Those still holding on to their Apple Vision Pros may remain in a rather exclusive club throughout this year. Market research shows that sales for Apple’s first big, expensive headset will remain low in 2024. The latest reports from those keeping tabs on the Cupertino, California company say AVP will have dropped off 75% by the end of August. The true test for Apple’s spatial dreams may rest on the rumored (slightly) cheaper headset.
It’s not a lack of software that killed it, it’s the lack of ability to use any meaningful library of software due to proprietary restraints, as always. I don’t know when everyone made the switch from VR as a peripheral to strictly proprietary, “stand-alone” (and die alone) headsets, but it’s literally killing VR as a whole.
Don’t get me wrong, the current strict PCVR companies aren’t any better. They see what’s happening and are doubling down on the massive cost hike despite looking shittier and technically having less features than SA headsets. That being said, they work INFINITELY smoother with PC apps and game and movies, in addition to higher quality tracking systems and third-party hardware support. This alone should put them ahead by a long-shot, but being an unaffordable hobby niche doesn’t help when large corpos can churn out headsets full of “stand-alone” bloat at a loss just to devour the majority of the VR market and lock people into hopeless, proprietary hellscapes.