Tim Cook Admits Vision Pro Isn’t A Mass-Market Product Following Lacklustre Sales

For Apple, this year is all about justifying the Vision Pro sales and Apple Intelligence hype. Unfortunately, both of them seem to be off the grid at the moment. Amidst all the chaos, Apple is still optimistic about its strategy and has solid confidence in what it has to offer. The Wall Street Journal’s Ben Cohen interviewed Apple’s CEO Tim Cook about Vision Pro, Apple Intelligence, innovation, and more.

This wide-ranging interview covers several aspects of Tim’s life, lessons he learned from Steve Jobs, his career to date, and more.

While talking about Apple Vision Pro, Tim Cook admitted that Apple’s mixed-reality headset isn’t a mass-market product due to its premium price tag of a whopping $3500. After the weaker-than-expected sales of the first-ever Apple Spatial Computer, Tim Cook made a clever statement that Vision Pro is an early adopter product, and there are enough people who may need it.

“At $3,500, it’s not a mass-market product,” said Cook. “Right now, it’s an early-adopter product. People who want to have tomorrow’s technology today—that’s who it’s for. Fortunately, there’s enough people who are in that camp that it’s exciting.” – Tim Cook

When accused of stepping very late in the AI race with Apple Intelligence, Tim Cook argues that he doesn’t see it that way. He said the company has taken time with its AI innovations, and he backed it up with four words “Not first, but best”. He added, “We’re perfectly fine with not being first“. Well, we all know Apple has been unapologetically slow in innovations and believes in the best, rather than first implementation. That said, sometimes this puts Apple in a damn huge gap with its competitors, and this is what is happening with AI. First announced in June 2024, Apple Intelligence is still in beta. The giant will release its first set of AI features on October 28 in the U.S.

“As it turns out, it takes a while to get it really great. It takes a lot of iteration. It takes worrying about every detail. Sometimes, it takes a little longer to do that. We would rather come out with that kind of product and that kind of contribution to people versus running to get something out first. If we can do both, that’s fantastic.”– Tim Cook

Cook further mentioned that “We weren’t the first to do intelligence”. However, they have done it in a way that could be the best for the customer. With its AI suite of features, Apple aims to deliver a “profoundly different” experience across the Apple ecosystem.

Coming to the Vision Pro, Tim explicitly mentioned that its successful product lineups like iPods, iPhones, and AirPods didn’t find success overnight. For the Vision Pro, he added “Over time, everything gets better, and it too will have its course of getting better and better. Therefore, he sees a bright future for the Vision Pro as well.

The Vision Pro arrived in February 2024 with good to mixed reviews. Apple’s Spatial Computer is definitely capable, but its high-end price, slow adoption by software developers, heavy design, and limited battery have certainly held it back.

In July, a research firm IDC estimated that Apple Vision Pro sales wouldn’t go over 500,000 this year. At that time, there were rumors that Apple might launch a more affordable version of its Vision Pro this year to help the momentum. While there are several rumors that Apple is gearing up to prioritize a cheaper Vision Pro, this might take longer than expected. More recent leaks suggest Apple will launch the next-gen Vision Pro 2 with M5 chipset and Apple Intelligence support in 2025. Fortunately, there are still chances of seeing a lower-priced option as early as next year.