The launch of Apple’s Vision Pro generated much mockery and criticism regarding the device’s limitations, a sign that Apple did not understand its market. However, 17 years ago, another product generated the same kind of mockery. A revolutionary product: the iPhone.
The first tests and feedback concerning the Apple Vision Pro – we took it ourselves – are unanimous on the limits of the device. Some people don’t even see any interest or use in it. From the first announcements around the product, one thing was undeniable, Apple is launching a limited device with an operating system in a first version. What condemns the Vision Pro to failure? Not necessarily.
Indeed, looking at the first generations of Apple products, we quickly realize that this is a big habit of the firm. Whether it’s the iPad or the Apple Watch, for example, it took several generations for the device to really find its place on the market. The best example is undoubtedly the iPhone itself.
A revolutionary product that was mocked at its launch
The story is very well known, and we are not going to go over it in detail here. This is not the subject of this editorial. In 2007, Apple presented for the first time a smartphone, a device combining an iPod, a mobile phone and a device connected to the Internet. This is the culmination of several years of work in secret, like the Vision Pro, which undoubtedly explains the technological delay of the iPhone over its competitors.
And these limitations which will cause amused reactions from its competitors like Microsoft, RIM (Blackberry) or Nokia, but also from the press which will highlight these limits.
However, Apple will quickly evolve its product. Today, Among these four brands, Apple has largely triumphed in the world of mobile telephony. A sign that the manufacturer’s philosophy and its vision were the right ones, even if, as we will see, the manufacturer was also able to adjust this vision to the development of its product.
No 3G, no MMS or GPS
A look at the technical sheet of the first generation iPhone allows us to obviously see the evolution of the smartphone over 17 years, but also the shortcomings of the device, even at the time. We will therefore switch to its single-core SoC clocked at 412 MHz or its 3.5-inch TFT screen with a definition of 480 x 320 pixels.
The phone had no front camera, so no option for selfies or self-portraits, and the camera on the back was a simple 2-megapixel sensor. And be careful, the first generation iPhone couldn’t shoot videos.
Along the same lines, the iPhone was not compatible with 3G. The Internet connection was therefore via Wi-Fi or 2G Edge, a network limited to 384 kbit/s. It also did not offer GPS location. The smartphone could only use the different Wi-Fi points to give an approximate location to the user and therefore could not offer real-time driving directions.
However, not all of the iPhone’s shortcomings have been filled with age. The lack of a storage card reader or removable battery has never been questioned by Apple on its device. Other brands even ended up following Apple’s example in this area. Today, few smartphones offer these functions, to which we can add the 3.5 mm jack port, the disappearance of which has also been pushed by Apple since.
Apple found success by adapting
This retrospective of the launch of the iPhone is interesting in view of the release of the Vision Pro. Because the two objects also share common points in their releases and it will be interesting to see how Apple will adapt.
The price
Indeed, in both cases, the product is considered very expensive. The iPhone launched at $599 in the United States, the equivalent of $899 today with inflation, requiring a 24-month subscription from AT&T. This was considered particularly expensive on the mobile phone market at the time. The brand therefore quickly adapted by lowering the price by 200 dollars to 399 dollars. It also discontinued the model with only 4 GB of storage. Less than a year after the commercial launch, Apple released a 16 GB version of the iPhone for $499.
We can therefore expect to see Apple very quickly adapt the price of its Vision Pro based on its commercial success. And the next generations of the headset could quickly bring down the bill. The firm clearly wants to make the most of the years of development on its audience who are the most fans of its new products.
Uses
Apple has not only adapted the price, but also the uses of its iPhone. In particular, with the arrival of an App Store from iPhone 3G and iPhone OS 2 (which we could call iOS 2.0 today). These have filled many of the gaps mentioned above, such as real-time navigation with GPS location or the arrival of 3G. But it is especially with the App Store that Apple has changed its philosophy.
When the first iPhone was launched, Apple defended the idea of a web application using Safari to offer functions to users. Only a year later, the firm completely changed its approach and fully adopted native applications with the App Store. It is this application store that will truly make the iPhone a success both for Apple and for many other companies who will find it the ideal showcase to get started.
We also saw this with other products later, such as the reorientation of the Apple Watch towards a connected health device above all. Apple is not afraid in the years following the launch of a product category to adapt its vision to the reality of the market and the use made of the product.
We cannot predict the future of Vision
This is why the new features coming with the next generations of Apple Vision headsets, but also with the VisionOS software updates will be decisive for the future of this product line. This is also why it is so difficult to conclude whether the Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary product or not right now. Only time will tell. But starting from the limits of the Vision Pro to believe that it has no future would be a mistake.