rp Reacts: Apple WWDC23

At their annual developer conference, Apple revealed a whole host of updates to their product range, including a more powerful M2 Ultra chip and a thinner 15” Mac. There were also plenty of changes to their software, like iOS17 getting new apps, AI-driven personalized autocorrect, and the “Hey” dropped from “Hey Siri'' prompts. The announcement that stole the show? Apple released their long-awaited AR headset, Vision Pro. 

Here are our team’s thoughts on Apple’s big news:

In regard to the Vision Pro announcement, the smartest thing Apple did was not use the word “metaverse.” They acted like their product was the first, real validation of the AR/VR headset product category and that they are establishing what targets the industry has to hit in order to be taken seriously. They set a new standard that every other company will now scramble to meet.

I’ll also add that their newest, mostest powerfulest Mac ever, Mac Pro with Apple silicon, is an insane device compared to the 2019 Mac Pro. The new one is around twice as fast as the previous maxed out computer, while being roughly 1/4 of the price and far more power efficient. If they can follow through on their promise to deliver new components to upgrade these machines along the way, it could be yet another game changer for many creators.

Spencer Watson, Sr. Graphic Designer

The Vision Pro is giving me original iPhone flashbacks, the price is way too high for the average consumer, but in a few years with different iterations it has the potential to become ubiquitous.

Mario McDonald, Staff Accountant

Aside from the Vision Pro announcement, nothing they announced was particularly meaningful. Even the Vision Pro announcement was lacking, to be honest. Back in the day they would actually do scripted, but live, product demos on stage in real time to show off their latest innovation, but for the last several years they've moved to glossy, pre-produced, dare I say "fake" product reveal videos.

Other than that, we're seeing a lot more of Apple's move to an iterative, safe, uninteresting and non-innovative approach to software design. Oooohhhh, ahhhh, we can have multiple timers now or my phone will quit autocorrecting to "duck". Apple is almost entirely resting on its laurels at this point and none of the announcements were particularly impactful. Vision Pro might be good, or it might not, but the vast majority of people have no way of knowing that at this point because nobody's seen it in any sort of real action.

Sterling Crawford, IT Operations Specialist

Everyone in my contacts better brace for impact with this leave a FaceTime message feature.

Jesse Spear, Senior Brand & Product Marketing Manager

Missed opportunity—they showed people using Vision Pro while sitting all prim and proper. I want one so I can compute horizontally.

Karla Jackson, Marketing Practice Creative Director

I still can't buy into the Apple hype, but all the articles I've read are saying that Apple has very carefully worded their presentation so that they sound innovative and not like the products/features that Meta, Google, and Android have already released.

Yessenia Gonzalez, People Generalist

It took them 35 minutes before a person of color gave a presentation.

I don't use half of what they're updating on my iPhone or iPad.

Jessica Nerad, People Team Director

There's a saying in comedy that "the audience is with you." It means that when people come to a club to watch stand up or improv, they are coming with the expectation that they will laugh. This is supposed to help the comic have confidence in their set. I'd say people are always 'with Apple' every year waiting to see what next amazing evolution they're going to show. This year it felt flat. Like everyone came ready to be "wowed" and left being "okay'd" at best.

Daniel Lopez, Account Supervisor

I think Apple dictates the future of our society more than we may realize. I think we’ll look back and see this was the beginning of the end of traditional screens/televisions.

Ryan Dunlap, Creative Operations Creative Director

I get it...the Visions are expensive. But Apple has put themselves out there, and to me that is something to be appreciated. They are going to jump to the top of the market they are helping to create, and that is going to create lasting value for Apple investors. As someone who is very visual, I am personally excited to see how these things will change the way I work.

Tim McMullen, CEO

There are so many smaller features that I'm looking forward to using! I've been begging for video voicemails for at least 11 years now, and I’ve been craving the ability to set up custom lock screens on my iPad since I upgraded this year. I envision global events and activations in the future will look a lot more like the presentations we saw. I'm excited to see the future of spatial computing and the other innovations that will come along with the customer experience.

Courtney Chauvenne, Associate Director of Social Media