A Year of Regret for Early Adopters of Apple’s Vision Pro Headset

Summary

WSJ Tech News Briefing: A Year of Regret for Early Adopters of Apple’s Vision Pro Headset

Release Date: May 16, 2025 | Host: Victoria Craig | The Wall Street Journal

---

Apple’s Vision Pro: From Innovation to Disappointment

Launch and Initial Hype

In May 2024, Apple introduced its Vision Pro headset amidst significant fanfare and long queues, promising to revolutionize spatial computing. The device was lauded for its intuitive navigation features, allowing users to interact using eye movements, taps, flicks, and voice commands. This groundbreaking approach positioned Vision Pro as a potential game-changer in the tech industry.

Early Adopters' Regret

However, a year into its release, the Vision Pro has left many early adopters feeling disappointed. According to WSJ reporter Joseph Pisani, the hefty price tag of $3,500 and the device's cumbersome design have been major sources of frustration.

Amrith Ramkumar, a WSJ reporter, highlighted the primary complaints from users:

"It's heavy. The thing weighs a pound. And people said that after 30 minutes or 60 minutes of having it on their face, it feels like it's drooping, it hurts their neck, it hurts their eyes, and they just have to take it off." (02:32)

Additionally, users have faced social challenges while using the headset in public spaces. One user recounted wearing it on an airplane, only to receive disapproving looks:

"One guy I talked to said he wore it at work and he was using it, like, to type to email. And it helped him focus because he was just looking into this thing, but his co-workers were just like, take it off. You look like you're going skiing." (02:32)

These social discomforts have deterred some users from wearing the headset in everyday settings.

Positive Aspects: Enhanced Multimedia Experience

Despite the drawbacks, not all feedback has been negative. Many users praise the Vision Pro for its immersive experience when watching movies and TV shows. Ramkumar notes:

"It's like watching on an IMAX huge screen and you can, like, change the background. So, like, you're watching a movie at a lake or something." (04:21)

Apple has also released exclusive 3D movies, such as a Metallica concert simulation, which users have found particularly engaging. However, even in these scenarios, prolonged use leads to physical discomfort:

"One guy said he, like, watches the movies, but he lies down, so it's not so much pressure on his neck." (05:09)

App Ecosystem Challenges

Another significant issue is the limited number of available applications. Ramkumar reports that developers have been slow to create apps for the Vision Pro, making the device less appealing:

"The Wall Street Journal has reported that developers have been slow to develop apps for the Vision Pro. So people, they'll check in to see if there are new apps, but they feel like there aren't enough and it makes it not worthwhile." (05:16)

Apple’s Response and Future Plans

Apple has yet to release concrete numbers regarding Vision Pro's performance in the market. However, user feedback suggests potential areas for improvement, such as reducing the device's weight and enhancing its unobtrusiveness to increase public acceptability.

Binance Founder’s Pardon Request and Trump Administration Ties

Changpeng Zhao’s Pardon Request

In a separate high-profile story, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the billionaire founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, is seeking a presidential pardon. CZ served four months in prison after pleading guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering requirements in 2023. His request has now drawn scrutiny from Democratic senators concerned about potential conflicts of interest.

Senators’ Concerns

Amrith Ramkumar explains the impetus behind the senators' inquiries:

"CZ is seeking a presidential pardon at the same time that the Trump family discusses investing in the US Arm of the company he founded, Binance." (06:11)

The senators have drafted a letter questioning the nature of the Trump administration's interactions with CZ and the timing of these discussions, especially in light of the Trump family's financial engagements with Binance.

Trump Family’s Financial Interests in Crypto

The Trump family's involvement in the cryptocurrency sector has raised eyebrows. Key points include:

• World Liberty Financial: A crypto venture heavily backed by the Trump family, was part of a $2 billion investment into Binance from a UAE state-backed investor.
• Bitcoin Mining Firm: The family is also involved in a bitcoin mining company aiming to go public.
• Meme Coin Gala Dinner: President Trump is hosting a gala dinner for 220 holders of his Meme Coin at the White House, with VIP receptions planned. This event has been criticized for potential ethical and legal issues, especially since many attendees are foreigners:

  "The idea that the president could be seen as soliciting gifts from outside people and benefiting from his office, that could cause some legal and ethical issues." (09:10)

Ethical and Legal Implications

A former White House special counsel for ethics and government under the Obama administration described the upcoming dinner as an "ethics nightmare." Concerns include:

• Conflict of Interest: The intersection of CZ's pardon request with the Trump family's investments poses potential conflicts of interest.
• Foreign Participation: Many Meme Coin holders attending the dinner are foreigners, leading to fears of favors being exchanged for investments.
• White House Resources: Uncertainty surrounds the extent to which White House resources are used in organizing the event, raising further ethical questions.

Regulatory Landscape Under Trump Administration

The Trump administration has generally been lenient towards the cryptocurrency industry. Key points include:

• Reduced Enforcement: Agencies like the SEC have halted or dropped multiple major cases and enforcement actions against crypto companies and investors.
• Legislative Developments: Congress is working on legislation to regulate stablecoins and outline the SEC and CFTC's roles in the crypto market. However, there are concerns that these regulations may not be comprehensive enough:

  "There is definitely this concern that there could be some rampant activity in the crypto industry." (10:53)

• Political Divide: Democrats and watchdog groups fear insufficient regulation, while Republicans argue that agencies are simply normalizing regulations and that the proposed legislative measures provide necessary guardrails.

---

Conclusion

The episode of WSJ Tech News Briefing delves into the challenges faced by Apple’s Vision Pro headset, highlighting user discomfort and a sluggish app ecosystem despite its innovative features. Concurrently, it explores the intricate ties between Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and the Trump administration, raising significant ethical and legal questions amidst a regulatory landscape that continues to evolve. These discussions underscore the complexities at the intersection of technology, consumer experience, and political influence.

---

Note: This summary excludes introductory remarks, advertisements, and closing credits to focus on the core content of the episode.

Transcript

[Victoria Craig]

In case you missed it, YouTube is the number one streaming platform in watch time in the US ahead of Netflix, Disney, and Prime Video. For the second year in a row, there's only one YouTube.

[Joseph Pisani]

Hey, TNB listeners, Before we get started, heads up. We're going to be asking you a question at the top of each show for the next few weeks. Our goal here at Tech News Briefing is to keep you updated with the latest headlines and trends on all things tech. Now we want to know more about you, what you like about the show, and what more you'd like to hear from us. We already asked you about some corners of tech you might be interested in. Now we've got a few others in mind. Biotech, Data science. How about robotics? Let us know what sparks your interest. If you're listening on Spotify, look for our poll under the episode description. Or you can send us an email to tnbsj.com now onto the show. Welcome to Tech News briefing. It's Friday, May 16th. I'm Victoria Clark Craig for the Wall street journal. A $3,500 Apple device was supposed to be the next great thing in tech. It turned out to be essentially a pricey paperweight for some of the early adopters who bought it. Then Binance's founder wants a presidential pardon. Our reporter has exclusive details about Democratic senators. Now asking for details about the Trump administration's interactions with the man known as cz. But first, when Apple launched its Vision Pro headset in 2024, it did so to much fanfare and long lines. The device promised to usher in an era of what Apple called spatial computing. It's familiar, yet groundbreaking. You navigate with your eyes, simply tap to select, flick to scroll, and use your voice to dictate. It's like magic. But after spending a year with a headset that costs more than double a 14 inch MacBook Pro, some consumers were left with one feeling regret. WSJ reporter Joseph Pisani talked to several of those first adopters who told him their mixed reality headsets are now just collecting dust. So, Joseph, a year into Vision Pro, it seems like the regret is high for those first adopters. What are their biggest complaints?

[Amrith Ramkumar]

It's heavy. The thing weighs a pound. And people said that after 30 minutes or 60 minutes of having it on their face, it feels like it's drooping, it hurts their neck, it hurts their eyes, and they just have to take it off. That was the biggest complaint. The other one was people's reactions to it in the wild. So, like they would wear it on an airplane and they would get dirty looks and it would just make them not want to wear it. One guy I talked to said he wore it at work and he was using it, like, to type to email. And it helped him focus because he was just looking into this thing, but his co workers were just like, take it off. You look like you're going skiing. Can you please not talk to me with that thing on your face? People don't realize that even though the goggles are on their face, the people wearing it can see through it.

[Joseph Pisani]

Yeah. One of the people you spoke to talked about a flight attendant who passed them up on a flight, right?

[Amrith Ramkumar]

Yeah. They were flying several hours. The flight attendant kept passing when he wanted a drink.

[Joseph Pisani]

Hate it when that happens. So, like you said, a lot of people you talked to for this story mentioned that they thought they could use these Vision Pro headsets to help them be more productive at work. So I'm wondering if the bones of this product are something that Apple could refine and reform Some aspects of. One person you said, it's definitely a glimpse at the future, but it's a ways away from there. So what's next for the Vision Pro? What has Apple said about that?

[Amrith Ramkumar]

Apple hasn't released any numbers, so we really don't know much about Apple's thought. The people who use it think it would really work well if it was lighter and it wasn't so huge on their face and it didn't look like they were escaping from the world. People want something that's less obtrusive.

[Joseph Pisani]

So there are a lot of complaints about the product, but not everyone is completely unhappy about it. There was one user who talked about an advantage that it provides for viewing movies. Right.

[Amrith Ramkumar]

The one thing everyone seems to love about it is watching movies and watching tv. It's an immersive experience. People say it's like watching on an IMAX huge screen and you can, like, change the background. So, like, you're watching a movie at a lake or something. Apple has been releasing special 3D movies. There's a Metallica concert that makes you feel like you're in the venue. But again, people said even when they're watching those movies, they do need to take a break. And one guy said he, like, watches the movies, but he lies down, so it's not so much pressure on his neck.

[Joseph Pisani]

That's one solution. And that reminds me of another issue that some people brought up about the number of apps that are available for this device.

[Amrith Ramkumar]

The Wall Street Journal has reported that developers have been slow to develop apps for the Vision Pro. So people, they'll check in to see if there are new apps, but they feel like there aren't enough and it makes it not worthwhile.

[Joseph Pisani]

That was WSJ reporter Joseph Pisani. Coming up, President Trump's family's financial ties to cryptocurrency exchange Binance are raising concerns about conflicts of interest. We'll talk to our reporter about why after the break.

[Victoria Craig]

Did you know that every day people watch on average more than 1 billion hours of YouTube on their TV screens? That's because YouTube is where people go deep on all the content they love. There's only one YouTube.

[Joseph Pisani]

Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has been pushing the Trump administration for a pardon. He served four months in prison after pleading guilty to violating U.S. anti money laundering requirements in 2023. Now, three top Democratic senators want to know more about the Trump administration's interactions with the found who goes by cz. WSJ reporter Amrith Ramkumar covers tech and crypto policy, and he reviewed a letter those senators sent to the administration. Amrith, just walk us through what that letter says and what these senators really want to know.

[Unnamed Reporter]

The letter weighs out concerns that Democratic lawmakers and many watchdog groups have about Binance's relationship with the Trump administration overall. So CZ is seeking a presidential pardon at the same time that the Trump family discusses investing in the US Arm of the company he founded, Binance. And so the senators were really asking Trump administration officials what the discussions have been like with Sisi and his lawyers and the timing of those conversations and how they relate to other things going on. So the specific letter was used to focus on the push for a pardon. But there are these larger Binance concerns swirling in the background.

[Joseph Pisani]

What do we know about the discussions that have been ongoing between CZ and the White House about a potential pardon?

[Unnamed Reporter]

There hasn't been a ton of specific info, honestly, about what those discussions have looked like. And CZ confirmed recently on a crypto podcast that he had formally applied for a pardon. And he said that he applied after those stories came out. But the fact that he's formally applied now is what has gotten some senators in watchdog groups particularly interested in this even more because that formal process, at the same time, their business dealings with the president's family raises some serious conflict of interest concerns.

[Joseph Pisani]

Walk our listeners through how President Trump's family financial interests factor into this wider conversation.

[Unnamed Reporter]

World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture that the Trump family is heavily involved in, was part of a $2 billion investment into Binance made by a UAE state backed investor recently. And at the same time, the Trump family has involvement in a bitcoin mining firm that's trying to go public. And Trump is inviting 220 holders of his Meme Coin to the White House next week for a gala dinner. And some of them are getting a VIP reception. So all of those activities together have definitely raised eyebrows. And some people in the crypto industry are also worried that this activity and these conflict of interest concerns are becoming a distraction and taking focus off what they hoped would be a year filled with substantive legislative accomplishments.

[Joseph Pisani]

And tell us a bit more about that dinner, because you have a separate story out that quotes a former White House special counsel for ethics and government under the Obama administration calling that dinner an ethics nightmare. Why?

[Unnamed Reporter]

Watchdog groups say that there are a lot of gray areas here, but in general, this idea that the president could be seen as soliciting gifts from outside people and benefiting from his office, that could cause some legal and ethical issues. The idea that he's again, profiting from the office in some ways. And so the White House has denied there are any conflicts of interest. And they've been pretty clear that this is an outside business engagement. But the reason people are buying the Meme Coin and that they want to come to this dinner is because Trump is president and of his popularity as a result. There's also a big issue now where it's come out that many of the people that hold the Meme Coin and that will be coming to the dinner are foreigners. So that also creates a lot of legal and ethical headaches as far as people trying to buy the coin and come to the dinner in return for favors. And then another element that has come up is that Trump as president has immunity from a lot of these things, but people on his staff who might be assisting in any way might not necessarily. And it's not really clear how much of this is happening with official White House resources and what's not. So a few weeks ago, when this announcement went out that there would be this dinner, there was discussion of a White House tour, and that has since been removed from the website. So it does seem like they're trying to really keep it separate and make clear that it's a private event and not related to the White House.

[Joseph Pisani]

And I just want to sort of paint this picture for our listeners because all of these questions come against a backdrop of less rigorous enforcement of the crypto industry under President Trump. Can you just remind our listeners how that regulatory landscape has changed since he returned to the White House.

[Unnamed Reporter]

The crypto industry has definitely been one of the biggest winners so far in the Trump administration. So the SEC and other agencies have basically dropped or halted over a dozen major cases and enforcement actions against companies and investors in the crypto industry. At the same time, there's legislation making its way through Congress that would set up regulations for stablecoins, a popular type of cryptocurrency that's pegged to real currency like the dollar, and also market structure, which would outline how the SEC and CFTC would regulate these industries. But a lot of people are worried that those regulations and those structures set up won't go far enough. So there is definitely this concern that there could be some rampant activity in the crypto industry. And that's something Democrats and watchdog groups have said. On the flip side, Republicans have said that the SEC and others are just returning to normal and the Biden administration's unfairly targeted crypto companies, and so undoing a lot of those actions they say was justified. And they say their legislation would set up appropriate guardrails and that some guardrails, maybe even if they're not perfect, are better than none.

[Joseph Pisani]

That was WSJ tech and crypto policy reporter Amrith Ramkumar. And that's it for Tech News Briefing. Today's show was produced by Julie Chang and Zoe Culkin. I'm your host, Victoria Craig. Additional support this week from Emily Martosi, Jessica Fenton and Michael Lavall wrote our theme music. Our supervising producer is Melanie Roy. Our development producer is Aisha Al Muslim. Scott Salloway and Chris Inslee are the deputy editors. And Falana Patterson is the Wall Street Journal's head of news audio. We'll be back this afternoon with TNB Tech Minute. Thanks for listening.

[Victoria Craig]

The world's biggest creators, the world's biggest moments, all delivered to the world's biggest collection of passionate fans, providing unparalleled opportunities for your brand. There's only one YouTube.