JohnDenver101

This is when I wish Apple never cancelled the AirPort. I feel like that would have been the perfect home control device. Have it able to create a full backup of iCloud and Time Machine of all devices on network, auto download updates for all devices for faster installs, and now being able to offload a lot of processes for Apple Intelligence or other intensive tasks. 

It would even make dumb devices like Apple HomePod capable of using Apple Intelligence. 

It was a great device just in its old basic form. I miss that thing. 

rob53 said:

maury markowitz said:

hypoluxa said:

I can't see them (yet) removing the MacPro from their roster. The PCI expansion slots are a niche market for some Pro users who use them, they still have a customer market for it albeit a shrinking one.

Could this not be addressed with a working external PCI expansion system?

I don't see why not. I don't see it using a "standard" PCI interface although the Mac Pro uses the (almost) newest PCIe Gen4 x16 and x8 slots. I could see a much faster PCIe interface or something like an extension of the unified memory architecture to an external box allowing the might speed possible to multiple PCIe cards. I know some people want everything in one box but splitting that box into two might be a better choice for those professionals who want to tune their system to their specific needs. An M3 Ultra CPU "box" (Mac Studio) might be enough to serve as a standalone device for semi-professionals (not going to start a rant on who is semi and who is a full professional) as well as the back engine for full professionals needing high-end PCIe boards for specific tasks (animation, video, sound, movies, scientific processes requiring a supercomputer). Everything is getting smaller and working in clusters so starting with a  7.7" x 7.7" x 3.7" tiny box instead of a 8.58" x 17.7" x 20.8 behemoth weighing 37.2 lbs without any PCIe cards installed makes a huge difference in a computer/server room. I would like to see Apple offer clustering software along with the addition of one of the fastest computer interfaces ( PCIe6 x16 968-Gbps, NVLink 2.0 1.2Tbps, or even a very expensive Infinity Fabric 4.096 Tbps) would provide an amazingly fast Mac cluster capable of competing with just about any specialized, much more expensive mainframe level cluster system. Something in between would be much nicer than keeping the Mac Pro form factor.

Not supporting a GPU or RAM expansion via PCI felt like a slap to animators and other professionals who require that. If you don't support those things what's the point of spending $3K more for a tower to plug your video card into? Just buy the Studio and use Thunderbolt. If Apple doesn't bring more PCI support in future chips there is literally no reason for the MacPro, not to say there is one now. 

Why does no one mention how small this market is? Smartphones and smart watches were large markets with massive growth rates before Apple got it them. VR/AR is not. Apple didn't bring anything completely ground breaking to this industry so I don't understand what the strategy is to make this another "next big thing" moment. Maybe they aren't looking for that, but that wouldn't feel very Apple to me. 

Tech has followed a trend of becoming less cumbersome for the user for 50 years. From large room-sized computers, to personal computers, to the mouse and GUI, to the laptop, the smartphone, touch and now voice. This headset feels like a step backwards at least for a computing device. People are inherently lazy and having to put a device on your head when you could just check you phone, watch or ask Siri (yea I know that's still terrible) for basic tasks doesn't seem like something someone will pay money for.  

The other argument I hear is that "this will be amazing when it's the size of a pair of sunglasses". Handing waving away how difficult it would be to shrink this tech down to that size, you still run into the same problem mentioned above. You have to go find your glasses to use them. Unless you wear your glasses 24/7, it's still an inconvenience. Secondly, you lose the ability to have VR with sunglasses unless they make them like swimming goggles. 

LASTLY and something I still don't understand why no one is talking about is the health risks. Multiple studies have shown that using IR light close to the eye can damage the eye and potentially cause diseases like cataracts. The Vision Pro has like 14 IR sensors a centimeter from your eye. Sorry but I'm not going to be wearing something like that until you can definitely show me there is no risk to MY vision. 

Other websites are reporting iPhone 16 Pro will get Sony's IMX903 sensor. A significant upgrade over the current sensor. It's about 12% larger but more importantly features Sony's stacked technology offering 50% better light capture. 

I hear a lot of people say "give it 5-10 years". But Apple has never liked to play in the niche product category especially under Tim Apple. The AirPort was awesome and people loved it. It probably cost Apple almost nothing in R&D and manufacturing costs but they canned it anyways. 

Do you think Apple will keep this thing around for 5-10 years as a niche product when it costs them, not just massive amounts of cash in R&D, but also in human resources and manufacturing? 

I would wager if this thing really doesn't take off in the next few years Apple will drop the product. Cook might be willing to hang on a bit longer since this is his first really big product launch since the Apple Watch but I could see the Vision Pro cancelled after 1-2 generations. 

It's interesting how they have changed marketing from Spatial Computing to a media consumption device. It makes sense if you watched the Vision Pro demo that just dropped on YouTube. They spend all of 3 seconds talking about productivity. He literally just opens an email...doesn't even respond. 

I thought for sure they would launch this with a AAA game. Gamers are great advocates for this technology. Getting them to adopt this brings in new developers and bridges the gap for the average consumer. But it is only launching with some movies. 

I really just don't understand the point of this device and the price point only makes things worse. Why would I spend $3500 to watch movies in VR when I can spend $800-1000 for basically the same experience on any other VR headset? Even the Oculus has a Netflix app. 

Meta has been trying for the better part of a decade to convince people VR/AR is the future. They have yet to deliver any viable use case outside of gaming and some niche commercial markets. I was hoping Apple would show us a truly compelling reason to buy their 'Vision'. 

kuld klient said:

I've been expecting for Apple to build a robot since 2016 when they showed the robot at the end of their exploding light bulb ad. We also remember Tim Cook's interview with Kara Swisher in 2021 when Cook said the following "If you sort of step back, the car, in a lot of ways, is a robot. An autonomous car is a robot. And so there's lots of things you can do with autonomy. And we'll see what Apple does." 

Exploding lightbulbs Ad: https://youtu.be/hCI26Xcp2lQ?si=zLg5OzweYhUd8y47 
 Scene begins @ 1:17

Just like AI, I think Apple might be playing from the back of the pack on this market too. There are so many companies out there that have decades of work in this field. Just look at how far Boston Dynamics have come. Cold Fusion had a really good video breakdown on companies that are already deep into robotics.  The Race For AI Robots Just Got Real (OpenAI, NVIDIA and more). I would think Apple would need to consider buying several of these companies to catch up. Not unlike what they are doing with AI right now. 

Can't help but wonder if the new button animations in iOS18 for the volume buttons indicate that capacitive touch is coming for ALL the buttons this year or next year.