Yeah. I feel like any gen 1 product is going to have a lot of issues. So unless you really want to be a super-early adopted and deal with the issues, lack of apps, etc. it's hard to justify a purchase.

I love being an early adopter, but not at $3,500, so I'll be waiting for gen 2 or 3.

I would be surprised if the price dropped. I believe Apple is known for keeping their pricing fairly neutral or increasing it. You could get a Gen 1 second hand, though.

Apple introduced it as the "Pro" model which is the high end line in apple-parlance. I'd expect a future non-pro model to slot in under it with all the essential features.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the Vision Pro eventually retails for $2999 instead of $3499. Today, it's a relatively low volume product and I'd expect costs to fall when Apple makes a push for a larger market

If there's not a sub-$2,000 version of this thing in 18 months, it's going to get put in Apple's attic alongside the Newton and G4 cube.

Essentially no consumer is spending $3,500 on a single tech purchase anymore. That price point is just way too high for anything but niche business use and I just don't see Apple being willing to settle for that niche.

Right, unless it replaces another $2000+ device, it's pretty hard to get mass market adoption at a $2000 price point, let alone 2x above that all-in.

The market for $2000 laptops is decent for example, but this thing for productivity use cases still needs you to own the $2000 laptop to connect to!

Cameras have moved higher end as the market has shrunk, but there still aren't that many of us buying $4000 cameras.

Even inflation adjusted, this is about 3x the intro iPhone price. Mass adoption followed when the price got cut 40% and they worked out subsidy & financing with the carriers so optically the price became 80% lower.

Unless they can deliver a totally game-changing experience imo. And so far it looks like they have the best VR/AR headset on the market, but will that be enough, remains to be seen.

Like if Apple is able to provide such a good experience, that I don't need multiple monitors for work, I could easily justify that purchase. But it would have to have great battery life, support virtual screens, provide a fast and smooth experience, be super comfortable even after 6-7 hours, etc. I don't think Gen 1 will check all those boxes off, but gen 2-3-4, maybe.

> unless .. game-changing

I have been silently dismissive until seeing a c.a. 5 minute ad on YouTube last night. Now I would be interested in at least trying the experience. However, I am wondering if the sales video might be better rendered (or somehow more impressive?) than the VR/AR itself.

There’s at least 180,000

Apple sold 200 million iPhones last year.

If there’s any company capable of raising the overton window of tech pricing it’s apple. The price of AirPods Max seemed like a joke when it came out, but I see them everywhere.

Yeah they did do a great job of taking headphones/earbuds from throwaway freebies to $100-$200 must-haves and then pushing that to $500 with the Max. Although the Max certainly isn't a must have for most people.

I just a hard time believing that $3,500 is the price point they have in mind for VR stuff. In my own head, I had decided to insta-buy if it was $2,000 at launch and I wasn't even close.

Early buyers of the original iPhone got money back like six months later when the price was cut. I believe around $200

> I would be surprised if the price dropped.

I wouldn’t, especially under Tim Cook.

> I believe Apple is known for keeping their pricing fairly neutral or increasing it.

For the flagship product, sure. But older generations get discounted. The iPhone 15 is out, yet they continue to sell 14 and 13.

It also depends on if they will refresh it every year. The AirPods Max came out a while ago and the price still hasn’t dropped.

Here's the thing though – do people want a $3500 gen 2 or gen 3 Vision Pro with all the kinks sorted out and a few incremental upgrades, or a $500-800 version with vastly inferior specs? I'm going to say neither, because most people I know are waiting for a $500 Vision Pro, but I don't think that is ever going to happen.

Then the product is dead in the water.

I can see a $2000 vision down the line but not as low as $500.

Yeah, $500 seems basically impossible for an "Apple" product. I mean AirPods are $200 minimum. The latest phones are $1000. Their laptops are all $1000+. I'm not sure how Apple would make a product that has a screen and sell it for the price of a couple pairs of ANC bluetooth earbuds.

They sell iPads for $300. Meta Quest 2 is $250. Plenty of other VR headsets are in the $300-$500 range. Sure you can argue about quality and everything else, but for the average consumer $3500 is one zero too many.

Presumably you can just run it plugged in/charging, right?

Yes you can. The battery pack has a usb-c port for charging while in use

So basically, for extended use, you need a battery pack for your battery pack. I’m going to look pretty cyberpunk when I gear up

Or you can just plug it in to your wall?

That doesn't sound as comfortable, nor as cyberpunk.

Yeah I’ve seen people buy two batteries so you can just cycle them.

This is really a release mostly for developers and enthusiasts who are willing to spend some money on a product which still has to grow. From the software obviously and one can also expect quite some hardware improvements with the next generations, at least wrt. run time and possibly weight.

Never buy a gen 1 apple product unless it's for work.

Speaking as a first-gen iPad and Apple Watch buyer. It goes obsolete so quickly.

I confirm that experience. The first iPad in particular only got a couple years of updates. https://iosref.com/ipados

I don't really regret those purchases, but that's me. I was an early adopter, not a regular customer by any stretch.

Never say never... I got the first generation iPad, and was happy that I did. But then, it was not that expensive. But yes, especially with such a new product category, you really want to wait a few generations, if you want to get the best product for your money. Just look how quickly iPhones evolved and this Vision Pro is even more groundbreaking.

It was quickly followed by an iPad that was much thinner, nearly 2x faster, a bit lighter, and supported for 4 more iOS versions.

As I said, I was happy. In the end it is always the relation on how you balance quickly vs. spending money on a first-gen product. But yes, most iPad customers probably were happier with the 2nd gen.

I got a few years use out of my first-gen iPad and Apple Watch - bought the iPad on release day, the Watch several months in.

That felt pretty reasonable given the cost for each.

I don't disagree with your sentiment for the Vision Pro, but can't agree for the iPad or Watch.

our first gen iPad is still around, with older apps you can't get any more. it still plays new itunes movies or shows that i can buy today.

my first gen watch is used by one of my kids, paired with his iPhone. it works fine for him, tells the time and everything.

perhaps some people don’t see the value in getting a lot of use out of the devices, but that certainly doesn't mean it isn't possible!

First Gen iPhone, iPod, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac Mini, iMac (all form factors) they were all amazing and had very few problems.

For battery, I think it can be connected directly to power instead of always rely on battery. I may need pure-battery when moving around (hopefully nothing more than 2hr) but have it plugged in when I am stable.

I think the plane ride use case is what people target the most, but then again bringing extra powerbanks is feasible

I would imagine that the target demographic flies premium/business and will almost certainly have power sockets for long flights.

Are there lots of airlines that don’t have power at every seat now?

Airlines in Europe often don't have it on short-haul flights

I was very surprised not to have it in business class on the return trip over the Atlantic around Christmas, so it happens.

In a long-haul Turkish Airlines flight I took in October, I only had USB-A power. But it was economy, who knows what the higher tiers had.

Probably anyone flying with a $4000 headset has a seat with a power outlet

The target use case for this is a long-haul drive in the Cybertruck

I wonder how much charging ones headset would reduce the driving range.

lol. Upvote. Wait, Idlewords? Should have guessed. We’ve missed you!

I can't think of a flight I've taken in the last 5 years where my seat didn't have it's own 110V/220V outlet and multiple USB ports.

Always literally the cheapest tickets I could book, always economy class. Domestic US, domestic Canada, 8+ countries international.

Most planes have power points these days too.

I wonder if a company like Anker will be able to release anything sooner rather than later to help extend device use on battery.

Probably yes. But if you want me to shell more than 3K dollars you can't give me the battery life of a Meta Quest 3, way cheaper.

Is there not a way to plug it in while watching a movie?

From what I have read, you can recharge the battery while in use, so that sounds like you wouldn't be limited to 2 hours of use as long you can plug in.

How can there be a lot of scalpers when they're an appointment only to fit at the Apple store?

They're not, they'll ship them directly to you.

I’m sure plenty are grassroots scalpers, but I recall seeing some fine print about limitations per household (2 I believe). Which is in line with the old limits they had in other products[0].

How they enforce that is of course another thing. It’s less meaningful if it it’s just based on Apple ID, more if it’s based on payment methods or billing address. Then again, they guide orders through a Face ID scan for fit, so that makes it easier to limit orders.

0: https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/03/23/apple-dropping-de...

Haha wait. How do you scalp a product on pre-order that requires an in-person fitting. Seems such a roundabout way to a headache. It's easier just to let Apple's marketing funnel suck you in ahah