The Apple Vision Pro is set to launch in just under three weeks’ time, and it sounds like Apple is going to pull out all the stops to make sure its first customers leave with a positive experience – including an incredibly lengthy in-store demo.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman shed light on this process in his latest Power On newsletter. There, the reporter claimed that Apple will put every Vision Pro customer through a 25-minute demonstration of all the headset’s key features, ensuring they know how to use it properly on their own.
The demo will apparently start with scanning the customer’s face to ensure their headset fits perfectly. Once that’s done, they’ll be shown how to work their way around the device, including how to navigate through its software using their eyes and hands, how to switch between virtual and augmented reality, and how to calibrate the headset for proper use.
Once that’s complete, Apple staff will walk each customer through a handful of key features. They will begin by showing photos and videos (both regular and 3D ones, which Apple calls “spatial photos” and “spatial videos”), and will then explain how to create a computer-like setup with apps and multiple virtual monitors. The demo will be rounded off with “3D and immersive movies” of wild animals, oceans and sports.
According to Gurman, all this software wizardry will be powered by a high-end M2 chip with 10 GPU cores and eight CPU cores. That’s likely contributed to the headset’s $3,499 price tag (around £2,800 / AU$5,300), and with such power available inside, Apple will want to make sure everyone knows how to put it to good use.
Leaving nothing to chance
A hands-on demonstration of a new product isn’t unusual for Apple – the company will gladly show potential customers how to use all of the best iPhones and Apple Watches, for example. But what is unusual is the length of the demo, as well as the breadth of content it will showcase.
That suggests Apple is keen to ensure users know how to use the device before they leave. After all, while most people innately know how to use a phone or tablet, very few will have tried on a headset like the Vision Pro. Apple doesn’t want to risk the device getting a bad name because people don’t understand how to use it properly.
It’s similar to how Apple is taking a very hands-on approach to Apple Vision Pro review process, where journalists must apparently meet Apple several times for product demos before they can publish their reviews. With a product as new (and expensive) as the Vision Pro, Apple isn’t taking any chances.
Ultimately, we’ve only got a few weeks to find out if all the effort on Apple’s part has been worth it. With the Vision Pro launching on February 2, users around the country will soon get to experience Apple’s demo for themselves.
