Apple Talks up Vision Pro at Work, Apple Announces Enterprise Spatial Design Lab, Inside Apple Vision Pro

In today’s update, we take a closer look at Apple’s attempt to draw attention to Vision Pro in business settings. The discussion turns to Apple announcing a new Enterprise Spatial Design Lab. We conclude with Lumafield publishing one of the more interesting “teardowns” of an Apple product.

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Apple Adds Dozens of Licensed Movies to Apple TV+, More Signs of Apple TV+ Momentum, Apple Video Revenue Drivers

Hello everyone. Happy Monday. It's already turning into a busy week for Apple. Today's update will be focused on several Apple TV+ developments and Apple’s broader video play.

Let’s jump right in.

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More on My Apple Vision Pro Demo, Apple’s Vision Pro Sales Pitch

Last Thursday, we went over Neil’s initial thoughts following his second Vision Pro demo. For today, we will kick things off with more about what actually occurred during Neil’s demo. This provides a look at how Apple is positioning Vision Pro at launch. The discussion will then go deeper into the Apple Vision Pro sales pitch.

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Thoughts After Using Apple Vision Pro for a Second Time

Earlier today, I experienced a 40-minute demo of Apple Vision Pro. The demo was about 10 minutes longer than the one that occurred at WWDC 2023. Across the two demos, I’ve spent about 70 minutes using Apple Vision Pro.

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Apple Vision Pro Launch Date Announced, New Vision Pro Details, What About Vision Pro Demos?

There is Vision Pro news to go over. We begin with Neil’s thoughts on Apple’s Vision Pro launch date. The discussion then goes over several new details disclosed about the device. We conclude with a look at Vision Pro demos at Apple Stores.

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Apple Demos More Vision Pro Spatial Videos, 3D Movie Icon Appears on Apple TV, Humane Ai Pin vs. Spatial Photos/Videos

Hello everyone. Welcome to a new week. We do have a few CY3Q23 earnings reports to go over. However, today’s update will take a spin through Vision Pro land.

Apple Demos More Vision Pro Spatial Videos

Over at Daring Fireball, here’s John Gruber:

“Yesterday Apple released developer beta 2 of iOS 17.2, the first version of iOS to include support for capturing spatial video with iPhone 15 Pro models. Today came the public beta, enabling the same feature. Apple invited me to New York yesterday, not merely to preview capturing spatial video using an iPhone, but to experience watching those spatial videos using a Vision Pro.

The experience was, like my first Vision Pro demo back at WWDC in June, astonishing…

My demo yesterday was expressly limited to photography in general, and spatial video in particular, and so my demo was, per Apple’s request, limited to the Photos app in VisionOS. It was tempting, at times, to see where else I could go and what else I could do. But there was so much to see and do in Photos alone that my demo — about 30 minutes in total wearing Vision Pro — raced by.”

The full post made for an interesting read, especially if you want the details regarding how Apple is implementing spatial videos via iPhone 15 Pro. For example, the iPhone 15 Pro needs to be held horizontally “to put the two capturing lenses on the same plane. The iPhone uses the main (1×) and ultra wide (0.5×) lenses for capture when shooting spatial video, and in fact, Apple changed the arrangement of the three lenses on the iPhone 15 Pro in part to support this feature.”

When Apple announced this past September that the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max would be able to capture spatial video, my assumption was that iPhone videos

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App Store Turns 15, Head of Google's AR Software Quits, Vision Pro’s Influence Already Being Felt

Hello everyone. Happy Tuesday. We kick things off with Neil’s thoughts on the App Store turning 15 years old. The discussion then turns to Mark Lucovsky, who led Google’s AR software efforts, quitting Google in a very public way. We conclude with how the Apple Vision Pro unveiling has already impacted the AR/VR market.

App Store Turns 15

Yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of Apple launching the App Store.

Five years ago, we recapped the App Store’s trajectory at the 10-year mark. A year prior, Apple had announced a major redesign to the App Store that included the Today, Games, and Apps tabs. Apple also unveiled the App Store’s editorial direction.

For today’s discussion, it’s worth looking at the major App Store developments that have materialized over the past five years.

Apple Arcade. After a few strategy shifts and changes, Apple landed on what has been Apple Arcade's current strategy of being more of an essential service grabbing subscriber time and attention (versus having games that subscribers would play when they had a few minutes of down time). The 100-game soft ceiling was expanded to more than 200 games (with no advertising or in-app purchases). The higher game total also reflected Apple including older iOS games with a proven track record of market success in the service.

Advertising. By expanding Apple Search Ads

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The Vision Pro Bet, Zuckerberg’s Miscalculation, A New Normal for Headsets

Hello everyone. Happy Monday.

One follow-up to a story from last week.

As pointed out to me by a member, the visionOS VR restriction regarding a 1.5-meter "system boundary," as measured from the initial position of the Vision Pro wearer's head, isn’t that strict considering it’s a radius (i.e. a 10ft x 10ft space). That’s larger than what most would deem acceptable for VR in today's marketplace.

Let's jump unto today's update.

The Vision Pro Bet

There were three broad tracks available to Apple with AR/VR headsets in mind:

  1. Begin at the low end with a pair of light/thin/inexpensive glasses and then work their way up the performance/feature/price curve.

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The Challenge Selling Vision Pro, Vision Pro Competition, Vision Pro Q&A

Hello everyone. We kick things off with a big challenge Apple will face selling Apple Vision Pro. The discussion then turns to Vision Pro competition and the degree to which Neil thinks Apple’s headset will impact the AR/VR/mixed reality industries. We conclude with Neil answering 11 questions from members about his 30-minute Vision Pro demo.

Let’s jump in.

The Challenge Selling Vision Pro

One takeaway from my 30-minutes with Vision Pro was that Apple will have an easier time selling the headset if consumers can experience a demo. The presentation that Apple showed during the WWDC keynote – the company also released a 9-minute video overview - didn’t come close to conveying what it’s like using the device. Trying to explain spatial computing in 2D terms has been a problem for years.

Apple can’t demo Vision Pro on stage. This is not like an iPhone, iPad, or even Apple Watch. That is a challenge for Apple.

Since Apple needed to come up with some type of marketing for the device, the company landed on relatable scenarios and use cases that they think people can see themselves in or doing.

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The “Why” Behind Apple Vision Pro, Apple Revolutionizes Memories, Vision Pro Pricing Strategy

Hello everyone. There is a slight change of plans. Yesterday’s update led to the largest number of incoming emails from members following an update in years. Accordingly, we are going to keep running with the Vision Pro discussion. Neil spent about 30 minutes using Apple Vision Pro. The technology powering the device is the future. We will get to the rest of Apple’s WWDC announcements.

A few quick items:

  • A virtual member meetup took place this past Monday in the Above Avalon team in Slack. The value found with having it take place in Slack is that people can still add to the discussions that took place. If you haven't checked the meetup out, look in the #random channel. The start of the meetup is pinned / shaded in a yellow hue.

  • Vision Pro sound quality. Yesterday’s discussion didn’t include any mention of Neil’s audio experience using Vision Pro. The headset includes a pair of speakers, positioned in the head strap and angled towards the wearer’s ears. The sound quality was very good. Just as important, there was no issue hearing other people in the room while something was playing via the headset. It’s not known what someone seated next to an Apple Vision Pro wearer can hear though.

  • Q&A. Have questions about Apple Vision Pro? Send them Neil’s way and they can be addressed tomorrow. There has already been a decent number of questions posted in the member forum (they will be covered).

The “Why” Behind Apple Vision Pro

It’s a positive sign for Apple that those who were among the first to try out Vision Pro have landed on different things as their “favorite” experience. Some people say the mindfulness app was what opened their eyes (the word trippy came to mind with that app). Others say the live sports consumption implications jumped out at them. There isn’t one right or wrong answer. Depending on the wearers’ personality, likes, interests, and perspective, different things will jump out at them. The era in which one thing is a “killer app” for everyone ended years ago.

There are still important questions left unanswered: Why sell Vision Pro? What is the device’s purpose?

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