Apple Vision Pro, Revolution or Useless Expensive Gadget?

Time will tell whether or not Apple Vision Pro will become a revolution; at the moment we know the incredible hardware specifications and the starting price: 3499 dollars (in Europe we are talking about figures above 4000 euros) and a release date no earlier than 2024 in the United States.

Apple’s new product announcement was made during the 2023 “worldwide digital agency” and was presented by Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, 16 years after the famous iPhone launch. Back then, the guru-CEO of the high-tech giant Steve Jobs amazed the world with a smartphone, an indispensable tool today not only for communication, but also for a long series of daily operations.

Apple Vision Pro is an AR/VR device where AR stands for augmented reality and VR stands for virtual reality. Basically, you put on these ski-like goggles and see a different world, virtual or real, but with some enhancements.

This isn’t the first time when gadgets have promised this type of “experience,” even if it has never quite reached that level. Let’s talk about more rudimentary gaming devices or about Google Glass that was a real flop.

How It’s Made

Minimalistic design and precious materials are in perfect Apple style. Aluminum and curved glass for the front of the observer and an ergonomic band designed to adapt to any head shape, thanks to the wheel attachment system that integrates the audio system.

Authentication takes place by retinal scanning, a system that is an evolution of TouchID and FaceID, which we have learned to recognize on the iPhone, while two very high-resolution Micro OLED screens (23 million pixels and a postage stamp size) interact with two catadioptric lenses, giving the impression that you have a large screen with a 180-degree view. All this with an average weight lighter than other existing augmented reality devices is a result also achieved thanks to the external battery and connection to Vision Pro via cable.

There are 3 displays in total, one per lens, and the third is external and mimics the wearer’s eyes. Those who look at us will see our eyes as if we were wearing a transparent or near-transparent mask. The hardware package includes 12 cameras, 5 sensors, 6 microphones, 2 processors – an of them in one viewer, an unparalleled technological achievement.

What Is It For

All Apple communication is based on home or travel use. The concept of “spatial computing” has been introduced as a device that allows you to work, play, watch high-resolution movies… generally, interact with various applications inside a virtual bubble called augmented reality.

Some Reasonable Doubts

Firstly, the cost is clearly not for everyone. Secondly, the battery. Apple essentially wants to replace a personal computer with this viewer, but it’s all about the power supply, whose operation time is estimated at only 2 hours. It can be argued that Vision Pro technology is too advanced for existing power management capabilities.

But then again, this is the moment of artificial intelligence: most of the current investment in the high-tech world goes in this direction. On the other hand, Apple, after 7 years of research and space investments, today comes to the conclusion that it is time to offer the state-of-the-art advanced reality, which, however, has never broken through until today. Is it just because there hasn’t been an Apple device yet?

Nonetheless, don’t underestimate the fact that Apple and Tim Cook are rarely wrong. And even as they changed along the way, they were updated, improved, and promoted, until a specific product became a hit, if not the standard.