On February 2, 2024, Apple will launch its major product, category: welcome Apple Vision Pro. Vision Pro is Apple’s first step in the area of AR, VR and MR, and it looks amazing. Which is one of the reasons I think this device is going to be massive for them.
But hey, for those of you unaware, here’s a first impression.
Welcome to the era of Spatial Computing
According to Apple, they are not releasing an augmented, virtual or mixed reality product of any kind. Instead, they are welcoming potential buyers, and the rest of the world, into the era of Spatial Computing. Apple is purposely creating their own product category here. They are not at all interested to be compared to any of the existing VR headsets around. They are another league, or at least that’s what they tell you. Because, ultimately, it is ‘just’ a pair of glasses / displays that enables you to overlay a virtual interface on top of the real world. But yeah, in that sense, Facebook is also nothing more but a website.
It’s not what you sell. It’s how you sell it.
Some weeks ago, Macrumors.com reported that Apple has been sending out communications to developers to actively stay away from everything AR and VR and really focus their branding on Vision Pro itself and the link to special computing.
There’s probably much more going on concerning the way Apple is framing this but one thing is for certain: they are meticulously shaping how the audience is perceiving their new product.
Is this device not AI powered?
In my role as a marketeer at an IT company, a lot of what we do right now centers around AI. AI was massively hyped in 2023, partly caused by the launch of ChatGPT late 2022, and all the subsequent LLM’s and other innovations that launched. At the same time, Apple remained completely quiet on any significant AI-related announcements, even leading to rumours that the company was getting behind and already about to lose the war on AI from some of its biggest competitors.
Even then, on what could have been a perfect moment for Apple, the announcement of Apple Vision Pro, the company did not mention AI a single time. Cero. Null. Nothing. There’s no AI in Apple Vision Pro.
Really?
Think again.
There are tons of AI in Apple Vision Pro. In fact, I am 99% sure (I have no evidence, that’s the 1%) all apple devices are powered by AI these days.
Apple just feels you don’t need to know.
And, in a way, they’re right. You don’t need to know. You don’t know. Have you seen this quote? “You don’t know what you don’t know.” True for the full 100%. You don’t know how much AI is in your dishwasher. You don’t know how much AI is in your smart doorbell. You don’t know how much AI is in your car (even when it’s not a Tesla). What is certain is that there’s a lot of intelligence in there these days and that it’s not ‘human’ intelligence. It’s Artificial, Intelligence. A,I.
And yes, I get it, the current hype is very much focused on the next generation of AI: Generative Artificial Intelligence. And yes, Apple Vision Pro is full of that too.
Quick example: if you’re watching a movie on Apple Visio Pro, the ‘screen’ will cast shadows on the environment it’s placed in. Amazing. Brilliant. Just one element that was needed to make MR more compelling and more natural. But read the technical version here: Apple is using the cameras in the headset to scan the surroundings, from which it will generate a 3d model, on which it will then generate and ‘cast’ (display) shadows, responsive to your surroundings, in real-time. Sounds like an AI infused process to me over there. This device is loaded with sensors, loaded with compute, and loaded with models. However, all you need to know is that it is your access card to the world of spatial computing.
From Apple with Love
When announced, Apple spent about 40 minutes to explain what we were looking at, with a number of interesting use cases. Subsequently, Apple invited tech reviewers for guided live reviews, on which they were only allowed to experience a limited set of use cases (probably the one Apple had progressed furthest). Also, Apple teamed up with developers in one-to-few sessions explaining the capabilities of this new device. Developers that got access to test kits were bound to extremely strict rules about whom on their teams would be allowed to work with the device and how it had to be stored while being used (or not). In a few weeks from now, all major tech sites will launch their reviews of Apple Vision Pro, which will all be similar because Apple wants all of them to be similar, since they look to apply the power of repeat. Apple will have selected specific features and use cases for reviewers to review and I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple will approve all reviews before they go out to public.
In other words, Apple has crafted its story, it has selected its channels, and it is now repeating it repeatedly. Why? Because that’s how they’re able to change our perceptions, our opinions, our thoughts, and our emotions of this new device. Most of us are still researching, meaning they open to what is written.
All signs show one thing: this is a massively important product for Apple. Everything is controlled, everything is guided, in an ultimate attempt to push the company to even greater heights going forward.
Well done, Apple.
