Apple Vision Pro could disrupt the way people watch TV at home and use computers at work, positioning the headset as an extension of TVs and Macs.
The $3,500 headset, which offers three-dimensional digital content containing images of the outside world, went on sale at the company’s physical store in the United States on Friday. It entered the market with low-cost platforms such as Meta Platforms and HTC, which were mostly limited to the video game market and could not find a wide audience.
Apple has had mixed results in favor of developers. Netflix, one of the most popular consumer video services, said late Friday that it will not develop new apps for the Vision Pro, although customers can watch movies and series through the device’s web browser.
YouTube said in the Bloomberg report that it doesn’t plan to release new apps for the device, but customers can use the Safari web browser. The company could not immediately be reached for comment. Music streaming service Spotify has not yet developed an app to advertise the products, people familiar with the matter said.
This expensive device has a special chip and a complex manufacturing process that its competitors do not have. Analysts who have tested the headphones say these features could make the device a threat to homes or offices of almost any size.
Walt Disney has been quietly working with Apple for years to create an app for the launch of Vision Pro, the latest development in the history of collaboration between the two companies.
“As we look at this, it’s clear that this is a new canvas on which we can tell stories in ways we haven’t done before,” said Aaron LaBerge, chief technology officer. It is produced by Disney Entertainment. “So we want to do something here as a way to expand ourselves.”
The Disney+ app places movie lovers in one of four places; so they can experience the fictional world of Tatooine Watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens, go to the movies or watch Avengers: Endgame on the X-34 land vehicle. at the Avengers Tower in midtown Manhattan. Visitors will also be able to watch 42 Disney 3D movies, including blockbusters “Avatar: Waterfall,” “Black Panther” and “Inside Out.” Jamie Voris, CEO of Walt Disney Pictures, said filmmakers interested in the story, such as “The Lion King” director Jon Favreau and “Avatar” James Cameron, are interested in telling stories in new ways. Disney will soon unveil an experience that will allow consumers to interact with Marvel Studios’
animated anthology series What If, he said in a video presentation at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Laberge said the device also opens up new ways to experience live sports or park trips.
“This is a great example of what we do best, which is bringing our characters and stories into the real world and bringing you closer to the people you love,” Voorhees said.
Former Apple co-founder Steve Jobs told historian Walter Isaacson that “I finally figured it out” when creating the next TVs, and he wasn’t sure if the composite material was what was in the concept. However, analysts like Ben Bajarin of Creative Strategies seem to have fulfilled this promise of Vision Pro long ago.
“I don’t know what Steve Jobs meant when he said, ‘I broke the television,'” Bajarin said. “But that principle makes it more interesting than a TV commercial. It can be creative. It can be social. … It could turn into a much bigger opportunity than television. ”
To make sure the expensive Apple Vision Pro won’t become a best-selling product anytime soon, Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi said in a report to investors that Apple has told its supply chain that it expects to produce only 1 million units. Apple is also preparing more capacity before customers want it.
Apple’s approach “suggests there is no doubt that consumers will feel the need to buy immediately without being convinced by the store’s performance,” Sacconaghi wrote.
However, high prices are less of a deterrent for buyers.
Campfire, a startup that produces software for using headsets to collaborate on 3D data such as engine design, notes that the price of the first 1984 Mac computer is equivalent to about $7,500 today. But small businesses are turning to Macs for their ability to create and print documents and maps.
“It’s important to know that this is not a consumer device like the Apple Watch. This is a completely new computer,” Wright said. “I think this is more of a post-Mac event than a post-iPhone event.”