Apple's headset, called Apple Vision Pro, is finally here.
At 1 a.m. Beijing time on June 6, Apple's WWDC 2023 developer conference was held as scheduled at its headquarters Apple Park. In this annual technology feast, such as Mac new products, iOS 17, watchOS 10, M2 Ultra chip and a series of new technologies and new products have appeared one after another.
However, the most notable thing is the Apple Vision Pro, which has been "skipping" for a year. "Today, I'm excited to announce a new augmented reality platform and a revolutionary new product. Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple Vision Pro "is a revolutionary product with performance, immersion and functionality that only Apple can provide." ”
During the conference on the same day, Apple Vision Pro topped Weibo's hot search first.
It is worth noting that on the eve of the developer conference on June 5, local time, due to investors' expectations for Apple's headset products, Apple's stock price once rose more than 1.4% to $183.47 per share, refreshing its all-time high of $182.88. However, when the price of Vision Pro was announced (the price was as high as 3,499 US dollars, equivalent to about 25,000 yuan), the stock price quickly plunged, falling more than 1% at the end of the day, and finally closed down 0.76%, and the latest total market value lost 84.5 billion US dollars (about 600 billion yuan) from the highest point.
Apple Vision Pro was released, priced at nearly 25,000 yuan
Before the start of this conference, Apple CEO Cook said that this year is the most wonderful WWDC. And this confidence is the Apple Vision Pro announced at the conference.
According to the official introduction, Apple Vision Pro is a headset that integrates augmented reality and virtual reality functions, using Apple's M2+R1 dual-chip design. The M2 chip in Vision Pro will provide top-notch computing performance, as well as maintaining a comfortable temperature and virtually silent operation of the device; Another new R1 chip, designed for "challenging real-time sensor processing tasks," can handle inputs from 12 cameras, 5 sensors, and 6 microphones on the Vision Pro device.
It is worth noting that unlike the existing headset devices on the market, one of the biggest highlights of Apple Vison Pro is that it has no handle, and users will only rely on eyes, sound and hands to operate. Apple Vison Pro also supports another unique feature, EyeSight, which will appear in the user's field of view when someone approaches the user, and the device will display the user's eyes. In terms of security, Apple has introduced an authentication method similar to Face ID, Optic ID.
In other headset systems, it is well known that delays between the sensor and the display can cause discomfort during the user's movement. The R1 chip virtually eliminates the delay in transmitting new images to the display — the picture delay is controlled to 12 milliseconds, equivalent to one-eighth of the time a person blinks. With the blessing of powerful computing power and transmission rate, Apple Vision Pro realizes eye tracking and gesture control.
A spokesperson summed up the Apple Vision Pro's visual experience as "a fully three-dimensional interface; An interface that can be magically controlled with just your eyes, hands, and voice" – all the graphic elements displayed in Vision Pro will be brought to life in the real room in front of you, with a physical feel, the ability to dynamically feedback light to cast shadows, and help users understand scale and distance.
Through the device's capture and recognition of gestures, you can control the Apple Vision Pro screen by simply tapping or flicking with your hand at any position. Combined with audio ray tracing that analyzes the characteristics of spatial materials, and 4K resolution screens with high color gamut, the 3D mapping will closely match reality.
Apple headset products that have bounced for several years
The reporter of Nanduwan Finance Agency noticed that as early as around 2017, Apple had reported that it was developing head-display products. Every year since then, it has been reported that Apple is about to launch a headset product. On the eve of the 2022 developer conference, a large number of technology bloggers said that Apple would launch related products last year.
However, in 2022, Apple's headset products will still bounce. In January this year, Apple analyst Guo Mingxi of Tianfeng Securities said that the development progress of Apple's AR/MR headset was not up to standard due to the drop test of mechanical parts, and the schedule of software development tools was later than expected, and a large number of shipments may be delayed from the original 2Q23 to the bottom of 2Q23 or 3Q23.
Until this developer conference, Apple Vision Pro was "long overdue".
The price is too high, Apple's stock price plunges, and next year or "civilian model"
According to official information, Vision Pro will be officially sold in the United States early next year, and later open to other countries and regions to buy, priced at $3,499, about 24,851 yuan. According to previous speculation, the market's expected price for Apple's new device is around $3,000.
In addition, compared with the same type of products released by other manufacturers, Apple's price is also much higher. For example, the Quest 3 released by Meta not long ago, the starting price of the device is only $499.99, even the high-end Quest Pro, its initial price is "only" $1499.99, which is still much cheaper than the Vision Pro. In addition, Apple's official announcement of the launch at the beginning of the year is also later than expected, which means that Apple's Vision Pro may miss the US golden sales season.
Tianfeng International Securities analyst Guo Mingxi believes that Vision Pro failed to convince investors in two aspects. First of all, the price of Vision Pro is higher than expected, and the release date needs to wait more than half a year, which is expected to be unfavorable for investment sentiment in the short term. In addition, Kuo pointed out that Apple showed the vision of spatial computing and the design innovation of AR/MR devices, but did not show the necessity of using Vision Pro in daily life. Conversely, ChatGPT or AIGC (Artificial Intelligence Generated Content) is currently more persuasive in terms of changing human lives for the foreseeable future. He said investors need to closely watch the pre-order demand for Vision Pro and whether Apple can provide more attractive apps, content or ecology before launch.
Affected by the price of Apple's MR equipment far exceeding expectations, investors quickly gave their own response - on the eve of the conference, Apple's stock price once rose more than 2%, refreshing a record high. However, when the price of Vision Pro was announced, the stock price quickly plunged, falling more than 1% at the end of the day, and finally closed down 0.76%, and the latest total market value lost 84.5 billion US dollars (about 600 billion yuan) from the high.
As of the close of A-shares on June 6, the concept of "Apple Industry Chain" fell by 4.24%, and the stock prices of 77 related companies fell on the same day, including Huaxing Yuanchuang, Changying Precision, and Jept Optoelectronics fell by more than 17%. Hong Kong stock fruit chain companies also fell collectively, and Gao Wei Electronics fell more than 20% intraday.
However, according to previous news, Apple also plans to launch a cheaper headset at the end of 2024 or 2025, which may be called "Reality One". By then, Apple's headset products are expected to enter the mass market.
The headset market has become a new outlet
However, as a consumer electronics leader, once Apple's headset product equipment is released, it will undoubtedly become an important event for the commercialization of AR/VR devices, and will drive the rapid development of the entire industry chain.
In the past two years, with the rise of the metaverse concept, the increase in demand for new consumer experiences and the gradual maturity of technology, the AR market has revived, ushering in the wave of "star" entrepreneurship and investment, especially in the second half of last year, new consumer AR glasses are continuous, not only lighter, but also covering multiple scenes such as movies, games, office, sports, subtitles, and smart cockpits. The reporter of Nanduwan Finance Agency noticed that there are already a large number of players on the head-show track on the market.
In recent years, manufacturers such as Light Media, BlueFocus, Perfect World, Hengxin Oriental, Mango Super Media, Fengyuzhu, Tomcat, etc. have begun to rush to VR content production and distribution. Since the second half of 2022, many companies have released AR hardware products, including AR "Four Little Dragons" (Rokid, Nreal, Thunderbird, Yingmu), Li Weike Technology, Xiaomi and other companies, after Rokid announced that sales of consumer AR glasses Rokid Air exceeded 30,000 units, breaking the global sales record of consumer AR glasses.
At MWC 2023 this year, Qualcomm announced that it will cooperate with 7 telecom operators around the world to lay out the next generation of AR glasses. It is reported that Qualcomm's goal is to create split AR glasses, and open up and accelerate the connection between AR glasses and smartphones. In addition, Qualcomm has also reached a multi-year cooperation with KDDI to expand the application of XR in the Japanese market and promote developer programs.
On February 28, Goertek released the first mass-produced lightweight AR smart glasses reference design based on the first-generation Snapdragon AR2, which is also the first Snapdragon AR2 AR glasses reference design for mass production purposes and supports the Snapdragon Space platform. Shenzhen-listed company Jept (Shenzhen Jept Optoelectronics Co., Ltd.) also said on the interactive platform on February 28 that the company's VR/AR testing equipment was delivered last year, and most of the orders have been accepted. Now the company is docking with the customer's second-generation product testing needs, the new generation of testing equipment will increase optical detection parameters and add new optical inspection modules, is expected to provide customers with higher value testing equipment. In 2023, the company will also begin to contact domestic customers about the optical inspection needs of its VR/AR products.
In addition, the reporter of Nanduwan Finance Agency also noticed that AR/VR technology has not only been innovating in hardware, but also some video software is also trying to keep up with the development of science and technology, Douyin and PICO, Yingshi together to launch the PICO VR panoramic creation plan, for the first batch of creators who release VR panoramic videos in PICO and Douyin will get more traffic, revenue, professional shooting training and high bonuses. PICO Video has VR panoramic video, VR interactive video, giant screen Douyin and other resources such as the hottest film and television complex, as well as VR concert live broadcast technology, and has launched a number of VR concerts including Wang Xi, Zheng Jun, Li Min and Wang Feng.
As more and more players join the VR/AR technology track, it also means that there are more challenges and opportunities on this track, and some insiders have previously said that the VR/AR industry is not mature, that is, the market development is actually to start from scratch, how to increase consumer demand for products is as important as the development of technology.
On June 6, CITIC Securities released a research report that on the whole, Vision Pro, as Apple's first headset product, the mass production time was lower than the market's early expectations. However, the product has outstanding performance in terms of interaction and device collaboration, and at the same time has exceeded expectations on the application side, and the medium and long-term dimensions continue to be optimistic about the iteration of Apple's MR headset and the opportunities of related industry chain companies.
Written by: Nandu Bay Finance Agency reporter Kong Xuexiao