Apple's $3,499 headset landed with the usual fanfare, a glossy launch video, and a wave of tech reviewers strapping it to their faces.
But six months in, something strange is happening inside the Vision Pro app ecosystem.
The apps that were supposed to justify the price tag are quietly disappearing, and the ones that remain tell a story Apple probably doesn't want you to hear.
Let's start with the numbers nobody's broadcasting.
A recent analysis of the App Store's visionOS section found that a significant chunk of launch-window apps haven't been updated since February.
Some developers have publicly pulled their apps entirely, citing tiny user bases and development costs that don't pencil out.
When Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify all declined to build native apps, that wasn't a coincidence.
Apple's pitch was always about "spatial computing," a category so new that nobody could define it.
But the real issue isn't the hardware, it's the incentive structure.
Developers chase users, and users chase killer apps.
Right now, the Vision Pro has neither at scale.
The people who bought one are mostly early adopters and developers themselves, which means the feedback loop is basically a room full of people building tools for each other.
Meanwhile, the apps that do exist fall into predictable buckets: immersive video players, 3D modeling tools, and a handful of meditation and productivity apps that could run on an iPad.
And Apple knows it, which is why the company has reportedly been courting select developers with early access to new APIs and even direct engineering help.
But there's a deeper angle here that the mainstream tech press keeps dancing around.
Apple has a history of launching categories that look underwhelming at first, the iPod, the Apple Watch, even the iPhone faced skepticism.
The difference is those products had mass-market price points and obvious everyday use cases.
A headset that costs more than a used car and requires you to strap a battery to your hip doesn't have that luxury.
The smart money is watching what happens at Apple's next developer conference.
If the company announces a cheaper model or a major visionOS update with real developer incentives, the ecosystem could still find its footing.
If it doesn't, we're looking at a very expensive science experiment that Apple will quietly fold into its AR glasses roadmap somewhere down the line.
Here's the part that should make you pause.
The apps vanishing from visionOS aren't failing because they're bad.
They're failing because the platform's economics don't work yet.
That's a structural problem, not a software bug, and no amount of spatial video demos will fix it. **Our take:** The Vision Pro isn't a flop, but it's not a platform yet either.
Before you drop $3,500, ask yourself what you'd actually do with it on a Tuesday afternoon.
Final Thoughts
If the answer is "watch a movie alone," you already own that device.