Vision Pro: Don't worry about Apple, it's already a success [L’édito de Toto]

It's the big day for Apple's mixed reality headset. The Vision Pro is arriving in France starting today and we can't say that there's a lot of excitement around Apple's second big new product of the 2020s. The first? Apple Silicon chips that have completely shaken up the MacBook and the world of computers. Ahead in this area and while the iPhone is quietly continuing its life cycle, Apple can show the world its vision of tomorrow. Rather than a headset, it's a “spatial computer” that the American giant presented to us a year ago. The promise of a new “revolution” years after the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone… and Steve Jobs.

The stakes are also high for Tim Cook, who has been running the Cupertino store with a master's hand for about ten years (2011). The strength of the American leader can be seen in the figures, which have completely exploded under his reign, with products that have reached maturity. Nevertheless, the magic that Steve Jobs could have had is missing, but nostalgia has also been there and times have changed. For football fans, the debate around Tim Cook and Steve Jobs is a bit like that between Didier Deschamps and Zinédine Zidane. Pragmatism and the obsession with (good) results on one side, against endless creativity and genius on the other.

With the Vision Pro, Tim Cook is finally allowing himself to step out of his comfort zone, the one that saw him “make do” with launching accessory products in 2014 (Apple Watch) and 2016 (AirPods). The headset is a radically different product that should bring Apple into a new era, that of the post-iPhone era.

The web is going crazy over the Vision Pro, the victory of form over substance

With its aura, its image (and its know-how), Apple has created a new “wow” effect like few tech companies know how to do. While it has been difficult to be totally amazed by tech products in recent years, the Apple Vision Pro shakes things up and stands out. The project seems much more solid than Mark Zuckerberg's shaky Meta, in search of renewal after the multiplication of scandals at Facebook.

When it was released, the Apple Vision Pro did not disappoint and created a huge buzz, and that did not necessarily help the headset. Outdoor videos showed everything not to do with the headset, highlighting the doubts and fears surrounding the product. Mocking hijackings multiplied, to the great delight of social networks. A “bad buzz” that did not necessarily help things for Apple, even raising fears that the headset would leave the same impression as the photo of Mark Zuckerberg strolling through the aisles of MWC 2016.

The site of Release had also taken up the question, wondering why Apple's headset generated “so much hate”. Kim Hullot-Guiot's article poses an interesting question: “What if we didn't systematically react to novelty with irony and mockery?”. In tech, we would willingly add that the fact of being called Apple arouses even more remarks than for any other brand. The grumblers and mockers are out, ready to draw their most beautiful photos of sheep or pigeons… because some things do not evolve.

Faced with the “antis”, the “pros” do not hesitate to provide “after-sales service” for the headset, as if their lives depended on it. The bottle doesn't matter, as long as we have the Apple-style intoxication, this results in influencers who only influence their ego for a brand that blinds them from any critical sense. An observation that also applies to part of the tech press.

When the (tech) press rushes, nothing goes right

Eager to ride the wave of a “wow” effect that will have been very short-lived, she takes shortcuts and jumps to hasty conclusions (dedication to TrashTalk) like everyone else on the Internet in 2024. Too bad for the analysis and the necessary perspective on a new product, as long as we have the adrenaline of the figure.

Figures have been discussed for several weeks with a subject that is on everyone's lips: Is the Apple Vision Pro a flop? The question deserves to be asked even though there is no other answer than “no”. The sales figures are disappointing according to analysts, from reputable firms and that we also mentioned just yesterday. The Apple Vision Pro is not a hit with the general public and is not of interest to many people when it is released in France.

The headset has still not reached the 100,000 unit sales mark, according to IDC. A situation that would be far from Apple's hopes and that would have pushed the firm to reduce production. The subject is perfect for making headlines for a tech press looking for sensationalism, but we can ultimately make the numbers say whatever we want. These predictions are those of more or less reliable observers, some of whom do not even agree with each other. The most recent case is that of Neil Cybart after the alarmist statements of Ming Chi Kuo.

For this specialist in figures from the Apple brand, Apple should sell 175,000 Vision Pros in 2024. A prediction far from those of Ming Chi Kuo (400,000 to 450,000 devices). But ultimately, what do these numbers mean? They bore you, me too.

Apple Vision Pro Review: Useless, but Essential? Not Really…

Knowing how many Apple headsets will sell this year will not change the course of your life or that of the American firm. In reality, no one knows the real objectives of the Apple brand and it is a safe bet that the essential is elsewhere for it. At 4,000 euros, this headset is not made to sell in mass and Apple would even be wrong to try to do so for the simple reason that its Vision Pro is a demonstration product. If you do not believe me, then how do you explain that Apple offers to book a demo in its stores?

Apple shows its way to its future

The Apple Vision Pro is a promise, that of a revolutionary future where the “spatial computer” becomes essential. No one knows if the Apple brand will succeed in its bet as the road is long, but this first version suggests that Apple has the cards in hand and the technology necessary to achieve it. It will be necessary to develop uses, as for smartphones which needed strong application stores (App Store, Play Store) to make themselves indispensable.

Obviously, the question of price will be crucial to impose this new object on the general public. At 4,000 euros, the Apple Vision Pro is a toy for wealthy geeks that can only become a niche product. Once mature, the object will be more accessible and the technology could even land in a slightly different format. The AI ​​revolution will also be an integral part of the success of a product that will necessarily include future Apple Intelligence innovations. Symbol of a future according to Apple, this Vision Pro V1 has succeeded in its mission, but don't rush out and buy it just yet.

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