Apple could have sold up to 180,000 Vision Pro headsets, but it's not all good news

[midian182]

In brief: Apple opened pre-orders for its Vision Pro mixed reality headset over the weekend ahead of the official February 2 launch date. According to estimates from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the company sold between 160,000 and 180,000 devices across the two days. And while that might sound like good news for Cupertino, it comes with a caveat.

Kuo previously predicted that Apple would produce 60,000 to 80,000 Vision Pro units for the launch day. Writing on Medium, the famed analyst says the headset sold out soon after the pre-order process opened, and that shipping times for all three models, which offer 256GB ($3,500), 512GB ($3,699), and 1TB ($3,899) of storage, increased from five weeks to seven weeks.

While that sounds like good news for Apple, Kuo noted that those shipping times remained unchanged after 48 hours, which could indicate that orders dropped considerably after the hardcore Apple fans made their purchases. He noted that ongoing demand for new iPhones means the handsets usually see a steady increase in shipping times 24 to 48 hours after pre-orders open.

Kuo noted that given Apple has 1.2 billion active users, the company understands that the Vision Pro is a very niche product. The headset is only launching in the US at first, with the global rollout coming later in the year, possibly during June, before WWDC.

According to Bloomberg, analysts expect Apple to ship 300,000 to 400,000 Vision Pro units this year, generating as much as $1.4 billion in revenue. That's a lot of money, but not for a company that brought in $383 billion in sales last year.

It was recently confirmed that like the processors found in Apple's laptops and tablets, the Vision Pro's M2 SoC features an 8-core CPU (four performance and four efficiency cores), a 10-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. It also supports 90Hz, 96Hz, and 100Hz refresh rates. Check out the full specs here.

The fact that the Vision Pro won't have a dedicated Netflix, YouTube or Spotify app may deter people from spending $3,500 or more on one of the headsets. But Cupertino will probably hope the free, 25-minute demos available in Apple stores will help convince customers to hand over their money.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/101601-apple-could-have-sold-up-180000-vision-pro.html

 

[loki1944]

Honestly for me VR was so underwhelming and an utter waste of money; it was a very Emperor's New Clothes experience with both my DK2 and OR; definitely not surprised if it gets nudged into 3d glasses territory

 

[Lounds]

Honestly for me VR was so underwhelming and an utter waste of money; it was a very Emperor's New Clothes experience with both my DK2 and OR; definitely not surprised if it gets nudged into 3d glasses territory

So your last experience was QR? You've never tried Quest? Because wireless VR is a game changer imo.

 

[Kotters]

So your last experience was QR? You've never tried Quest? Because wireless VR is a game changer imo.

I disagree. A wire isn't a fundamental change at all. I use my Index as my primary headset, and my Quest lays gathering dust.

It's a nice to have, but not going to convert nonbelievers, if you will. Now, combined with a smaller and lighter form factor? Perhaps. The Q3 is interesting, and the Beyond is hilariously tiny. I've ordered the latter myself, after the experiences of multiple friends.

In any case, though, the AVP is just heavy and not aiming to compete with the VR gaming space. Who knows how that will turn out.

 

[loki1944]

So your last experience was QR? You've never tried Quest? Because wireless VR is a game changer imo.

the underlying medium is the issue; upping resolution/refresh/controls/wireless wont address the fundamental flaws. Same reason 3d glasses never took off.

What the hope was: the holodeck; the reality: an aquarium

 

[m4a4]

What the hope was: the holodeck; the reality: an aquarium

Then tone down your unrealistic expectations, because no one serious about VR is trying to sell a holodeck experience right now lol

The arcade experience that VR can give is very fun. No one that I've demoed it for didn't have fun (and the kids always enjoyed it most because they don't seem to be so closed minded with lofty expectations).

 

[VitalyT]

The fact that the Vision Pro won't have a dedicated Netflix, YouTube or Spotify app may deter people from spending $3,500 or more on one of the headsets

Nothing can deter those people from throwing money at Apple, except the lack thereof.

 

[p51d007]

Wonder how many of these will be returned within 30 days, if Apple allows it.

 

[Kashim]

 

[loki1944]

Then tone down your unrealistic expectations, because no one serious about VR is trying to sell a holodeck experience right now lol

The arcade experience that VR can give is very fun. No one that I've demoed it for didn't have fun (and the kids always enjoyed it most because they don't seem to be so closed minded with lofty expectations).

I just call things how they are; that's not an expectation; it's just a fact. I'm not into lipsticks on pigs or any variant thereof.

 

[Subset6]

VR is nice for a play thing but that’s about it. It’s something you mess around sometimes, then put away and forget about it, rinse/repeat. This crazy expensive Apple one is no different. I think VR does have a bright future, we are just not there yet in several areas.
Form factor is a huge one, a VR headset should be more sunglasses like among other things like fov/screen res.. etc..

 

[Theinsanegamer]

the only things you've said were subjective. Not fact. And then you're disappointed in VR because it's not a sci-fi holodeck (and no one was saying it was).

Anyways, if you're too narrow minded to have fun in VR, then it's just your loss lol

Hey, you enjoy VR, that's great, enjoy it! Let's not mince words here: VR is very expensive to get into, not just the expensive headsets but the hardware behind them, all for watered down experiments that might resemble a game if you quint.

There's a good reason the VR hype died out years ago. Nobody is talking about it now, outside of fan groups.

 

[m4a4]

Hey, you enjoy VR, that's great, enjoy it! Let's not mince words here: VR is very expensive to get into, not just the expensive headsets but the hardware behind them, all for watered down experiments that might resemble a game if you quint.

There's a good reason the VR hype died out years ago. Nobody is talking about it now, outside of fan groups.

That's great. My main point was that having the expectation that it should've been a sci-fi holodeck is unreal. The rest is subjective.

It is expensive. It is a burden to use. But it also can be fun (and a unique experience) if you don't expect a holodeck, and play to VR's strengths (arcade games)

 

[Kotters]

VR is nice for a play thing but that’s about it. It’s something you mess around sometimes, then put away and forget about it, rinse/repeat. This crazy expensive Apple one is no different. I think VR does have a bright future, we are just not there yet in several areas.
Form factor is a huge one, a VR headset should be more sunglasses like among other things like fov/screen res.. etc..

That's not been the case for me and my friends. Even I have 4 digit hours in VR gaming on steam, and I'm low compared to them.

 

[Bobbydpue]

"Could have" not a news story, it's just speculation.

 

[Bobbydpue]

Honestly for me VR was so underwhelming and an utter waste of money; it was a very Emperor's New Clothes experience with both my DK2 and OR; definitely not surprised if it gets nudged into 3d glasses territory

Gaming and any entertainment is a waste of money. VR was underwhelming for you, but you didn't explain why or what your setup was. So it's likely just your specific experience is the issue and not the entire industry as a whole.

 

[The Talking Tech]

First of all no one that would use a VR headset would dress like the model Apple is promoting in that front picture.

That alone it shows you the unrealistic expectations.

 

[RandomWAN]

Your experience with VR is very much determined by your expectations of it. If you expected anything other than another layer of immersion, then you'll have a negative experience. Roomscale games/experiences are not going to be an artificial reality; they're just another way to experience the game that is a bit more than staring into a window.

If you're into flight/racing sims, it adds a layer of immersion that cannot be matched by a screen, not even a triple screen setup. You feel much more like you're sitting in a tight cockpit or you have a much greater awareness of your position on a track and where other vehicles are around you. You couple that with a HOTAS/wheel setup and add a motion rig to it, it becomes a much more capable tool for both entertainment and training.

Yes, it isn't cheap to get in on the ground floor, but if you already have a newer computer that is reasonably powerful, then you only have to get the HMD which often come packaged with controllers/light houses. Like anything relating to gaming, it's a hobby and the deeper you get into that hobby, the more costly it becomes.

 

[Kotters]

Pretty much. Anyone expecting some life changing event is going to be disappointed. Even the wow factor of 3d space will fade.

Don't forget we already live and navigate in a 3d space with extremely high visual fidelity, fov, low time-to-photon, infinite focal planes, etc every day.

 

[Liljonny11]

VR has some crazy immersion implications with things like horror games, racing games, flight simulators, and maybe even shooters some day. The issue is that there are no standards on anything since it's a new technology. Without standards, there is no investment into the games under one form of VR. I've been waiting patiently for a VR set that's comfortable, but also comes with games I'd actually enjoy, they need to find a way to bring the best games into the VR world.

 

[nnguy2]

The headset itself is a restriction on immersion and limits the user experience but hey it's apple

 

[RandomWAN]

The headset itself is a restriction on immersion and limits the user experience but hey it's apple

I don't know what the experience is like for their particular headset, but I've never found VR HMDs of the current generation restrictive on immersion outside of the cable tether. Modern ones are relatively light and if you can counterbalance the weight, they're even less intrusive. There's always going to be limitations that will reduce the felt immersion, but you definitely feel more like you're there over a monitor.

 

[Kotters]

VR just feels like a barrier is removed. You have so much space to interact with and view information, and navigating it is intuitive; you're constantly using those same skills IRL.