Apple kicked off the 2023 edition of WWDC, its developer conference, with a 2-hour long keynote that saw the company announce the next versions of its five operating systems( iOS, watchOS, iPad OS, tvOS, macOS), three new Macs, including the highest-end Mac Pro, and most importantly, a new “mixed reality” platform, Vision, that includes a new OS and a $3499 headset, Vision Pro.
Forget all the other announcements, the only real reason to pay full attention to Apple’s WWDC keynote was the launch of the new mixed–reality platform. I have already shared some thoughts on Twitter, but I wanted to recap and distill my big takeaways from the keynote.
- So how visionary is the new Vision Pro?
I have been privileged to be at the launch of many of the new Apple products — I didn’t write or cover Apple till the turn of the century. My first official event was the launch of the iPod. And then, I saw Steve Jobs launch the iPhone and the iPad. And I was there at the introduction of the Apple Watch. And now the introduction of the Vision Pro. This is akin to the iPod and iPhone launch, where the device catalyzed a significant social and behavioral change.
When Sony launched the Walkman, it gave music feet. The iPod took that idea further into the digital realm and trained the mainstream to expect any music anytime, anywhere. It also accelerated the (Read more…)