Apple Vision Pro: Not for you, but for us!

Link to the article on MEEDIA

My impulse to buy the Apple Vision Pro (AVP) is surprisingly low. Some of my colleagues feel the same way. Are we all getting older and duller? Is it because of the “HoloLens-style” business stiffness with which the AVP was introduced? Why does it spark curiosity – but hardly any FOMO?

Privately, I’d describe myself as very curious and easily excited when it comes to new technologies. I devour one review after another – but my impulse to buy the Apple Vision Pro (AVP) is surprisingly low. Some of my colleagues feel the same way; normally, they wouldn’t even have finished watching the Apple Keynote before their credit card started glowing. Are we all getting older and duller? Is it because of the “HoloLens-style” business stiffness with which the AVP was introduced? Why does it spark curiosity – but hardly any FOMO?

When a product is innovative enough, it’s enough to just say so. The iPhone was sold with the crystal-clear explanation that it was “an iPod, a phone, and a browser in one.” (Okay, Steve Jobs repeated that three times back then.) The iPhone, however, solved a highly relevant problem: no more carrying two devices (iPod and phone) and finally being able to use a third one (browser) meaningfully on the go. In short: it offered a better experience – it made life simpler or more entertaining.

The AVP lacks that experience. For now. Professionally, I’d say:

The story doesn’t have a hook yet.

The two most critical points for any immersive communication are “how do I get in?” and “what keeps me in?” A hook that practically forces me to buy. An experience you can’t afford to miss! There’s enormous untapped potential here.

Experienced VR professionals have to resist falling into the “Play it one more time, Frank” mode – seeing the AVP as just another headset simply because it looks similar from the outside.

And the general public still sees “a box on your face” – and the fact that you’re flailing around alone in your living room. Plus, there’s a problem Meta Quest already solved: the price. Depending on the configuration, the Vision Pro is almost 10x more expensive than the Quest. That’s never stopped Apple fans – but it certainly stops the mass market.

But this Vision Pro isn’t (yet) for the mass market either. The explanation for the didactic, Microsoft-esque launch lies in the name itself: “Vision. Pro.” It’s a (tech) vision for professionals.

It’s not about the cheerful Apple dad at breakfast, starring in a disturbing family scene with his son while looking “through” the Vision Pro – thereby achieving the dubious feat of being the first real human to trigger an uncanny valley effect.

No, the Vision Pro is a dev kit. Ready for development. WE – the digital agencies – are the target audience, and we’re appropriately excited.

The future is literally right before our eyes. Probably so close we can’t even see it yet. “This is it,” said Casey Neistat, adding: “This is the worst Vision Pro Apple ever ships. This is going to be so much better.”

It’s often small features that make a big difference in the experience. Touchscreens existed before the iPhone – but Apple had the first one without delay and with multitouch (cars like to remind us of the old “Touch and Wait” UX). And Apple was brave enough to get rid of the physical keyboard. What an uproar that was!

And they did it again: thanks to eye tracking, you finally don’t have to use (mostly empty and unintuitive) controllers anymore. Hallelujah! Does that convince my parents yet? Not sure. But the Apple Watch also only became truly good starting with Series 5 (with “always-on”). The AVP will probably need a few more editions before it becomes relevant to the masses. Until then, it’s an exciting ride.

We Germans tend to get stuck in Gartner’s Hype Cycle (for introducing new technologies) in the “trough of disillusionment.” “I tried VR, it was fun for 15 minutes, that’s it, done.” Forever. This know-it-all grumbler mentality has cost us leadership in many world-changing technologies (digitalization and e-mobility being just two examples). Many people approach innovation dutifully rather than curiously, almost waiting for the chance to dislike it – and then toss the whole topic aside with a smug smile.

In doing so, they overlook two things:

1. The potential that can emerge from the new technology.
2. The weaknesses of the existing technologies we’ve gotten used to.

Today, it seems totally fine that our offices are filled with large black rectangular monitors (blocking eye contact) and that we have even bigger black monoliths in our living rooms. If monitors were new, we’d probably find them just as ridiculous as the “stupid goggles.” Because if instead of setting up big screens and ergonomic desks, all we had to do was put on glasses – those “big” glasses would suddenly seem remarkably small.

Apple has done its job – now it’s our turn to add two other essential elements: relevant business use cases (for brands and products) and emotional stories that entertain us. For a perfect experience, business, story, and tech must work seamlessly together.

“Business” here means: Is the AVP worth it for my brand? Well, let’s read the signs: No HTC, Index, or Quest has ever been proudly worn in public – until now. TikTok was full of people just hours after the release, proudly walking through New York or sitting on the subway with the AVP. Weird! But maybe just as weird as the first people talking on the phone in public or later taking selfies.

It’s always weird before it’s normal.

The review culture is also different from that of all previous VR headsets. The topic feels more mature. Before, they were like the kids’ table at a wedding – kind of fun, but irrelevant. Apple brings something neither Microsoft nor Meta have: coolness. Because what the most popular influencers wear, the masses soon will too – and they want to be emotionally engaged. Because when technology is your only idea, you don’t have an idea yet. For a dev kit, a tech demo is enough, but when it comes to brand communication, the AVP still leaves us looking through the tube. It lacks entertainment and fun.

We need the “iBeer moment”: The older ones will remember – iBeer was one of the very first fun iPhone apps, where you tilted your phone like a beer glass and watched it “empty.” A little gag – but it used the fine gyro sensor, making it feel almost magical. (From a marketing perspective, it’s almost tragic that no beer brand put its logo on that virtual glass back then – it would have been shared millions of times.) These are the small nuggets lying on the ground now, waiting to be picked up. Meanwhile, the big brands are already digging their gold mines:

From complete retail experiences at home – where you can not only take new hiking boots off the shelf but also wear them immersively in the snow on Mount Everest while a voice assists you –

To AR experiences that already work well – made spectacular by the Vision Pro’s brilliant passthrough! Instead of holding a tiny smartphone rectangle, the asset is truly in your living room. With realistic shadows and 3D audio. And those assets already exist.

In the concept phase, we always have a key phrase when we’ve solved the (business) problem but the user experience still feels too bland: “Now add the fun.” And that’s exactly what we’re going to do now.