To be successful at launching a new technological device, a company must overcome both nerd and creepy factors. Apple’s Vision Pro, the virtual and augmented reality goggles revealed on Monday, currently does neither. But Apple has a better chance than competitors at getting there.
The $2.8 trillion company run by Tim Cook unveiled the new eye device at a product launch just as Apple’s stock price reaches an all-time high. It is the third technology giant to go into the eyewear business. Google failed with its Glass project, which launched in 2013 and later closed. Meta Platforms , after buying headset company Oculus in 2014, uses its products to push Mark Zuckerberg’s pet project, the Metaverse. That division currently makes up less than 1% of Zuckerberg’s $700 billion company’s revenue.
Apple’s gear has whiffs of both ventures. Like Meta, it looks like the eye protectors a scuba diver might wear. And like Google, a user can interact with the real world while they are wearing the device, suggesting that people might actually see a person with the goggles on. In some ways, that’s the worst of both worlds.
Yet Cook has an advantage. First, unlike Meta, the company has always been a hardware business. Iterations of the iPhone suggest it’ll figure out how to make the design cool. And unlike Alphabet, Apple isn’t as deep into developing an artificial intelligence product, and its advertising business, while growing, is still a relatively small chunk of overall revenue. That suggests virtual users might be less concerned about the company’s literal interest in peering into their homes, especially given boss Tim Cook’s statements on the value of privacy.
Apple still has a long road to success. At $3,500 a pop, it’s too pricey for mass adoption. The clunky appearance makes public use limited. And people may still be uncomfortable about switching between the real world and the virtual one. But as far as finding a device that is both aesthetic and copacetic, Apple’s real world experience suggests it has a better chance at success than others.
Apple revealed Vision Pro, the company’s virtual and augmented reality headset on June 5. The company said the price is $3,499.
