Apple made its much-hyped Apple Vision Pro headset official at the WWDC keynote, under its famous "one more thing" tagline. The company revealed a lot about the new Vision Pro headset, including its hardware design, software support and a tentative release date.
Apple also revealed the price and any doubt this would be an affordable piece of consumer technology was instantly wiped away. The company will be selling the Vision Pro for $3,499 when it launches early next year. (Check out our Apple Vision Pro first look for our initial impressions.)
Now, Apple is known for its premium pricing, but it's fair to say the internet took a sharp inward breath when that particular piece of information dropped. Pretty much everyone had the same reaction.
Influential YouTuber Casey Neistat mulled a possible $1999 on Twitter before following up with the suggestion that figure was "wishful, hopeful.. perhaps naive."
i was wishful, hopeful.. perhaps naive https://t.co/ujgZxUE7esJune 5, 2023
The team here at Tom's Guide thought the price may come in at $3,000 — turns out we were underestimating as well. And while everyone agrees $3,499 is a huge amount of money, that doesn't mean people won't buy it. Where the discussion actually lies is whether or not the Vision Pro is worth that astronomical asking price.
Neistat's elaborated view, however, is the price tag is simply what we should expect for a first generation device.
"It makes sense," he wrote. "Make it perfect, get the hardware right, let the enthusiasts cough up $3500 to be early adopters. as costs come down volume goes up all while software gets refined and ready for a truly mass market."
it makes sense. make it perfect, get the hardware right, let the enthusiasts cough up $3500 to be early adopters. as costs come down volume goes up all while software gets refined and ready for a truly mass market.June 5, 2023
Meanwhile, cybersecurity writer Nik Hewett was one of many to point out that Meta's third-generation Quest headset will be on the market for considerably less. When it launches in the fall, the Meta Quest 3 will retail at $499, which feels like pocket change compared to what Apple is asking for.
"Meta bought the #VR market with the Q2," Hewett wrote. "Adoption, at that price, is gonna be tricky. Convincing people VR is a thing, even trickier."
$3499 is spiced meatball compared to £499 for the Q3.Meta bought the #VR market with the Q2. Adoption, at that price, is gonna be tricky. Convincing people VR is a thing, even trickier.#WWDC23 #VR pic.twitter.com/h3JVw1CdmmJune 5, 2023
For others, the pricing was enough given the value they feel they'll be getting from the system. That is, it could replace a desk, Hi-Fi system and TV all in a single device. And while there were plenty of memes, hot takes and snide comments, the fact is Apple has built up enough goodwill and brand clout that many people will likely buy the device regardless.
The value proposition for #AppleVisionPro is this:It replaces your Mac and any external monitors, and also replaces your home TV.Not saying you should buy one, and I'm certainly planning to this generation, but in that context $3499 is kinda reasonable.#WWDC23 pic.twitter.com/XNekvEx6m6June 5, 2023
What do you get for the money?
As you'd expect, Apple hasn't held back when it comes to the cutting-edge tech inside the Vision Pro, nor the materials used in its design to try and make it as appealing as possible.
Vision Pro uses a dual chip system — an M2 chip plus an R1 chip that handles real-time experiences. This combination works to cement performance across two 4K displays (one for each eye) containing 23 million pixels across displays the size of a postage stamp.
There's real-time sensor processing from the headset's five built-in sensors, as well as the 12 cameras and six microphones it uses to operate.
We'll have to wait until we're actually able to go eyes-on with the Vision Pro to know if the technology stands up to the asking price. In the meantime, we'll be scheduling some time with our bank's loan officer.
Would you be willing to pay $3,499 to get your hands on an Apple Vision Pro headset? Let us know in the comments below. And you can catch up on all the announcements from WWDC with our WWDC 2023 live blog recap here.
