In a recent company-wide meeting, Meta co-founder Mark Zuckerberg expressed his views on Apple’s newly announced Vision Pro headset. According to reports from The Verge, Zuckerberg described the product as highly costly and lacking “magical solutions.” He took pride in Meta’s own virtual reality Quest headsets, which he believes are more affordable and capable of bringing people together. Zuckerberg also expressed concerns about Apple’s promotional videos, which depict people being isolated, a future he hopes to avoid.
During the meeting, Zuckerberg delved into the technical aspects of the Vision Pro headset. He pointed out that Apple made design trade-offs, opting for a metal build while most other VR/AR headsets feature lightweight plastic construction. The Vision Pro headset does not incorporate an in-built battery to reduce weight, a decision that Zuckerberg touched upon. He stated:
“From what I’ve seen initially, I’d say the good news is that there’s no kind of magical solutions that they have to any of the constraints on laws of physics that our teams haven’t already explored and thought of. They went with a higher resolution display, and between that and all the technology they put in there to power it, it costs seven times more and now requires so much energy that now you need a battery and a wire attached to it to use it. They made that design trade-off, and it might make sense for the cases that they’re going for.”
Zuckerberg also expressed optimism about the metaverse project with Apple’s entrance into the space. He described the future of AR/VR headsets as a “funny journey.” However, the core visions of both companies differ significantly. Meta’s metaverse focuses on a virtual world where users create their own avatars, while Apple aims to provide augmented reality by overlaying images onto real-world objects. Meta Quest headsets primarily target the gaming market, while Apple promises some gaming capabilities but positions the Vision Pro headset (at least the first-gen iteration) more towards content consumption and productivity.
These sentiments were echoed by Apple CEO Tim Cook in an interview following the official launch of the Vision Pro headset. Cook stated that the first AR/VR headset from Apple can perform all the functions of iPhones and Macs and more. When asked about the affordability of the Vision Pro headset for the average consumer, Cook acknowledged that it would depend on the global financial situation. He justified the cost by highlighting the device’s high-quality displays and powerful M2 SoC that powers the device, noting that these advanced technologies come with associated costs.
