How many devs do you know? Okay, cool. Then how many of them have tried on at least one of the best AR/VR headsets sold? Huh. Okay. Well, then, how many would consider traveling — in most cases — a considerable distance to try out the upcoming Apple Vision Pro?Very few?! Oh, my god! What a shocker! And that was sarcasm for you!
Seriously, it’s neat that Mark Gurman is keeping us updated with what is going on through Twitter, but let's make sure that we're all collectively understanding the statement properly. I legitimately don’t think that developers not visiting the Vision Pro in real life means anything of impact.Why? Well, because, if you wanted to, you’d have to travel to:
- Cupertino
- London
- Munich
- Shanghai
- Singapore
- Tokyo
And, honestly, that’s not as many options as it seems. Like, the USA is huge and Apple has given stateside devs just a single location for a developer lab with access to the Vision Pro. No wonder no one is going!
Hearing so far that the Vision Pro developer labs (to test apps on actual hardware) have been under-filled with small amounts of developers. Some developers emphasizing that the company isn’t offering any east coast sessions, with Cupertino the only option for the entire US.
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) August 2, 2023But wait, I’ve got even more and better explanations:
visionOS — which is what the Vision Pro will run on — is on open beta. Which anyone can join. And, honestly, if you are a creative enough dev, this fact basically means that you can “try” the Vision Pro anywhere, really.
Sure, it won’t be a 1-to-1 experience, but it will give you what you need in order to do what you’ve probably intended to do in the first place: start developing something for one of the headsets, which is expected to become a sure-fire hit upon release.
So, while it would absolutely be wonderful if more devs could do a bit of traveling — and by bit, I mean not be required to travel half of their country of residence — in order to try a very new-age piece of tech, this probably isn’t really a metric for said product’s success.Not to mention, Apple is working on getting dev kits ready — a sort of a demo unit, that devs can actually invest in and receive in order to more properly do their thing — which would be the more ideal solution. After all, who wants to wait in line to get some work done, right?
View Full BioStan, also known as Stako, is a smartphone enthusiast who loves exploring the limits of Android customization. His journey with mobile tech began with the Nokia 5110 and evolved with devices like the BlackBerry 9350 Curve and Samsung Galaxy A4. Despite his love for Android, he holds equal respect for Apple, considering the iPhone 4s as a significant milestone in mobile tech. Stan started his writing career early, contributing to MetalWorld, and harbors a passion for creative writing. Beyond smartphones, he's interested in photography, design, composition, and gaming, often preferring solo projects to hone his objective thinking. He's also an avid student of open-source technology and consoles, with a special fondness for the Pebble Watch, Arduboy, and Playdate.
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