Ahead of Apple Vision Pro launch, CEO Tim Cook says users to get 600 tailor-made apps, 1 mn overall

Just a few hours to go for Apple Vison Pro to be launched and CEO Tim Cook has revealed the humongous benefits that will be rolling out for users in this premium and quite pricey gadget - the Vision Pro is priced at $3,499. Taking to X, he posted, "When Apple Vision Pro launches tomorrow, users will be able to explore more than 1 million apps, including 600 apps made specifically for Vision Pro! The creativity of developers is amazing, and this is just the beginning. Endless possibilities await!" So, what where does this gadget stand in terms of the segment, competition and even consumers? Read on.

While Meta Quest headsets are already there and they are quite a lot cheaper than the Apple Vision Pro, the hype surrounding the Apple headset is far greater. The reason behind that looks to be the likelihood of the Vision Pro may just being able to convince a lot of consumers to embrace headsets, something that has been quite tough for Meta to do even with its cheaper product - Quest 3 priced at $500. In fact, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg even welcomed the coming of the Vision Pro simply because he expects it to expand the market hugely and set fire to sales. Apple may well succeed in showing that the segment, referred to by Apple as 'spatial computing', has the potential to grow phenomenally. And that spells good news for everyone.

However, overnight success is not expected from the Vision Pro. In fact, the gestation period may be quite long, even years, and during this period, Apple is expected to make the product cheaper as well as lighter and even more exciting, content-wise. After all, while gamers may be quite excited at the prospect of wearing a helmet like product on their heads while they go about their business, other, people may actually hate the idea of wearing a restrictive and overwhelming product. 

“A large player like them jumping in is good because it legitimizes the tech and excites the developer community in a way that smaller players are not able to do,” Daniel Diez, chief transformation officer of headset pioneer Magic Leap Inc told Bloomberg.

The Vision pro will go up against Meta and Sony mainly with the former accounting for nearly 50% of the market in the third quarter and Sony 32%, according to Counterpoint Research.

Unfortunately,the overall headset market has been shrinking lately!

And this is the segment that Apple is expected to breathe life into as ?it has done before with the iPhone. About 42 million smartphones were shipped globally in 2006, the year before the iPhone launched. By the end of 2012, that number had grown to nearly 700 million, according to Gartner Inc. The iPad, which debuted in 2010, essentially created the tablet market. Sales of such devices increased about 290% in 2011, Bloomberg reported. Before the Apple Watch, in 2014, under 10 million units were being sold by other manufacturers and now over 30 million vanish from the shelves - quarterly. 

Anyone taking bets on Apple Vision Pro pulling off an Apple Watch, if not an iPhone?

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What is Vision Pro about?

“Vision Pro has an infinite canvas where apps can scale beyond the boundaries of a traditional display, and introduces an intuitive and powerful three-dimensional user interface that users navigate with their eyes, hands, and voice. Spatial experiences on Vision Pro can transform any room into a personal theater for sports, TV shows, and films; unlock new ways to collaborate, create, and view digital content; and transport users to stunning gameplay environments and exciting new places,” reveals an Apple statement.

Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations said, “With more than 600 new spatial experiences to explore in the all-new App Store, alongside more than 1 million compatible apps across iOS and iPadOS, users can discover a wide array of apps that expand the boundaries of what’s possible. These incredible apps will change how we experience entertainment, music, and games; spark our imaginations with new ways to learn and explore; unlock productivity like never before; and so much more. Developers are already capturing the promise of spatial computing, and we can’t wait to see what they create next.”