Execs bill the headset as revolutionary, but the $3,499 price tag could limit market impact
“We believe this is the first step in a broader theater experience for consumers and could be a gamechanger down the road when price points come down markedly by 2025,” said Wedbush managing director Daniel Ives. “We believe this is the start of an inflection point for Apple and not a surprise Iger and Disney were side by side in the announcement. Disney recognizes where this is all leading.”
Disney has yet to describe, in detail, what Disney+ on Vision Pro will actually do beyond allowing you to watch movies on a larger-than-life virtual display and possibly see environments in three-dimensional capacities.
For example, a concept floated in Disney’s Vision Pro sizzle reel was having an ocean in your living room while watching a National Geographic production. But a spokesperson for the company declined TheWrap’s request to elaborate on specific features and capabilities, saying the reel was simply a “sneak peek of just some of the things we’ve been dreaming up.”
Despite the scarce concrete details, Ives wasn’t the only one confident that Vision Pro was a huge deal and that Disney’s presence was equally newsworthy.
“This is a big deal for the industry, no doubt,” said Richard Gardner, CEO of Modulus, which provides technology consulting services to large corporate customers. “But, honestly, the importance is enhanced because it is magnitudes ahead of where Meta is with Quest VR. While the price point will be, no doubt, high for many consumers, it is said that this has been seven years in the making. That means that Apple won’t be quick to pull the plug, and they’ll be committed to giving it the runway it needs to find success.”
An entertainment industry leader hopping on board gives Vision Pro the best shot at breaking into the mainstream it could possibly have against the device’s price and other limitations. But so far, Disney is the only media company to commit to Apple’s vision.
An NBCUniversal spokesperson said it had nothing to share at present about Peacock’s potential presence on the service. Warner Bros. Discovery didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. And Disney declined to expand on what it’s bringing to the Vision Pro experience beyond reiterating that Disney+ will be on the device from day one — which Apple said Monday would be early next year.
Been there, seen that
Not everyone was as hyped for Apple’s new device or optimistic that it would shake up the home theater arena.
“Conceptually, this isn’t new or significantly different from what we saw before,” said Gartner director analyst Tuong Nguyen, who researches immersive technologies. “There have been other examples of VR for storytelling and entertainment prior to this announcement.”
He referenced Disney Interactive’s 2019 VR experience “Vader Immortal,” available on the Oculus headset, as an example.
Nguyen said it was too soon to tell what Vision Pro’s impact on the home theater space would be, especially since Disney was light on specific features, but that the item’s price point was likely to be a consumer pain point. In addition, the device’s two-hour battery life meant it’d be hard to bill the Vision Pro as a mobile home theater revolution: Most “Star Wars” films, for example, have running times that would drain the battery before the movie’s over.
“I think we’re a little too early to start talking about home theater revolution, but the practicality of Disney+’s inclusion makes sense,” said Rolf Illenberger, founder and CEO of VRdirect. “If you remember the early days of Google Glass, the integration with entertainment and live sports has always been there. Disney being an NBA partner, it is worth noting that the league initially started a game-of-the-week VR broadcast as far back as 2016.”
“Discussions about an experience similar to what Vision Pro has promised have existed in the entertainment community for more than a decade,” he added. “They’ve invested in the creativity and the technology, but the end-product and user experience has always left something to be desired.”
That “something to be desired” could be, for many, the device’s battery life and high price. In that sense, Apple’s barking up the same tree other companies have before. The major difference is Apple attaching its famous brand to an AR device. But brand mania has its limits.
“It will not justify itself to average consumers, ever,” said Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. He said the device was primarily for developers, then prosumers, and lastly, enterprise customers.
Early days
Sag’s point about the device not being justifiable to the average consumer has already been proven with another device: Microsoft’s HoloLens. That AR/mixed reality headset garnered widespread attention for its consumer-focused showcase of what Minecraft could look like when virtually projected onto real-world environments. But that hype quickly fizzled, leaving the device as an expensive tool for developers and other specialists.
Notably, HoloLens 2 cost $3,500 at launch and sported a three-hour battery life. Sound familiar? Microsoft took two swings with HoloLens and neither cracked the mainstream, despite the devices’ many similarities to Apple’s Vision Pro.
Still, the Apple name has a gravitational pull. Whether it’ll convince home theater enthusiasts to cough up $3,499 remains to be seen, but even most experts aren’t ready to make projections given the wildcard of Apple’s brand power. Because despite the improbability of Vision Pro succeeding where others have failed, if there’s one company that can convince average consumers to spend boatloads on the newest, shiniest thing, it’s Apple.
Execs bill the headset as revolutionary, but the $3,499 price tag could limit market impact
“We believe this is the first step in a broader theater experience for consumers and could be a gamechanger down the road when price points come down markedly by 2025,” said Wedbush managing director Daniel Ives. “We believe this is the start of an inflection point for Apple and not a surprise Iger and Disney were side by side in the announcement. Disney recognizes where this is all leading.”
Disney has yet to describe, in detail, what Disney+ on Vision Pro will actually do beyond allowing you to watch movies on a larger-than-life virtual display and possibly see environments in three-dimensional capacities.
For example, a concept floated in Disney’s Vision Pro sizzle reel was having an ocean in your living room while watching a National Geographic production. But a spokesperson for the company declined TheWrap’s request to elaborate on specific features and capabilities, saying the reel was simply a “sneak peek of just some of the things we’ve been dreaming up.”
Despite the scarce concrete details, Ives wasn’t the only one confident that Vision Pro was a huge deal and that Disney’s presence was equally newsworthy.
“This is a big deal for the industry, no doubt,” said Richard Gardner, CEO of Modulus, which provides technology consulting services to large corporate customers. “But, honestly, the importance is enhanced because it is magnitudes ahead of where Meta is with Quest VR. While the price point will be, no doubt, high for many consumers, it is said that this has been seven years in the making. That means that Apple won’t be quick to pull the plug, and they’ll be committed to giving it the runway it needs to find success.”
An entertainment industry leader hopping on board gives Vision Pro the best shot at breaking into the mainstream it could possibly have against the device’s price and other limitations. But so far, Disney is the only media company to commit to Apple’s vision.
An NBCUniversal spokesperson said it had nothing to share at present about Peacock’s potential presence on the service. Warner Bros. Discovery didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. And Disney declined to expand on what it’s bringing to the Vision Pro experience beyond reiterating that Disney+ will be on the device from day one — which Apple said Monday would be early next year.
Been there, seen that
Not everyone was as hyped for Apple’s new device or optimistic that it would shake up the home theater arena.
“Conceptually, this isn’t new or significantly different from what we saw before,” said Gartner director analyst Tuong Nguyen, who researches immersive technologies. “There have been other examples of VR for storytelling and entertainment prior to this announcement.”
He referenced Disney Interactive’s 2019 VR experience “Vader Immortal,” available on the Oculus headset, as an example.
Nguyen said it was too soon to tell what Vision Pro’s impact on the home theater space would be, especially since Disney was light on specific features, but that the item’s price point was likely to be a consumer pain point. In addition, the device’s two-hour battery life meant it’d be hard to bill the Vision Pro as a mobile home theater revolution: Most “Star Wars” films, for example, have running times that would drain the battery before the movie’s over.
“I think we’re a little too early to start talking about home theater revolution, but the practicality of Disney+’s inclusion makes sense,” said Rolf Illenberger, founder and CEO of VRdirect. “If you remember the early days of Google Glass, the integration with entertainment and live sports has always been there. Disney being an NBA partner, it is worth noting that the league initially started a game-of-the-week VR broadcast as far back as 2016.”
“Discussions about an experience similar to what Vision Pro has promised have existed in the entertainment community for more than a decade,” he added. “They’ve invested in the creativity and the technology, but the end-product and user experience has always left something to be desired.”
That “something to be desired” could be, for many, the device’s battery life and high price. In that sense, Apple’s barking up the same tree other companies have before. The major difference is Apple attaching its famous brand to an AR device. But brand mania has its limits.
“It will not justify itself to average consumers, ever,” said Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. He said the device was primarily for developers, then prosumers, and lastly, enterprise customers.
Early days
Sag’s point about the device not being justifiable to the average consumer has already been proven with another device: Microsoft’s HoloLens. That AR/mixed reality headset garnered widespread attention for its consumer-focused showcase of what Minecraft could look like when virtually projected onto real-world environments. But that hype quickly fizzled, leaving the device as an expensive tool for developers and other specialists.
Notably, HoloLens 2 cost $3,500 at launch and sported a three-hour battery life. Sound familiar? Microsoft took two swings with HoloLens and neither cracked the mainstream, despite the devices’ many similarities to Apple’s Vision Pro.
Still, the Apple name has a gravitational pull. Whether it’ll convince home theater enthusiasts to cough up $3,499 remains to be seen, but even most experts aren’t ready to make projections given the wildcard of Apple’s brand power. Because despite the improbability of Vision Pro succeeding where others have failed, if there’s one company that can convince average consumers to spend boatloads on the newest, shiniest thing, it’s Apple.