Apple vision pro just brilliantly destroyed meta’s entire hardware business… and possibly even its own

I’d really hate to be Mark Zuckerberg right now. In October 2021 he pivoted to the metaverse, only to pivot to AI in November 2022… and in the brief amount of time he turned his back on the Metaverse, Apple completely stole whatever lead he had in the space by announcing a product so revolutionary, it’s probably going to crush his entire hardware ambitions.

Right at the end of their WWDC keynote, Apple announced the Vision Pro, an entirely new revolutionary product category helmed by a Mixed Reality headset that champions what they call “spatial computing” – an upgrade from the personal computing abilities of the laptop and smartphone. The brilliance of this is that it singlehandedly has the potential to redefine and reinvigorate the metaverse. The tragedy is that it also simultaneously kills all of Apple’s other businesses. The Vision Pro’s technical genius deserves an entire article on its own, but for now let’s just focus on exactly how magical this new product is, and what it means for Apple as a hardware company.

As the curtains drew to a close on WWDC, you could see a twinkle in Tim Cook’s eyes as he uttered the same words that Steve Jobs had famously spoken when he unveiled the iPhone – a product that revolutionized the tech industry. Sixteen years later, Cook’s repetition of those words hinted at a new innovation that promises to shake up the industry once again. The Vision Pro is an MR headset that brings an entirely new category to Apple’s product offering. In short, it has two Apple Silicon chipsets (including the new M2 chip), dozens of cameras and sensors, an iris recognition system that scans your eye for biometrics, directional audio units in the strap, two postage-stamp-sized 4K screens on the inside for immersive viewing, and a curved OLED display with a lenticular layer that lets other people see your eyes while you’re wearing the headset. That’s just the short version.

The Vision Pro turns your world into a computing device. You can work, play, watch movies, view 3D content, facetime with friends/family, and access every app on the App Store through it. There’s quite literally nothing you cannot do on the Vision Pro, which makes it such an incredible device. In fact, just announcing it and its features took up nearly an hour of the WWDC live stream, highlighting exactly how important it is to Apple’s future. In Tim Cook’s version of the future, the Vision Pro replaces computing devices entirely. You don’t need laptops, phones, watches, or even VR controllers to interact with the digital world. The Vision Pro handles your laptop or desktop’s abilities, allowing you to make presentations, write emails, edit files, and do practically anything on a massive virtual canvas. Similarly, you don’t need a phone or tablet when all your phone/tablet apps are available on the Vision Pro. When you’re relaxing, the Vision Pro gives you a massive screen to watch movies and TV shows, or even view 3D content or panoramic images immersively.

The Vision Pro’s interface isn’t really an interface anymore… It’s your entire world (or as Apple calls it, VisionOS). Everything you see is a canvas for a rectangular window. You can simultaneously have your work screen, a Pinterest board, and Ted Lasso existing within your visual periphery. Each element occupies 3D real estate in your vision, and isn’t bound by a screen. You can select, layer, resize, or move elements of your world simply by using your hands, eliminating the need for a controller. You can choose to see the world around you, or immerse yourself in a digital realm with a simple turn of a knob (or a crown), while still being connected to the world around you.

A screen on the front of the Vision Pro acts as your digital eyes (or what Apple calls EyeSight), so that when people are talking to you, they see your eyes. If you’re immersed in content, your eyes aren’t made visible on the screen, so they know not to disturb you – it’s a lot like how people know you’re not engaging with them if you’re not making eye contact. However, if they need to grab your attention while you’re in an immersive experience (like a movie), they can merely step close to you, and EyeSight kicks in. They suddenly become visible to you within your headset, and your eyes become visible to them. It’s an impressive handshake of multiple different technologies that resulted in Apple filing as many as 5000 patents for the Vision Pro device.

As impressive as Zuckerberg’s Meta Quest Pro is, it really doesn’t even hold a candle to Apple’s Vision Pro. The Apple Vision Pro is an incredibly meticulously designed product that runs on not one but TWO chipsets – an M2 chip and a new R1 chip that just handles how digital elements react with your physical world. It’s got two 4K screens on the inside with as many as 23 million pixels crammed into an area the size of a postage stamp – that’s the equivalent of 64 pixels in the space occupied by 1 pixel on the iPhone screen. The outside of the device has a screen too (a lenticular 3D one, no less), that projects your eyes so that people can make eye contact with you while you have the headset on. As far as sensors go, the Vision Pro has one LiDAR scanner, two TrueDepth cameras, two main cameras, four downward cameras, two side cameras, and two IR illuminators… just on the outside. The inside has four IR cameras and multiple invisible LED illuminators that track your eyes, letting you use them as a cursor. Your hands become the controls, allowing you to tap, pinch, and manipulate elements that your eyes look at. This entire interaction is just so complicated and nuanced, you don’t need a remote or VR controllers. Oh, did I mention, the Vision Pro uses OpticID, a new authentication system that scans your eyes, making it much more secure than TouchID and FaceID? Even Meta’s highest-end device (which is roughly 1/3rd the price of the Vision Pro) doesn’t have anywhere near as much impressive tech as the Vision Pro… and if I were Zuckerberg, I’d honestly be crying in a corner right now because in Meta’s own metaverse… they’re in second place.

Aside from its whopping $3499 price, the Vision Pro does something absolutely unique, in that it replaces every single other Apple device. When you’re strapped into the headset, you’re pretty much never going to look at an iPhone, MacBook, Apple Watch, iMac, or TV. Heck, you’re not even going to wear AirPods… and needless to say, that’s bad for Apple. The Vision Pro is such a strangely isolating experience that it stops you from using Apple’s other hardware devices… and that’s absolutely new. You can use your iPhone simultaneously with a MacBook, AirPods, Apple Watch, etc… but when you’re wearing the Vision Pro, every single other Apple device becomes unnecessary. Spatial computing is great for the Vision Pro, but it’s terrible for all of Apple’s other devices… and this poses an incredibly interesting threat to Apple’s hardware endeavors. Sure, if the Vision Pro takes off, Meta is in deep, irredeemable trouble because there’s no reason someone who wants a Vision Pro would settle for a Quest 2 or 3. However, it’ll also be interesting to see if people who buy the Vision Pro ever buy a single other Apple computer like a MacBook, iPad, or Apple TV unit.

“Whatever happened to Microsoft’s HoloLense which was at least a decade ahead of this and Meta?”

I don’t know. The history of technology adaptation is often determined by marketing and product development. Apple usually has superior marketing. It seems to define itself more as a consumer products company than a technology company. Some of its messaging and advertising has been pure genius.

Microsoft is clearly a technology company and likely views business oriented products as more important than consumer products.

Meta, is a social media platform so it is consumer oriented. However its expertise is in providing a platform for consumer communication, not as a producer of hardware for consumers.

I thought Apple’s launch presentation was brilliant in that it demonstrated the integration of its vision product with its other products — highlighting the integrated Apple ecosystem. Microsoft has an ecosystem of products but does a poor job of integrating it in the mind of the consumer. I’m not aware of Meta’s messaging, I just don’t follow the tech industry as closely as I once did.

An integrated system of products is a more powerful consumer proposition than one off products. Ultimately the success of a product may be due more to how it is marketed than purely technological superiority. Remember Betamax versus VHS in video recording? Sony’s exclusive Betamax delivered superior video quality. VHS was sold by a number of manufacturers and was advertised as providing longer recording time. VHS ultimately obliterated Betamax. Superior technology lost to what consumers apparently wanted — acceptable video quality and long recording time.

“Creating our first spatial computer required invention across nearly every facet of the system,” said Mike Rockwell, Apple’s vice president of the Technology Development Group. “Through a tight integration of hardware and software, we designed a standalone spatial computer in a compact wearable form factor that is the most advanced personal electronics device ever.”

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/06/introducing-apple-vision-pro/

Here is my take on it. I’ve worked in tech for over 3 decades. I have been blessed in my positions to see and use many technologies before they have become mainstream.

The iPhone was an amalgamation of many different technologies into a single device. I could have come from any of Apple’s competitors at the time but they were all busy dominating their niche and didn’t see the need. Steve Jobs put together the Cell Phone, MP3 Player, PDA, and the Digital Camera and marketed as the invention of all time. It became popular, cool, and ubiquitous before anyone else could catch up. It also didn’t hurt that it had a focus on quality but none of the tech was particularly ground breaking.

Now to recent history. Heads Up Displays, Pupil Tracking cursors have been around for ages and are in fact the heart of the Abrams Tank targeting system. VR Headsets have been around for quite some time and VR S/W has been continuously getting more sophisticated and realistic. AR (Augmented Reality) has been around for quite some time. Google Glass failed. Microsoft HoloLens is in it’s 3rd Generation.

Now along comes Apple with Mixed Reality. MR a combination of VR/AR, Digital Camera Tech, Phone Tech, etc. Nothing there is revolutionary. The question is does it have a market.

For me personally I don’t have a desire or need for that kind of a device. I would not mind seeing more practical applications for AR. Something that looks like and functions like a pair of glasses (not goggles projecting my eyes) that could augment my day to day life. For eample facial recognition that projected into my AR Names, Relationship Details and other pertinent information about the person I am interacting with. Instant referential lockups when I needed information. 3D Schematics of something I trying to service overlaid on the device I’m working on. Quick news flashes and weather alerts, GPS Maps that track with my movement, etc.

So in the long run, we will see where the market is. Is it a solo world all you own with an interface to the outside world, or is it the real world with on demand information, assistance and or augmentation. I’m betting on AR since that is my preference to use.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.