The $3,499 Anchor
Apple priced the Vision Pro out of most pockets on purpose. Here is what that number was really for.
By Dev Malik · 08 February 2024
When the Vision Pro went on sale in the United States in February 2024 at $3,499, the easy story was that Apple had overshot. The more useful story is that the price was a positioning device, not a sales target.
A number that high reframes an entire category.
A number that high reframes an entire category. Suddenly every cheaper headset and every pair of lightweight glasses is measured against the most expensive thing in the room, and the most expensive thing sets the ceiling for what spatial computing is allowed to aspire to.
Apple has run this play before. The first iPhone, the original iPad, the Watch Edition, each used price to teach the market what a thing was worth before competition dragged it down. The Vision Pro is doing the same work for a face-worn computer.
The risk is that an anchor only holds if customers eventually arrive at the cheaper end. For the glasses makers watching from below, the lesson is that Apple has built them a very tall ceiling to grow into.