Tim Cook says Vision Pro has a "profound" result on people

The Apple Vision Pro recently won a prestigious award for its operating system: visionOS. UK's Design and Art Direction Awards (D&AD) gave visionOS the Black Pencil. Apple CEO Tim Cook took to X to congratulate the design team and praise Vision Pro's profoundness.

The Black Pencil is D&AD's most coveted accolade. visionOS is the first Apple product to win a Black Pencil since the iPad in 2011. And it is the first Black Pencil awarded to Apple while Tim Cook is CEO. Understandably, Cook is quite pleased.

In addition to congratulating the Apple design team, Cook said Vision Pro was made possible by "years of breakthroughs". He also revealed he has seen people become emotional when they first try a Vision Pro.

I can understand that. The Vision Pro is one of the best AR headsets the XR industry has ever seen. Its micro-OLED displays are fantastic and its hand and eye tracking is not only accurate, it's also brilliantly implemented. You simply look at what you want to open and then do a pinching gesture.

But I think there might be another reason as to why people are getting emotional when using a Vision Pro. It might be the first time they've ever used a VR device in their life. The Vision Pro is excellent but the much more affordable Meta Quest 3 is no slouch either.

If you took someone who had never used VR headsets before and made them play Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 on a Quest 3 they'd be pretty emotional too. What the Apple Vision Pro does however is provide users with a very intuitive user interface. And Apple being a big name makes people want to try its headset, even if the same people might have brushed off VR as a fad before.

Only 25% of U.S. adults have used VR in their lives. Those who haven't show little interest in it. But 80% of people who have used VR keep coming back for more. So even before the Apple Vision Pro people were clearly being wowed by VR and retention was high. Apple's foray into the XR industry is simply bringing more eyes to XR in general. Something I am quite pleased about.

However, until a cheaper Vision Pro 2 comes out, Apple's headset is going to remain out of reach for most consumers and enthusiasts. Also, I personally think the Vision Pro should get dedicated controllers and official support for PC VR games and other VR games as well. That would truly make Apple's XR devices worth the premium in my opinion.