At an all-hands, Mark Zuckerberg addressed Apple's Vision Pro, saying “that could be the vision of the future of computing” but “not the one that I want”

/ Zuckerberg directly addressed Apple's Vision Pro unveiling in a meeting with Meta employees today …

The Verge 2023-06-09 Alex Heath

Context & Ripple Effects

Meta's leadership had already framed AR and VR as a strategic contest with Apple: Zuckerberg described a deep philosophical competition over AR and VR in 2022. This all-hands message gives employees an early articulation of Meta's counter-position as Apple enters the category.

The framing also anticipates Meta's later effort to argue that Quest 3 offered a better overall product than Vision Pro, a comparison Zuckerberg would make explicitly in his later Vision Pro assessment. The significance is less a single product critique than a clear choice of what kind of computing platform Meta intends to build.

First-order effects

Meta employees receive a public strategic rationale for differentiating their AR/VR work from Apple's approach rather than treating Vision Pro as the category's default blueprint.
Apple becomes an explicit product and platform rival in Meta's internal narrative, raising the stakes around how each company defines the next computing interface.

Second-order effects

Meta's product messaging is likely to center on the tradeoffs it believes distinguish its approach, culminating in direct comparisons such as the later Quest 3-versus-Vision Pro argument.
Developers and buyers evaluating immersive computing face competing platform narratives, rather than a single Apple-led definition of the category's value and use cases.

Third-order effects

If this rivalry persists, immersive computing may develop through competing ecosystem models and design philosophies, with hardware choices becoming inseparable from platform positioning.
The contest could make AR/VR adoption depend less on any one device launch and more on whether each company can sustain a distinct developer and user proposition; the related coverage does not establish which approach will prevail.

The trend: This is one early signal of AR and VR shifting from an emerging-device category into a strategic platform contest between Apple and Meta.

Discussion

@mkbhd Marques Brownlee on x
It's probably nothing... [How one Apple Vision Pro video looks exactly like a scene from a Ready Player One movie and a headset there]
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
“Every demo that they showed was a person sitting on a couch by themself. I mean, that could be the vision of the future of computing, but like, it's not the one that I want.” Zuck on the Vision Pro https://www.theverge.com/...
@the_blck_swan Stone Fish on x
@SupBagholder It's a very naive take. That mindset will get him steamrolled by Apple. Making Apple's solution more “social” is a matter of getting developers to develop apps for that use-case, and Apple's developer eco-system is far more mature than meta's.
@sullyomarr @sullyomarr on x
Now remember, the vision pro has massive computation on board with the M2 chip. We've also been seeing INSANE progress on running smaller, local LLM's on devices. Almost 100% sure that apple is building their own LLM from the ground up, specific to their chips. https://twitter.co…
@rihardjarc Rihard Jarc on x
Zuckerberg's internal comments on the $AAPL Vision Pro headset by the Verge. Key points: - no new tech that $META doesn't have - fundamentally different approach. $META wants people to be connect and active & $AAPL demo showing only people doing stuff alone on their couch. [image…
@daveleebbg Dave Lee on x
Strong Ballmer vibes https://twitter.com/...
@crusoniac @crusoniac on x
@SupBagholder This is brilliant. One thing I really respect is Zuck's clarity in articulating his vision. Defining yourself separately from your competition is super important. Plus, he's right. The Apple vision of VR is much more lonely and solitary than $META's emphasis on play…
@nickadobos Nick Dobos on x
@petergyang Confused by the last part saying Apple only showed sitting? They demo'ed playing soccer with kids using pass through, and walking around an apartment with the battery pack
@exilegrimm @exilegrimm on x
It's worth noting in context how incredibly bad the iPhone was up until the iPhone 3GS! Apple innovated and basically gave in to a lot of wants that Jobs refused in the first two (Jobs famously wanted to never allow copy/paste which is insane to think about in 2023) https://twitt…
@supbagholder @supbagholder on x
@The_Blck_Swan Which social app do you see doing well when the headset is sold for $3500? It all starts with the value proposition and how it's being marketed.
@sullyomarr @sullyomarr on x
Early 2024 release gives Apple time to figure out how the integration works. Think Siri 2.0 (probably why it sucks now - they're going to make a brand new one) It will seamlessly integrate with vision pro. No fuss about “GPT” or “LLM”.
@borrowed_ideas @borrowed_ideas on x
I personally admire Apple's ability to serve their customers in an aesthetically and technically superior ways, but it is indeed often underappreciated that Meta and Google may be the only two companies in the history of capitalism to make most of their products affordable and us…
@the_blck_swan Stone Fish on x
@SupBagholder That question assumes apple will not release a cheaper version in the future, and enough people won't be buying the headset at current price, as if Apple has no history of selling and making profit on expensive products. I think Apple vision will outsell the quest 3…
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
Breaking: local man who made fun of the iPad at launch says he doesn't like Apple's next product either. https://www.theverge.com/... [image]
@joelteitelbaum Joel Teitelbaum on x
@MKBHD Apple is drawing a contrast with Ready Player Zuck where you put on goggles and it's all wacky avatars in a metaverse. In Apple's vision (pun intended), you put them on and nothing changes - you are still in your living room. Apple is prioritizing presence over escape
@neilcybart Neil Cybart on x
It is uncanny how similar Zuckerberg's comments are to Steve Ballmer on the iPhone. Ballmer laughed because iPhone was too expensive and he liked Nokia's low cost strategy. He mentioned sales too. Zuckerberg made the same exact points only with headsets. https://www.youtube.com/.…
@travishoium Travis Hoium on x
@SupBagholder This is a really good take from Zuck. Different visions, different products.
@davemichels Dave Michels on x
Apple sure kicked Meta's butt today, right?: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on stage at an Oculus developers conference in 2016. Glenn Chapmann/AFP via Getty Images * Apple finally released its new headset Monday. * It sure seems a lot better than... https://www.businessinsider.com…
@rsgnl Joe Rossignol on x
Zuckerberg's comments about the Vision Pro are actually fairly balanced, but the reality is that Meta cannot compete with Apple on hardware, the metaverse sucks, and the company has questionable values. Facebook has sucked for a long time now, too, for good measure.
@parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on x
I've come around to the thinking that no, Meta is not screwed by Vision Pro. If anything, they'll probably help get more legitimized by Vision Pro. And at much lower prices and no real competition from Google/Microsoft, they're well positioned to be the Android of headsets.
@mattnavarra Matt Navarra on x
Mark Zuckerberg told staff that Apple's device didn't present any major breakthroughs in technology that Meta hadn't “already explored” And that its vision for how people will use the device is “not the one that I want.” https://www.theverge.com/...
@bradneuberg Brad Neuberg on x
The Apple Vision Pro UI is skeumorphism of the iPhone and iPad user interfaces, to act as a training wheel bridge for people entering spatial computing, in the same way the original iPhone UI was skeuomorphic of physical objects. This generation is comfortable with 2D iPhone UIs,…
@sullyomarr @sullyomarr on x
So its been a few days since the vision pro launch, and I think i figured out Apple's VR play. Or rather, how VR will actually take off, and why Apple is perfectly positioned to build Jarvis in real life.. [image]
@sarthakgh Sar Haribhakti on x
Zuck on Apple's headset He is clear-eyed about the differences in what Meta is optimizing for versus Apple Accessibility and social https://www.theverge.com/... [image]
@julesterpak Jules Terpak on x
Mark Zuckerberg's remarks about the Apple Vision Pro are quite reminiscent of (former Microsoft CEO) Steve Ballmer's remarks about the iPhone Shared with me by @stuartpatten https://twitter.com/... [video]
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
Mark Zuckerberg's thoughts on Apple's Vision Pro remind me of Steve Ballmer laughing at the iPhone https://www.theverge.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
Mark Zuckerberg directly addressed Apple's Vision Pro unveiling in a meeting with Meta employees today, telling them that it “could be the vision of the future of computing, but like, it's not the one that I want.” His full remarks here: https://www.theverge.com/...
@elizableu Eliza on x
Yeah the EU is going to be the most upset about this and rightfully so. It's really horrifying. All corporate tech platforms will feel the heat about this issue from the EU as a result of Instagram acting irresponsibly. https://twitter.com/...
Moneycontrol Moneycontrol on mastodon
Exclusive: Meta mulls a Twitter competitor codenamed ‘P92’ that will be interoperable with Mastodon
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
Here is what Meta's upcoming Twitter competitor looks like. The company is talking to Oprah and other celebs about being early users. “We've been hearing from creators and public figures who are interested in having a platform that is sanely run"https://www.theverge.com/ ...
@thedeskdotnet @thedeskdotnet on x
Meta wants Oprah and the Dalai Lama to be early users of its Twitter clone https://www.theverge.com/...
@nospheratt @nospheratt on x
I can't believe we're gonna end up on Meta's claws 😩 But I'm thinking that if there's gonna be a true massive exodus, this is going to be it https://twitter.com/...
@karissabe Karissa Bell on x
The Verge w/ some more deets on Insta's upcoming Twitter clone and “its public name could be Threads, based on internal documents” .. uh Instagram already had an app called Threads?? https://about.instagram.com/ ...
@giladedelman Gilad Edelman on x
Meta has eaten a ton of crap for its head-scratching business decisions in the past few years. (Cough, metaverse.) But this one seems unambiguously smart. Starting a new social network is a lot easier when you already have network effects. Curious how it plays out. https://twitte…
@pjbrown_iii Pete Brown on x
Even though this is a product coming from Meta & Zuck, I am weirdly enthralled and fascinated by #Project92 simply because such a major player is launching an #ActivityPub based service Huge for the protocol & even bigger for #socialnetworking as a whole QUITE interested 👀 https:…
@karissabe Karissa Bell on x
@alexeheath the og threads was a dud iirc so kinda funny to me they would revive the name for their Twitter clone
@tomcoates Tom Coates on x
Yeah I'm not going near Facebook again I'm afraid. Mastodon or Bluesky are the ways forward right now. https://twitter.com/...
@kyliebytes Kylie Robison on x
Meta announcing its new Twitter competitor internally, calling its version “sanely run.” Spicy spicy spicyyyyy https://www.theverge.com/...
@krynsky Mark Krynsky on x
Looks interesting but I'll only care about it if there's a way to use on desktop in a similar way to Tweetdeck which I think is highly unlikely. https://twitter.com/...
@mgsiegler M.G. Siegler on x
The interaction buttons are larger than the text! And so your eyes naturally go there on scanning the feed. What is this, a 2008-era website with all those awful share buttons? If you want to make a network geared towards text-based updates, maybe focus on, you know, the text? ht…
@parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on x
Pretty stoked for this. https://twitter.com/...
@aaronmehta Aaron Mehta on x
Even Meta is pivoting from Metaverse to AI now. (End goal may still be metaverse but investments will be now in AI.) https://twitter.com/...
@living_marble Mary Gillis on x
I think it would be astonishingly easy to convince Mark Zuckerberg to spend a billion dollars to develop a clear cola. https://twitter.com/...
@brandonsilverm Brandon Silverman on x
“He said open-source software enables greater outside scrutiny of the technology because it can be seen by millions of technologists. He said working closely with outsiders' advances would make Meta's platforms better.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ https://twitter.com/...
@tomaxwell Thomas Maxwell on x
that's not going to cause any issues, not at all https://twitter.com/...
@davidclinchnews David Clinch on x
AI is like the Ozempic of Tech, it can help with everything, but we just aren't sure what the side effects are yet. https://twitter.com/...
@mhdempsey Michael Dempsey on x
I kinda think Meta going scorched earth with open-source AI is going to look brilliant in a few years. https://twitter.com/...
@mikeisaac @mikeisaac on x
was the first big allhands in person since right before COVID hit — lots of expanding on product roadmaps from AI, Metaverse, and the family of apps also read to the end for Mark dinging apple's new vision pro headset.... [image]

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