$3,500: Is the Apple Vision Pro really as expensive as you think?

After a long time of waiting, Apple’s new mixed reality device named Vision Pro has finally been revealed. However, many are still open-mouthed after learning about its price, but is it justified?

If you followed the live broadcast of Apple’s WWDC 23 yesterday or you have been informed today of all the news, surely you have already heard about one of the flagships of the event: the Vision Pro mixed reality glasses.

With a market price of 3,499 dollars or almost 3,300 if it goes to euros, it has left some shivering —although the predictions for months were correct. Many users are skeptical about its value and believe that it is too expensive for the average consumer, while others think that it may not be worth the investment.

But the high price of the Vision Pro may not be what it seems. According to some experts, mixed reality glasses are not intended for the masses, but for developers and enthusiasts. Apple may not even want to sell too many of these, since it may not be able to produce them in very high volume.

On the other hand, he hardware Apple tends to be more expensive compared to other brands due to several factors such as the premium design and manufacturing quality, the research and development (R&D) behind it, the top components on the market or the ecosystem itself and integration that includes software (iOS, macOS, etc.) and services (iCloud, Apple Music, etc.).

A stratospheric investment and development cannot cost less than $3,500

If you take a look at the features of the Vision Pro, it seems that the price makes sense: an M2 as the main chip to which will be added an extra processor that comes under the name R1, a dozen cameras and a lot of sensors.

As our colleague Carlos Ferrer-Bonsoms Cruz explains in a complete article about this device, the glasses will be more powerful than the vast majority of current computers.

However, if you are one of those Apple fans who wants to buy all their news, fear not. The company has a habit of making the first version of its devices very expensive and then slowly lowers the price as manufacturing costs fall, so you can be sure that the $3,499 price will drop as long as the device is a success.

The Vision Pro release date is also worth considering. It won’t be available until early next year. Also, it will initially only be available in the US, with more countries to come later, so it may come down in price over time.

With all this, it is more than clear what a company like Apple can do when it has a lot of money to spend on research and development. The company has filed over 5,000 patents related to Vision Pro, which shows how much effort has gone into it.

While you probably won’t be able to get one in your house, the Vision Pro is undeniably a significant step forward in the AR market.