WeChat*** Yiyu Entertainment Observation (ID: yiyuguancha), a big entertainer.
With the official launch of Apple's "cross-era spatial computing device" Vision Pro on February 2, we can finally see more about the experience of using this hardware worth more than $3,500 in addition to professional evaluations.
The price of $3,500 and the current two major conditions of only being sold in the United States are destined to be an electronic device that will soon be as popular as the iPhone, and even the current estimated annual production of 500,000 units is far less than the sales of Apple-generation devices such as the iPhone and Apple Watch, but at the moment when there is almost no time difference in this information, this cool-looking device is destined to become a topic, even if the vast majority of people probably won't have the opportunity to experience it for themselves this year.
vision pro
Of course, sooner or later, the Vision Pro will be released on a global scale,** which may be a big reason preventing it from becoming a popular electronic product, but Apple obviously didn't expect the first generation to sell well, in fact, it is important to refocus consumers on the field of VR AR with its eye-catching position as the world's No. 1 software and hardware company.
At present, aside from the best factors, the two biggest shortcomings of Vision Pro are undoubtedly the weight of a single device and a not rich content ecology. The former naturally needs to rely on hardware iteration to improve, while the latter is not a category that Apple itself can fully control, especially in the audio-visual experience content that the reviewers say is comparable to IMAX theaters, and it is difficult for Apple to shoot enough content on its own.
However, two of the biggest platforms on the planet, Netflix and YouTube, have announced that they will not develop native apps for Vision Pro for the time being.
And in the Chinese market,Although the ** craze after the sale has now faded,The news on the Internet will also be officially launched in the Chinese market in April,But there are also pioneers in China who have begun to grab the pit,According to the IT home report,Mango TV recently quietly launched an independent native application for Apple's Vision Pro headset"Mango TV-VISION",At present, related applications have been put on the Apple App Store,The whole follows the official 3D depth design。
In the case that the global film and television industry is looking for increments, in addition to making Vision Pro cheaper in the future, Apple also needs to convince more film and television companies and ** platforms, this device will make it easier for people to pay for the content they shoot.
No matter what words Apple uses to package, or Cook repeatedly explains the so-called "spatial computing", the current Vision Pro is actually essentially a VR device with ***, but compared to the Meta Quest 3 "only" $500 price, after the price is seven times the price of Vision Pro does bring better display and cooler technology.
This actually reflects the different paths of the two companies, Meta hopes to make developers in the VR application ecosystem earn money to further create better content through broader hardware popularization; Apple hopes to redefine the entire product form at any cost, and then continue to reduce costs to attract more consumers.
meta quest 3
In addition to ** and product strategy, Apple's application attitude and use scenarios for VR technology are also very different from Meta.
Meta focused more on virtual reality in its first decade into VR, until last year it began tweaking plans to incorporate more transparent capabilities to provide users with clear images of their surroundings.
Apple's Vision Pro focuses on augmented reality technology from the beginning, so users can see virtual shapes superimposed on top of things around them in real life, such as app icons and screens.
In addition, from the content ecology, it is also clear to see the differences between the two giants - Meta's Quest Store is mainly based on entertainment functions such as games, fitness and virtual social applications, while Vision Pro on the other side strengthens the construction of users' daily life content, whether it is browsing the web office, or ** sports events, film and television content, and even facetime with friends, more diversified scenes are included.
quest store
On the premise that most of the popular VR games are not playable, and if there is no need to extend the Vision Pro as an extension of the Mac office, then the only thing left of this high-end VR device is basically audio-visual entertainment.
This is actually the point of repeated publicity by Apple in the release of Vision Pro, whether it is 3D** or please go to the Disney platform to say that it will launch Disney+'s native application as soon as possible, which shows that Apple also knows that at this stage, Vision Pro with ultra-high definition and almost unlimited picture size will undoubtedly become a new generation of "movie viewing artifact".
But the problem is that Apple and Disney alone are obviously not enough, how to further persuade or lure large companies and practitioners in the film and television industry to use Vision Pro as a content consumption platform that cannot be missed, will also largely determine the future of this device and the film and television industry.
Although Apple already has Apple TV+, a stream** platform, and as a new Hollywood player, it is not hesitant to spend money on high-premium film and television content, but objectively speaking, whether it is quantity or quality, Apple TV+ is still in a very early stage, which also makes it difficult for it to become a "killer service" for Vision Pro as a film and television streaming ** service.
This is also why when Vision Pro was released, Apple still found Disney, which has been deeply involved in the film and television industry for a hundred years and has a long-term history of cooperation, to the platform, which is why Disney+ has become the only mainstream streaming service other than Apple TV+, which announced the launch of the native version at the same time when the new hardware is released.
Disney+ is available on Vision Pro
Amazon's Prime Video, Paramount+, and Peacock have opted to have their iPad apps appear on Vision Pro, but Netflix and YouTube only allow Vision Pro users to do so via a web browser***
For Netflix, Netflix App Everywhere has long been one of its basic tenets, and it is based on this that Netflix has even divested Roku, a business that makes TV boxes, to maintain its neutrality as a software service.
The absence of Vision Pro, more because Netflix, as a giant, chose to express its long-term dissatisfaction with Apple's hegemony in the App Store in a more roundabout way, after all, it is indeed very cost-effective to develop an app for a platform that may only have more than 100,000 users in the early days, but Apple also gave developers the option to let iPad apps enter Vision OS with one click, even so Netflix still refused to cooperate.
Due to strict DRM (Digital Rights Management) requirements, there is no way for any review to show what the content looks like on Vision Pro**Apple TV+ or Disney+. But according to the user's description, this headset is undoubtedly an excellent content consumption hardware due to its strong performance and high-definition display performance.
vision pro
The fact that it can project a nearly 4K screen of more than 100 inches in a virtual space is undoubtedly attractive enough, after all, the biggest selling point of many domestic AR glasses is actually just a large-screen projection tool.
What's more, the Vision Pro's eye tracking capabilities make it the best 3D immersive content device on the market. Even though there aren't many studios willing to invest in native 3D content these days, Disney is one of the very few, as they own Avatar, an IP that has reopened the era of 3D cinema.
At present, this series will end in 2030, and at that point in time, Vision Pro has most likely been iterated to the $1000 version, and it is very likely that "Avatar 5" on Vision Pro will be the version with the best viewing effect in a few years, and you guess whether Disney will add an additional $20 paid ** button to this version at that time.
In addition to the ontology of film and television content, the sports content that many streamers are also involved in today is also the core competitiveness that people cannot ignore on Vision Pro.
vision pro
Compared with the pursuit of static appreciation of film and television content,Sports content emphasizes more on the sense of presence,However, no matter how high-definition the broadcast picture or no matter how many broadcast angles are, it is ultimately used to simulate the 3D scene3D scene,Only devices like Vision Pro can really allow users to have an immersive viewing experience,Imagine,Sitting on the sofa at home can have a view of the NBA courtside seat,This will undoubtedly greatly improve the consumption experience of sports content。
This is also why Disney with ESPN will be so eager to embrace this new platform full of countless unknowns, after the successive failures of the two battlefields of traditional film and television production and streaming, Disney needs a new content consumption platform to prove that it is still capable of telling good stories and making efficient use of the content resources at hand, it can be said that there is no other medium more suitable for Disney than Vision Pro in the future.
Due to well-known reasons, when the Bank of China Vision Pro is on sale, there will be no built-in Apple TV+, and naturally Disney+ will not be seen.
On the one hand, Apple still needs to make extra efforts to convince these long-term platforms to invest new development resources in the "cost reduction and efficiency increase", on the other hand, for these long-term **, in the absence of effective increments, it is also a risky thing to rashly absent the future promised by Apple.
Recently, Mango TV launched an independent native application for Apple's Vision Pro headset "Mango TV-VISION", this news undoubtedly gave Vision Pro a big breather.
In addition, platforms like iQIYI, which have invested in VR content for many years, will also create possibilities, even if they do not invest in additional content, there are many ready-made VR content that can be taken out immediately for consumption.
If Vision Pro finally falls into the situation of "productivity before buying, iQiyi after buying", then, the long-term ** should naturally do a good job to ensure that the first batch of domestic Vision Pro users can find their own applications and corresponding content.
As for the future, how much impact Vision Pro can have on the form and production methods of film and television content, we still need to see how popular this hardware is. Even if it doesn't sell far less than the iPhone, the popularity of the iPad alone is enough for film and television companies to produce more content for it.
A standalone VR app developed by YouTube for Meta Quest.
Perhaps one day, new opportunities will be opened for 3D content that has never been mainstream. At the same time, a stronger sense of presence and immersion will further change the narrative and interaction of film and television content.
Whether it's short**, dramas and movies still only exist on the 2D plane in the end, for the film and television industry that needs to break through urgently, breaking the restrictions of this plane will inevitably create a new grammar and paradigm, the only question is, is the entire film and television industry patient enough to wait for the day when Vision Pro is popularized?
Reference article: Alpha Works, "Why does Meta welcome Apple's competition in the VR field?" 》