The Vision Pro may just be an over-engineered devkit. There is some genius and audacity behind some of Apple's hardware decisions - gaze and pinch was a major industry 'a-ha' moment. However, the device's software/content story is dull and unimaginative and most people likely won't use the Vision Pro for watching media. The Vision Pro's debut was the best thing that ever happened to Meta's Quest brand as it elevated VR to a level of mainstream consumer curiosity, set new standards and pricing envelopes for VR devices, and created a competitor for Meta teams to chase.

Extremely high pixel density is key for the next generation of augmented, mixed, and virtual reality headsets. More pixels means more life-like visuals and smaller, more compact displays. Building displays at this scale leads to unique technical hurdles that the industry is still learning to leap. This article looks at technological developments in the space, the specific challenges the industry is trying to overcome, and current solutions for these challenges.

Meta plans to partner with external hardware companies to build virtual reality headsets using its Meta Horizon operating system. The move will result in new hardware devices that run on the same operating system and software as Meta's current first-party virtual reality hardware. It will recreate the Android versus iOS dynamic in smartphones with virtual reality headsets. Apple will soon have to compete against a range of different hardware devices at various prices, all running on Meta's operating system.