Madness for Apple Vision Pro lenses

NEW YORK (EFE).— Apple CEO Tim Cook was in charge of opening the doors of the company’s emblematic store on Fifth Avenue in New York yesterday to welcome fans of the company who were wearing hours waiting outdoors to try and buy the Apple Vision Pro, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) glasses that went on sale for $3,499.

For the occasion, the Apple store on the luxurious avenue decorated its entrance—a glass cube in the middle of a plaza—with a neon silhouette of the glasses.

Heraldo Rosario, a Dominican architect living in New York, didn’t care that the thermometer read three degrees or that it was raining, he lined up at the Apple store at 6:30 in the morning—an hour and a half before it opened—and even then he had more than a dozen people ahead of him.

“I feel good knowing that I am part of the beginning of something new,” said Rosario, who already owns several Apple products, such as a computer and phone, and said that this time he was going to settle for trying the glasses in the store.

Kevin Wu, who got in line at 7:30 in the morning, acknowledged that he came more for the experience of going to an Apple launch and the possibility of taking a photo with Cook than to buy the product.

“I’m looking forward to trying it, but it’s too expensive for me right now. Also, being a first generation product, there will be many defects and things that (Apple) will have to solve. Maybe in two or three years I will have one, not now,” added the 21-year-old student.

When there were a few minutes left before the doors opened, the entire Apple store team came out to encourage the fans with applause and chants such as: “AVP”, following the initials of the product.

The first to enter took a photo with Cook before walking down the store stairs.

The executive director spent an hour in the store talking and taking photos with visitors – the vast majority of them men – as well as with YouTubers, influencers and even actor Neil Patrick Harris.

Yam Olisker, an Israeli YouTuber who traveled specifically to New York for the event, did buy the $3,499 glasses, and he was also able to speak with Cook and asked him to sign the box.

“(I asked him) if he really thinks this is the future, if (the glasses) will be the new iPhone and he answered yes,” he revealed.

Olisker indicated that he will use it to edit videos by connecting it to the MacBook, since this way he will be able to see his timeline on a 30-meter (virtual) screen.

Apple seeks to differentiate itself from other mixed reality glasses, such as Meta’s Quest — whose latest model costs $499 — by ensuring that its product is not only for playing video games, but also for working.

Meanwhile, if an Apple Vision Pro user is, for example, washing dishes, they have the option of viewing an Excel or reading a PowerPoint on the kitchen wall.

“Now everything is going to be for a very niche audience, but over time this is going to be a before and following,” said Marc Alonso, an employee of the Spanish company Rossellimac Apple Premium, whose executive director invited 21 of his workers to experience the launch live in New York.

Alonso bought the pocket Vision Pro and joked that they are worth more right now because Cook signed them.

He said that he will use them for work, since “it has incredible potential” and that he is eager to see what developers do, especially small independent ones.

The glasses now feature “more than 600 designed apps and games,” ranging from Microsoft 365 work apps like Excel, PowerPoint, and Microsoft Teams to exclusive 3D content from Disney.

Take a look

make difference

Apple’s glasses seek to differentiate themselves from other mixed reality glasses, such as Meta’s Quest —whose latest model costs $499—, by stating that their product is not only for playing but also for working.

Great potential

The glasses now feature “more than 600 designed apps and games,” ranging from Microsoft 365 work apps like Excel, PowerPoint and Microsoft Teams to exclusive 3D content from Disney.

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