Luke Larsen / Digital Trends
In the time since it launched in early February , we ’ve heard a lot about how Apple ’s Vision Procould supplant some of the company ’s other devices , especially the iPad . Now , striking leaker Mark Gurman has joined the disturbance and add system of weights to the theme of the headset becoming a tablet killer . But while that seems plausible , there ’s one major problem with it .
The iPad killer?
When comparing the Vision Pro and the iPad , Gurman notes that the former “ has the potential drop to provide a far better experience for the primary jobs that Apple ’s tab was designed to cover ” ( although he admits “ it ’s still very early days ” ) . Everything you might employ an iPad for — light employment , entertainment , viewing your pic , and more — can be done more immersively and expansively on the Vision Pro . The two product cover many of the same bases , even using many of the same apps . Meanwhile , the Vision Pro’s“spatial computing”trump card give it an sharpness in a neat many ways .
Of of course , Apple would simply say that it would like you to buy both products , and that there ’s no reason why one has to exchange the other . But the company is not afraid of cannibalizing its own Cartesian product — just look at what happened to the iPod after the iPhone go far on the setting .
So , the estimation of the Vision Pro put back the iPad certainly seems plausible . If Apple truly feel that the Vision Pro can do everything that the iPad can , but in a better , more immersive way , it wo n’t waver to promote its headset over its tablet . But I ’m not convinced that we ’re anywhere near that scenario , nor that we will be for a foresightful , long clip .
Luke Larsen / Digital Trends
The principal trouble is a very unproblematic one : the price . There ’s no escape it — the Vision Pro is simply too pricey to oust the iPad any clock time soon .
Think about it this way . The Vision Pro take up at $ 3,500 , marking one of the high entry Leontyne Price item of any product Apple currently sell . At the same time , you’re able to buy abrand - newfangled iPad for $ 329 — over 90 % less than the Vision Pro . Even an absolutely maxed - out iPad Pro will typeset you back $ 2,399 , which is still $ 1,100 less than the entry - level Vision Pro . And even a much cheaper interlingual rendition of the Vision Pro is going to have this same problem .
Sure , some iPad users might look at the Vision Pro and think it does just what their pad does but in a well , deep way . But will they think it does all their important undertaking 10times betterthan their iPad ? Or will they think that it justifies the enormous fiscal outlay when they can perform alike tasks for a fraction of the cost on the iPad ? I ’m skeptical about that .
A lot has to change
Of course , there ’s a very obvious elephant in the room : thecheaper Vision Pro modelthat Apple is supposedly working on . Could this puzzle out the pricing problem and finally allow the Vision Pro to eat the iPad ’s dejeuner ?
Well , yes and no . Right now , the cheaper Vision Pro does n’t face like it will actually be very cheap , with rumors nail its Mary Leontyne Price anywhere from$1,500 to $ 2,500 . That still puts it out of reach of most multitude , and the only iPad that can really vie for that kind of cost is thetop - end iPad Pro .
But I understand the argument that the Vision Pro ’s cost will pass over time . If the headset is ever going to become a mainstream twist , ithas todrop . It ’s not like the iPhone , a machine that can yield to have its monetary value rise over the years because it ’s so integral to everyday life . The Vision Pro is n’t at that stage yet and likely wo n’t be for a long time — and its price is one of the major divisor prevent that from happening .
The other heavy reason is the immatureness of the mixed - reality industry . When Apple first introduced theApple Watch , it gave people a gimmick that they innately knew how to habituate . That ’s not the case with the Vision Pro — it necessitate adetailed demonstration from Appleand a ton of personal customization .
Until the Vision Pro becomes an everyday part of life story , Apple ’s headset will never be able-bodied to to the full cannibalize the iPad . It ’s just too complex to appeal to most people , despite Apple ’s first-class work in simplify its gesture dominance system .
So while I can see the Vision Pro finally cause moves into the iPad ’s territory , a lot has to change between now and then . Not only must the price go down , but we ask to commute our full human relationship with motley - reality headset and embrace them much more fully . That ’s croak to take a recollective time , and it may terminate up being a future that ’s allow tantalizingly out of range .
