Apple Vision Pro is scheduled to ship on Feb 2nd, and I predict Apple Immersive Video will be the big hit for the first year.
Imagine life-sized horses thundering towards you in 3D
Apple did not show their Immersive Video in the WWDC Keynote, in any of their marketing material since, or in the 2nd and 3rd rounds of demos many journalists received.
This is the only thing Apple has said about this revolutionary capability:
Vision Pro also introduces Apple Immersive Video, a remarkable new entertainment format pioneered by Apple that puts users inside the action with 180-degree, three-dimensional 8K recordings captured with Spatial Audio.
Apple only provided a select set of journalists a sneak peak of their Immersive Video in the few days following the WWDC Keynote, and they were blown away with what they saw. Here are comments by some of those journalists:
What was much more compelling were a series of immersive video experiences that Apple did not show in the keynote. … I am completely serious when I say that I would pay the NBA thousands of dollars to get a season pass to watch games captured in this way. Yes, that’s a crazy statement to make, but courtside seats cost that much or more, and that 10-second clip was shockingly close to the real thing.
-- Ben Thompson
[Apple Immersive Video] seems as profoundly different from watching regular TV telecasts of sports as TV telecasts are from audio-only radio broadcasts. It was incredible. I would genuinely consider buying a Vision Pro if the one and only thing it did was show entire sporting events like this.
-- John Gruber
[The Apple Immersive Videos] we saw were overwhelming. A naturalist feeding a baby rhino, four feet away from you. An Alaskan lake, disturbed only by a happy bear waddling in for a bath. A teaser clip of a basketball game, seated courtside, with the action at life size right in front of you. I’m not sure what you’d do with these things once you’ve seen them a couple of times — but wow, do they make unforgettable demos.
-- David Pogue
The standout feature of the Vision Pro in my experience was the Apple Immersive Video though, which is a 180-degree video experience that transported me to places I would likely never have the privilege of going to in real life
The places Apple Immersive Video could transport you could be truly astounding. Picture yourself right beside the inside rail at the Kentucky Derby's first turn, feeling the thunder of powerful horses as they race past. Imagine standing mere feet from the cars roaring out of Turn 4 at the Daytona International Speedway. Envision being in the front row at every tee box and green during the PGA tournament at beautiful Pebble Beach, or securing a front-row spot at the year's biggest concerts.
Apple Immersive Video is going to sell a lot of Apple Vision Pros in 2024.