It's been a few weeks since Apple announced Vision Pro. Since then I have been trying to suppress my desire to spend $3500 on something that I was quite sure I have no desire for. So how did I go from never considering an AR/VR headset to wondering if I should spend more than 10x from the next popular option in the market? No, it's not Apple’s slick marketing videos (though it definitely helps). Rather it is largely Product Positioning .

What comes to mind when you think of Quest headset from Meta? I mostly think of immersive gaming in virtual worlds. Sure, there could be some communication aspects, but that is mostly removing the fun elements of the game and keeping the cartoonish avatars and chat functions. However, you can’t ignore the novelty of the immersive experience. So I tried it a couple times. Each time it was for about 10 mins before I had to sit down for an hour to recover from the bad motion sickness. VR in its current state is definitely not for me. What is the adjacent gaming tech? PS5 at $500, Nintendo Switch at $350. Coming in at $400 the price is about right for a Quest headset, but it is a pass for now.

Now what comes to mind when you watch the Vision Pro videos? Big screens, anywhere, anytime. They call it Spatial Computing, which is liberating all of your current digital consumption from small rectangular hardware screens and projecting it out in virtually unlimited space. Think of all the content from your phone, laptop, television, tablet, all laid out in front of you on massive virtual screens. It doesn’t matter whether you are on your couch or on a transatlantic flight, you can have a screen larger than IMAX to work, play, or enjoy your media. You know you already spend multiple thousands on your current inferior setup.

Now how much would you pay for this? $3500 all of a sudden seems in the “reasonable” territory. It is all in the positioning and Apple gets it right.

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