3,500, the Vision Pro is more expensive than competing models and out of reach for most consumers, even (or perhaps especially) Apple fanatics who regularly shell out thousands for the latest version of the iPhone.

But such short-term price considerations might be too short-sighted. Currently, Apple has not really promoted many innovative uses of its new spatial computer, which aligns with its usual new product introduction strategy. It provides the new device (e.g., iPod, iPad, iPhone), then waits for users and developers leverage the advanced technology to come up with radically new, diverse, and exciting applications.

Discussion Questions:

1. Are “spatial computers” the future? Defend your answer.
2. Can consumers grow accustomed to the new capabilities offered by the Vision Pro, such that they no longer find its uses “uncanny” or “icky”? Provide historical examples of other technologies to support your answer.
3. Is Apple’s high introductory price justified here?

Sources: Brian X. Chen, “A First Try of Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro Headset,” The New York Times, June 6, 2023; Matthew Panzarino, “First Impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro Works, and Yes, It’s Good,” Tech Crunch, June 5, 2023; Joshua Gans and Abhishek Nagaraj, “What Is Apple’s Vision Pro Really For?” Harvard Business Review, June 14, 2023