In reply to Chuck.

I agree they aren’t mutually exclusive and I don’t think Apple is doing it for technical reasons. At least I guess they aren’t.

I think it is a marketing decision. I know a lot of people that see full immersion VR and immediately check out with a “that doesn’t sound like it is for me” but mostly open/social AR has more appeal and I’m guessing Apple has seen similar anecdata and maybe even has some focus testing data.

Maybe it is an over-correction that will get fixed in later versions. Maybe it is like the stylus thing and some last piece is still in R&D waiting for its “we’ve done it better than anyone before” one last thing moment. Maybe it is because there’s some other sleeved card: I know people hoping that the eventual “Air” version that “Pro” implies is lightweight because it is more “wave guide based” like HoloLens or Magic Leap and full room immersion will be much more difficult; I don’t know if I believe that, but it’s interesting theory. I’ve got my own crazy theory that phones and tablets play a bigger role in their plans than they’ve talked about so far, and the social stuff is a larger play long term than currently obvious.

Whatever the marketing reasons, I think it is the right choice for Apple to differentiate their product in the market for the current moment and zeitgeist even if a card doesn’t drop from their sleeve and if they do correct back towards full room VR even without some crazy R&D invention.

It certainly is a good reason to skip the first version to find out if there is something up the sleeve or to see if they correct course here.

I find it interesting that it makes me more interested in playing with the Vision Pro in its first version. I want to see what devs do when challenged by the constraints of the device, whether they are ultimately technical or marketing/political. Though I say that and I also don’t really expect the first Mac Book I ever purchase to be a head mounted one and “more interested” is still not yet above “that’s an interesting novelty” so far for me.