Does VisionPro meet Jobs' original vision?

Apple's Vision Pro is expected to subvert the way people watch TV at home and use computers at work, becoming the "successor" of traditional TVs and Macs .

This $3,500 headset integrates three-dimensional digital content with the outside world and was launched last Friday Apple's US offline physical stores.

Vision Pro enters a market filled with low-cost competitors such as Meta and HTC, most of which are limited to the video game market and have not found a large audience. .

In addition, Apple has had mixed results in attracting developers. Netflix, one of the most popular consumer video apps, has no new apps for the Vision Pro, although users can watch movies and series on the device's web browser.

YouTube also stated that it does not plan to launch new applications for Vision Pro, but users can access it using Apple's own Safari web browser. Music streaming service Spotify is also not developing an app for the product launch, according to people familiar with the matter.

However, the pricey headset features a custom computing chip and a difficult-to-manufacture display that rivals don't have. Analysts who have tried the headset say that these features of the Vision Pro could pose a threat to almost any large two-dimensional screen at home or work.

Disney has been working with Apple for years to develop an app for the launch of Vision Pro, and the two companies The latest example in the history of collaboration.

Aaron LaBerge, chief technology officer of Disney Entertainment, said: "When we saw this product, it was obviously a new 'canvas' for us. , allowing us to tell stories in a way that hasn't been possible before. So we'd love to do something in that area and expand ourselves with it."

01. Tell stories in a whole new way

The Disney+ app immerses moviegoers in different inenvironment.

Viewers can ride a virtual X-34 glider and land on the planet Tatooine to watch "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" just like in Like the drive-in movie theater of the future; or watch Avengers: Endgame at Avengers Tower in Midtown Manhattan.

Viewers can also watch 42 Disney 3D movies, including the box office hits "Avatar: Waterpath", "Black Panther" and "Inside Out".

Disney showed off a video at last June’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference and will soon launch an experience in which users can interact with Marvel movies. The professional animation "What If?" "interactive.

LaBerge said the device also opens up new ways to experience live sports events or theme park rides. The Disney+ app is a great example of what Disney does best, which is bringing characters and stories into the real world and bringing you closer to the people you care about. ”

The late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once told biographer Walter Isaacson that in the process of developing the next generation of televisions, "I finally cracked it it”,but it’s unclear whether a mixed reality device is what Jobs had in mind.

At Creative Strategies’ Ben Bajarin et al. According to analysts, Vision Pro seems to have fulfilled this long-standing promise.

Bajarin said: "I don't know if this is what Jobs meant when he said, 'I cracked television.' But the platform element makes it more interesting than the launch TV. It can be productivity, it can be social, it can be a much bigger deal and opportunity than a television. ”

What is certain is that the expensive Vision Pro will not sell quickly. Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi said in a note to investors that Apple The company has told its supply chain that it only expects to produce 1 million units. Even so, it may be that Apple has prepared excess capacity ahead of user demand.

Sacconaghi wrote: "Apple's approach shows that it lacks confidence that users will buy immediately without an in-store demonstration. ”

However, the high price is not a big problem for enterprise buyers.

Campfire is a start-up company whose CEO Jay Wright pointed out that the original Mac computer in 1984 cost the equivalent of nearly $7,500 today. But small businesses flocked to the Mac because of its ability to create and print files.

Wright also said: "It is important to realize that Vision Pro is not a consumer accessory device like the Apple Watch, but it is a brand new computing platform. I think this is more of a follow-up to the Mac than a follow-up to the iPhone. ”