- NFT artist Mike Winkelmann aka Beeple has expressed his disappointment with the Apple Vision Pro headset
- The artist said that the headset has no market usage and doesn’t contribute to advancement in spatial computing
- Beeple also believes that Apple can’t fix the product’s flaws even with subsequent upgrades
Popular NFT creator Mike Winkelmann, commonly known in web3 circles as Beeple, has slammed Apple’s latest virtual reality (VR) headset dubbed Vision Pro. According to the artist, the product fails to accurately use spatial computing, adding that the headset’s glaring flaws can’t be fixed even with an upgrade, implying that the product and its future iterations are doomed. Beeple noted he’s a virtual reality enthusiast and observed that VR headsets will rule the computing scene within the next 20 years, an observation that explains tech companies’ heavy investments in the space.
Getting a MacBook Pro Instead of an Apple Watch
In a long X (formerly Twitter) post, Beeple started by first noting that he has been an avid collector of VR headsets, an Apple products user and has in the past worked with augmented reality (AR) and VR headset developers like Magic Leap.
ok first off I want to start this Vision Pro review with some background.
I have owned just about every major VR headset since the DK1. I also worked for a few years doing concepts for Magic Leap, and am EXTREMELY bullish on AR as the next era of computing. I see this as… pic.twitter.com/Lt3GXsCleG
— beeple (@beeple) February 7, 2024
According to the artist, the Apple Vision Pro headset “solves no actual real-world problems” and doesn’t do justice to spatial computing. Beeple also noted that the product doesn’t bring anything new to the market since its functionalities were achieved by “HoloLens from like 2015.”
Among the disappointing features of the Vision Pro headset is its huge size which Beeple compared to wanting an “Apple Watch [but getting] a MacBook Pro.” For the artist, the form factor hinders Apple from normalizing “wearing a computer on your face.”
Meta is Better
Beeple believes that the tech company can’t improve the headset by making it lighter saying that its size needs a full reboot and not “incremental improvement.”
The artist even hailed Apple’s competitor in the AR/VR market Meta for being in a better position to make a superior headset. Beeple observed that the path towards making an AR/VR headset fit for 24-hour use is through “smaller glasses getting bigger” and not vice versa.
With Beeple’s criticism, it’s to be seen whether Apple will reveal what it plans to do to make the headset fit for everyday usage.
