Whatever Happened to AVP?
When it was unveiled last June, CEO Tim Cook called Apple Vision Pro “the most advanced consumer electronics device ever created.”
Blending digital content with physical space, Apple's first spatial computer demonstrates that the company can still develop new products that will shape the future of computing.
I demoed AVP recently and the content experience is amazing. The emotions it can conjure are real, even if some of the experiences are simulated.
Yet unit sales have failed to meet expectations largely because of the high price point ($3,499) and because the underlying cultural shift necessary for adoption (headset mainstreaming beyond gamers) has not materialized as quickly as some have hoped.
Recently it has been reported that Apple cut its 2024 planned production numbers from near a million to something closer to 400,000.
This leads some to conclude that the marketing strategy was not right from the outset. That the device should have been positioned first as a developer kit and later a consumer device.
I'm not sure about that. I think it was understood that the initial market for AVP (and the category more broadly, which includes Meta Quest) would be small, and releasing this way was intended to spark broader change rather than delivering it with a single product in a single year.
A lower-priced, next-generation AVP is rumored to be on the way for release in 2025 and by that time consumers may be more ready. One cohort for upgrades. Another to give it a try for the first time.
Speaking of giving it a try, Apple Stores are offering free 30 minute demos if you'd like to see, feel and hear what the AVP’s immersion experience is like for yourself.
In a few glances and pinch-clicks, you can be on a high-wire strung across a canyon. Then face to face with a dinosaur. Then looking up at snow capped Mount Hood. Then back to the Apple Store, in time for your next meeting.
