Apple Vision Pro: $3,500 Headset Challenges Smartphones

Head-Mounted Displays: €3,500 to Retire the Smartphone

A street with no one looking at their phone. Everyone facing forward with a headset covering their eyes. This is the scenario emerging from the launch of Apple's mixed-reality glasses, a device rumored to cost €3,500 and promising to float all apps in front of the user's face. The premise is simple: if this succeeds, smartphones lose their purpose. The subsequent debate isn't about the hardware, but about the price tag, eye health, and social acceptance.

What Are These Glasses Trying to Replace Phones?

The proposal is to bring every app within your line of sight without pulling anything out of your pocket, overlaying digital layers onto reality. The underlying thesis is more extreme: that this is the precursor to brain chips, resulting in people disconnected from reality while connected to everything else.

This is the core issue. It’s not a debate about resolution or battery life, but about whether screens should stop being objects we store and become things we wear. Supporters cite convenience and productivity; critics see a Wi-Fi muzzle. Between these extremes, there is little middle ground.

Google Glass Tried This in 2014 and Failed

This precedent appears in most analyses. Google Glass launched in 2014, was far more discreet, and ended up as a forgotten oddity. From there, arguments split into two opposing directions.

One side claims early prototype failures don’t predict future success: PDAs and tablet PCs were also flops before the iPhone and iPad arrived. The other recalls that testers—Meta's VR headsets are the most cited reference—report impressive first impressions trinc by discomfort after twenty minutes, with eye strain being the main complaint. They argue that augmented reality's revival doesn't guarantee adoption in this specific form.

How Much Do They Cost and Who Will Pay?

Price is the other battlefield. The glasses are attributed a cost of €3,500. Speculation suggests second-hand prices might drop to €2,000, while Asian knockoffs are already imagined at €120. With such disparities, calculating sales volume in Spain remains the most repeated yet least conclusive exercise.

It is assumed loyal customers will respond. The argument is that people buy what they are told they need, and wearing the device signals status and spending power. There is even mention of violent theft risks, as a €3,000+ object on one's face is easier to snatch than a phone in a pocket.

Are Virtual Reality Glasses Bad for Your Eyesight?

Here it is crucial to distinguish warnings from diagnoses. An ophthalmology clinic has issued alerts about potential eye problems from excessive use of VR glasses, and various messages emphasize that vision suffers most from such gadgets. This is a general alert, not a medical report: consult a professional for any eye discomfort.

Beyond health, an undisputed ergonomic issue exists. Faces prefer to be uncovered. Half an hour with something covering them causes fatigue, and removing it leaves a strange sensation, like having been in the dark too long. This detail, more than the price, hinders continuous use.

Why Smartphones Remain Hard to Dethrone

Phones have two virtues no glasses match: they fit in pockets and can be turned off. Anything worn on the face is harder to carry and ignore. Given this disadvantage, the most common scenario is domestic use: first at home, lying on the sofa, and only when the device resembles normal glasses will street use be considered.

For the definitive leap, many look to other technologies. They argue holograms have more potential than headsets, and brain implants, due to invasiveness, will take much longer to be accepted. The adoption order they envision is slow and layered.

With these elements, the unsettling fact isn't the price or discomfort. It's that much analysis assumes success won't depend on the product itself: market share is predetermined, status drives demand, and queues form automatically. If true, the question isn't whether people want screens on their faces. The question is when.