Last week, Apple unveiled the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, which marks the company’s first major new product launch since the AirPods in 2016. It comes in at a price tag of $3,499 – so a bit more price-prohibitive than other VR headset offerings, like Meta’s new Quest 3 (starting at $499). These products might be aimed at niche markets for now, but all operate from the goal of heightened adoption for this tech in the decades to come.
According to CivicScience’s latest data, Apple’s Vision Pro has the early leg up on Meta’s Quest 3 – despite the gulf in price. More U.S. adults are currently aware of Apple’s headset, and they’re also nearly twice as likely to express some level of interest in it (16% compared to 9% for Meta’s Quest 3). That said, Apple’s headset sports a higher share of uninterested adults right now – perhaps due to awareness.
The Apple Vision Pro plays similarly to adults who currently own VR headsets (37% at least ‘somewhat interested’) and those who intend to own one (34% at least ‘somewhat interested’) – so you can expect a fair number of existing VR users to upgrade their sets once Apple enters the fray in early 2024.
But on the whole, VR experience has shifted only slightly over the past two years of CivicScience tracking. VR owners have increased by three percentage points since Q3 2021, but intenders have remained mostly flat, hovering around 11%. It’s an indication that most intenders have not converted into owners over the past two years, but perhaps these new high-profile headset offerings could be enough to push them over the hump.
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