In an effort to jumpstart sales after a sluggish U.S. debut, Apple is revamping its in-store strategy for the $3,499 Vision Pro spatial computer. This comes just five months after the device’s launch, and coincides with its international rollout. The company hopes a more compelling retail experience will boost sales.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
The biggest change is a new feature that lets customers beam their own photos, videos and panoramas over to a Vision Pro during a demonstration. Then they can see their own media in mixed reality. If you’ve already done this on a Vision Pro, you know that it could help sway some shoppers. The new approach is rolling out now, but the official launch is scheduled for July 9.
Another change to the demo: Apple is adding a new “Go Deeper” option for people who want to spend more time trying out particular parts of the device, such as office-work features or watching videos. Lastly — and this went into effect Friday globally — Apple has changed the default headset band for the device during demos from the Solo Loop to the Dual Loop. It seems that the Solo Loop, which only wraps around the back of a person’s head, hasn’t been comfortable enough for potential customers.
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MacDailyNews Take: The timeline for the first Vision Pro is proceeding exactly as we expected.
[This] is exactly what you’d expect to occur when a product is released too early to average users… Apple Vision Pro is a devkit for developers, not for average users, and should have been released as a devkit for developers. – MacDailyNews, March 26, 2024
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I had the original demo. It was very good for what it intended to show. They need a series of workshops, helping potential users to set up/ show actual uses cases in action. Scheduled events at select Apple Stores as actual workshops would help. Similar to when Final Cut was first introduced. Other than for the curious with fat wallets, more is needed to make this sale.
My demo was weak. The first thing that happened was that the device almost fell off of my face as the magnetic light seal detached as I was putting it on. The field of view was too narrow and limited the otherwise compelling experience. It was rushed and I didn’t have any time to just play with it for a minute. Even a lighter updated version is still going to contain most of the friction of the original model. I’d much rather see a clunky sunglasses design that you just put on instead of this strap contraption that you have to precisely adjust, hold a very specific way when putting on and fiddle with.
For all the revamping they can do I don’t think anything will matter as much as price, it’s way too expensive for what it offers. If it were $2,999 with AppleCare and a case that’d be different, but it’s actually $3,822 after tax in California for the base model before you even think about AppleCare or accessories. They’d hate to do it but they must be well below the sales numbers they thought they would have by now and a price cut is the only way to really push the needle. I’m surprised they haven’t even released any commercials.
There’s a guy on YouTube, Himels Tech, who has done better advertising for the AVP than Apple’s overpaid marketing idiots.
It broke a rule of jobs there has to be a purpose for it. There is no purpose to it plus it cost more than many of the Mac computers that’s a huge problem. People in most cases don’t have 2-3000 grand for a computer let alone a headset. Needs to be like 350.00 to 500 tops and even then it’s not a guarantee it’s big and bulky and it’s use case is limited.
Agree 100%+, Steven.
I see absolutely ZERO purpose for shelling out $3,500 for what? Wearing a heavy device with LIMITED CAPABILITY that is a pain in the neck?
I would not want to wear a MacBook Pro Laptop around my neck, either that does so much more.
Canceling Project Titanic and now a half baked nerd expensive googles TOY will sink Tim Cook. That said, his Hail Mary is fragmented AI — we shall see…
Airpods Max is $549. AVP at $500 will never been seen. Never.
$1200, maybe.
Computers are mainly iterations–therefore, relatively cheaper. AVP is hardly an iteration.