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Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

bloomberg.com

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Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#261

Post by scarface_74 »

smoldesu wrote: post #227
scarface_74 wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And Apple has single digit market share in computer sells and barely double digit in phone sales. Are those two categories also failures for Apple? And saying that Meta can sell more worse devices than Apple that are cheaper and losing Meta money is like saying that Android manufactures can sell more $50 unsubsidized phones than Apple.

> is like saying that Android manufactures can sell more $50 unsubsidized phones than Apple. Is that a wrong statement? Do they not effectively stop Apple from penetrating every non-US market in the world?

People who are buying a $60 unsubsidized phone are not going to all the sudden be able to afford a $400+ iPhone. Apple has never in 40+ years catered toward the low end.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#262

Post by stetrain »

hghid wrote: post #197

Slightly tangential rant, but is anybody else becoming frustrated with the process of buying Apple products in Apple stores? For me, it started with the Apple Watch - I knew which one I wanted and was ready just to head down and buy one, but I was forced to sit through an entire "fitting" with patronising explanation on how to use the knob on the the side. Recently, I wanted to buy a new Phone. Again, I knew the one…

If I know exactly what I want and don’t need the guided experience, I just order it on the Apple Store mobile app then pick it up in-store.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#263

Post by isykt »

nostromo wrote: post #211
nightpool wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't you also buy these products online? I'm not surprised that the in-store experience has become such a high touch affair when the customer base that would have wanted less interaction have already self-selected out by not going to the store at all

But they shouldn't assume that. I just had this exact experience because my phone was irrevocably ruined, so I needed to pick a replacement up the same day. The Apple Store was a very poor experience with a sales agent I knew more than trying, repeatedly, to explain to me things like backup, Apple Care, etc., etc. I also for some reason had to talk to four different people, and the only one that could actually help m…

What happened when you told them, “I’m all set without a demo, please just ring me up ?” Did they refuse?

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#264

Post by georgespencer »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #152
hospitalJail wrote: post #150

Maybe this is cynical, but my marketing class taught us to look at everything Apple does under the view of the best marketers in the world. The marketers told them to go for the 'exclusive club' vibe by doing in-store appointments. Wonder if there is some messaging by the Apple leader at the appointment that explains how this is cool, exclusive, luxury. Reinforcing the purchase decision. Need to make the barrier to e…

I suspect that they don't expect high volumes so rather than giving the impression that the launch is a failure they turn it into an exclusive club product.

Supply chain scuttlebutt is that the display technology is so constrained[^1] that Apple expects to only _manufacture_ 400,000 headsets next year.

It's possible that this product will flop, but I can't see it being anything other than sold out everywhere for most of 2024. Heck, you can make a reasonable case for there only being 10k-30k SKUs in channel inventory at launch, and Apple has 275 retail locations which require multiple demo units in addition to launch stock.

[^1]: https://www.ft.com/content/b6f06bde-17b0-4886-b465-b561212c9..., https://www.ft.com/content/632b4ffa-3637-4972-a525-0ddbcd50b.... Tl;dr: each device needs 2 displays (so 800k displays leads to 400k headsets), the displays are new and complex (which is why they account for 50% of the manufacturing cost of the entire device) which means it's expensive to ramp up production lines for suppliers (who are unsure of demand) _and_ production yields are low.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#265

Post by scarface_74 »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #71
anonymouse008 wrote: post #49

They need to go back and read the Newton’s postmortem. With every new detail about this devices release - it’s becoming clearer and clearer this device just is not ready. I was excited iPad apps could be directly ported over to VisionPro - but now after hacking with it in XCode - it’s evident this device and its APIs have no idea that customer intent drives context . This lack of customer awareness is so interesting…

> They need to go back and read the Newton’s postmortem. With every new detail about this devices release - it’s becoming clearer and clearer this device just is not ready. In fact their actions suggest they already know this. It feels like Apple felt obliged to show .. something, anything .. after so many years of work (7 years? Just a guess). I think this limited appointment-only release is part of a cautious wait-…

> They need to go back and read the Newton’s postmortem. With every new detail about this devices release - it’s becoming clearer and clearer this device just is not ready.

Neither was the Mac that sold abysmally for years and Apple was propped up by the Apple // series

And neither was the iPod. They sold less than 1 million in the first two years.

Or the Apple iPhone that barely captured 1% market share tte first year (Jobs stated goal)

Or the Apple Watch which was slow, with bad battery life and a horrible SDK. It took years for Apple to have a coherent focus.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#266

Post by hyperthesis »

akira2501 wrote: post #151
drewg123 wrote: post #136

This product has opened my eyes to "AR" glasses in general, but I think its way overkill for what I want to do.. My use case is being able to code with a giant screen anywhere (plane, hotel room, etc). I just want a few giant editor windows and terminals open. I don't care about gaming, AR gimmicks, etc. From what I understand, there are a number of sub $500 options. (xreal air, rokud air, TCL NXTWEAR, etc). However…

> My use case is being able to code with a giant screen anywhere I've tried this on other platforms. The device gets heavy and your eyes get hot and sweaty, and dealing with an extension cord running from your head to a battery pack just adds insult to the inconvenience. It's not fun and it was not a major boost to productivity. Plus.. for $3,500 I can just buy quite a few nice monitors.

If they have solved this, it would be worth it (ROI) for some creative professionals.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#267

Post by boopmaster »

MegaDeKay wrote: post #38

"Gurman says Apple will ensure that the Vision Pro fits the wearer and also outfit the device with prescription lens inserts if needed" I wear prescription glasses and have gone from single vision to progressive lenses that are stupid expensive. Worse, my prescription changes every visit to the optometrist. How sensitive is the headset's performance to my prescription, how expensive would replacement lenses be, and h…

It’s a shame that the eye trackers are not suitable to understand the shape of the eye, so the image could be adapted for it.

I feel you on this topic. I wear glasses. Wearing a really old pair from 20 years back is painful, but I can slip comfortably into a prescription from 6 years ago, I don’t know what your experience is with that, though.

I wish there were more information about this. Should I get an updated Rx and put in a pre-order for lenses? Who knows!?! I’m astigmatic, near sighted I guess, but a close up VR lens doesn’t change focal length at all, so lenses are a must for me.

Waiting and “seeing” ;)

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#268

Post by smoldesu »

scarface_74 wrote: post #261
smoldesu wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> is like saying that Android manufactures can sell more $50 unsubsidized phones than Apple. Is that a wrong statement? Do they not effectively stop Apple from penetrating every non-US market in the world?

People who are buying a $60 unsubsidized phone are not going to all the sudden be able to afford a $400+ iPhone. Apple has never in 40+ years catered toward the low end.

People who are priced out of an iPhone Pro are not going to take out a loan to pay for a headset they'll use like a game console. If they're not replacing their iPhone with it, there's no point in buying it. It's a product that inherently relies on an ecosystem (albeit a strong one) to survive. Much like the iPad and the Apple Watch, if the iPhone and it's app ecosystem didn't exist it would be DOA.

So... assuming you're right, who is this headset for? People inside the ecosystem, who want to spend more money on Apple products but don't need it for anything particularly useful? I wager more iPhone users will own Quest headsets than Apple-branded ones by 2025.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#269

Post by wccrawford »

dev_tty01 wrote: post #187
Jarmsy wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All I've seen so far suggests they're almost entirely focused on virtual 2d screens floating in 3d space, and not other virtual 3d objects at all.

Not true at all. https://developer.apple.com/visionos/

Why would you think that URL would prove them wrong, when the only image it has on that page is of 2d screens floating in 3d space?

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#270

Post by thr0waway001 »

Totally makes sense. It needs to be sold exactly like a vehicle.

They probably only want serious people trying these things. And by serious I mean people with the money to spend and intent to buy it.

My first thought when I saw this was how will this work in an Apple store with every Tom, Dick and Mary with at most $100 bucks in their bank account and a bunch of soon to be maxed out credit cards trying this thing but knowing full well that they cannot afford it and will probably not buy it.

It would be a waste of time for Apple store employees to demo this thing for people who are thousands of dollars away from being able to afford it.

By making it appointment only they can reduce the pool of people who would waste their time.

And no, I'm not trying to be a snob, in fact, I am one of these people who could never afford this thing. They'd have to sell it at $500 for it to be in my price range.

I was just thinking about the logistics.

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