Apple's $3,500 headset was supposed to reinvent how we work, watch, and play.
Nearly two years after launch, buyers are scrolling through a ghost town of abandoned concepts and missing blockbusters.
Floating screens, immersive sports, a spatial Netflix experience that felt like the future?
A wave of early adopters is now sounding off online, and the frustration is LOUD.
The killer apps they were promised—the ones that justified dropping four figures on a face computer—largely haven't materialized.
What's left is a pricey device searching for a reason to exist. **THE BIG NAMES THAT BAILED** Here's the gut punch.
Netflix never built a proper Vision Pro app.
These aren't niche players—they're the apps people use every single day, and they're content to let users squint through a browser instead.
Even some developers who jumped in early have quietly walked away.
Several high-profile spatial apps have gone untouched for months, with no updates and no roadmap.
When a gadget's software library starts collecting dust, that's a five-alarm fire, not a minor hiccup.
A headset that nails the hardware and stumbles on the software.
Gorgeous displays mean nothing if there's nothing worth staring at. **WHY DEVELOPERS ARE HITTING PAUSE** Follow the money.
Building a truly great spatial app is expensive, and the audience is tiny compared to the iPhone's billion-plus users.
Developers chase eyeballs, and right now the Vision Pro just doesn't have enough of them.
Apple's steep price tag created a chicken-and-egg nightmare.
Fewer buyers mean less incentive to build.
Less to build means fewer reasons to buy.
That doom loop is exactly what killed earlier VR hopefuls, and Apple isn't immune to gravity.
There's also the awkward truth that most people just don't want to strap a screen to their face for hours.
Productivity dreams collide with reality: it's heavy, it's isolating, and your neck eventually files a complaint. **THE WILD CARDS STILL IN PLAY** Don't write the obituary just yet.
A handful of developers are doing genuinely clever things—immersive documentaries, spatial productivity tools, and medical and training apps that actually make sense in 3D.
These aren't gimmicks; they're glimpses of what could be.
Apple keeps shipping software updates and nudging the ecosystem along.
A cheaper model has been rumored for ages, and if it ever lands, the math changes fast.
A $1,500 headset pulls in a very different crowd than a $3,500 one.
Until the big streamers and social platforms show up in force, buyers are essentially paying a premium to beta test Apple's vision of tomorrow. **OUR TAKE** The Vision Pro isn't a bad product—it's an unfinished promise.
Apple built a spectacular stage and forgot to book the headliners.
If you're eyeing one today, be honest about what you'll actually do with it.
If the answer is "watch movies alone in a dark room," congrats, you already own a TV.
Final Thoughts
Wait for the apps, or wait for the price cut.