There's a thousand "Noes" to every "Yes." That's Apple's approach to choosing designs; it's about focus. With its recent Vision Pro unveiling, Apple clearly spent many years and dollars to develop the new spatial computing device. But what could Apple have said "Yes" to instead? To make the mixed reality headset become reality, what did the company say "No" to?
Everyone: We want a touch-screen Mac laptop.
Apple: Here's a mixed-reality headset.
Everyone: Give us a smart home display.
Apple: Here's home-theater ski goggles.
I can think of projects Apple has or could have that would likely be better than Vision Pro:
- Smart Home
- Self-driving electric car
- Smart Display
- Touch-screen laptop
- Dual-screen tablet
- EyePod
SmartPod and Ambient Computing
More than the Vision Pro headset, I think many people would be better served by a Smart Display. Apple is starting to push into this kind of capability now with its upcoming iOS and iPadOS 17 software. Your phone or tablet basically becomes a smart display in certain situations. But what if Apple made a dedicated one?
With the right size and feature set, Apple could make a Smart Display with a built-in speaker, like putting an iPhone and HomePod mini together; call it SmartPod. The device could easily fit into everyone's lifestyle, with one in each key area of the home: kitchen, living room, and bedroom.
Plus, Apple could expand its Smart Home efforts with SmartPods, HomePods, and the Apple TV box connecting to each other as well as your iPhone. And with improved A.I. (machine learning) via Siri, Apple could create something far more utilitarian than a single-user headset, as the whole family could take advantage of a smart home.
Instead of "Spatial Computing," it would be "Ambient Computing."
Touch-screen Laptop
This idea is the most simple and obvious one. Microsoft and many other companies have made touch-screen laptops. I own one myself; it's an HP Chromebook. And if for no other reason, I prefer scrolling via the touch-screen over the trackpad sometimes.
Apple knows touch-screens and multi-touch. It would be trivial to make the MacBook's display as functional as an iPad. And since it'd cost more to make, Apple could smartly reserve touch-screens for the Pro tier of MacBooks, bringing a price and revenue increase.
Dual-screen Tablet
Have you seen the Microsoft Duo? It's truly an impressive looking dual-screen Android tablet optimized for Microsoft apps. Instead of a single folding screen that gets an ugly crease in the middle and is prone to break, the Duo has two separate screens. This is the kind of device Apple could easily perfect and popularize.
Imagine having two screens side-by-side, each one similar in size to Apple's biggest iPhone, the Pro Max. Of course, Apple would optimize the display ratio and create a remarkably engineered hinge. And with Apple's prowess to integrate hardware and software, it could make a dual-screen tablet OS that sets a new standard in mobile multi-tasking.
Such a device would likely be less complex and more affordable than the Vision Pro headset. And its applications, the way people could use it, would be more obvious. Apple's slick marketing could pitch it as either a phone that doubles or a tablet that halves, maybe both. Expand what you can do with your phone or always have a tablet with you in your pocket.
EyePods
It sounds like an iPod, but it's a simple take on AirPods built into sunglasses. These already exist. I've tried them; they're impressive! Made by Bose, they're sunglasses with built-in speakers that sound remarkably good. Even at fairly loud volume, others can hardly hear them or make out the sounds. They feel magical because they're just sunglasses, yet wireless audio emanates from them with rich clarity. And nothing covers or fills your ears, so they're quite comfortable. If Apple made its own version with Siri and other smart tech inside, I'd likely buy them.
Apple makes a similar product but with many more features: Vision Pro. The new headset has speakers built into the headband. It could simply remove the complex visual hardware, replacing it with sunglasses, and focus on the audio. Apple could polish Bose's example into its own premium product. It would likely sell more than Vision Pro. It'd cost less, but units sold would no doubt be much higher than the headset releasing next year.
Grounded in Reality
All these are device ideas Apple could have said "Yes" to instead Vision Pro. I think any one of them, or even all of them, would sell better to more people than the mixed reality headset. I'd much rather invest in a smart home with high-quality synergistic hardware than a scuba-mask computer that suffocates my face. And I'm far more interested in a $1,000 dual-screen phone/tablet hybrid than a $3,500 home theater I wear on my head.