Johnny Srugi was mysteriously absent from the Vision Pro launch, and that could be why

Johnny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Device Technologies, has been a stalwart of recent Apple release videos, particularly when the company rolls out new Apple silicon. But Srouji was clearly absent from the play video From Apple Vision Pro, which introduced the new Apple R1 chip as well as announcements of the new Mac Studio and Mac Pro, which saw the debut of the new M2 Ultra engine.

However, the Apple Vision Pro has been a somewhat controversial product for the company with both versions The New York Times And bloomberg It highlights before its launch that there was rare internal opposition within the company over its launch. According to Bloomberg, Srouji distanced himself from the project despite his team’s involvement in its development, questioning its comparison to a “science project”. With Srouji’s unusual absence from the launch of the Apple Vision Pro, it can be explained that he prefers not to be associated with it until now that Apple has come forward to launch it officially.

the bloomberg The article, dated May 18, noted that the Vision Pro had suffered from several design compromises during development. the The New York Times The article, dated March 26, noted that the Vision Pro was originally intended to be unobtrusive, similar to a pair of glasses that ended up looking more like a regular AR or VR headset. One of the most prominent critics of the headset after its release was Apple’s former Vice President of Devices, Tony Fadell, who said that Apple had “jumped the shark”, because it was overpriced and lacked a compelling marketing strategy.

The Apple CEO wasn’t always optimistic about the prospects for AR or VR headsets, either. In a 2015 interview with The New YorkerCook rated headphones as a product category to avoid:

We’ve always thought that glasses aren’t a smart move, from the point of view that people really don’t want to wear them. They were intrusive, rather than pushing technology into the background, as we had always believed. … We always thought it was going to fail, and you know, until now it has.

according to bloombergLegendary former Apple designer Jony Ive, who worked on the Vision Pro before he left Apple, was worried about creating a device that would isolate people from each other. The design team responded by incorporating a new EyeSight feature into the product which places an external screen on the outer brow to accentuate the user’s eyes and eye expression so that anyone nearby can see where the wearer is looking and interact with them “naturally”.

The Apple Vision Pro phone will reach the US market in 2024 at a price of $3,500, and other markets will follow in 2025.

Buy Meta Quest 2 for just $299 from Amazon.

I’ve been writing about consumer technology for the past 10 years, previously with ex-MacNN and Electronista, and now Notebookcheck since 2017. My first computer was an Apple c[c]and this sparked a passion for Apple, but also technology in general in the past decade, has become more platform agnostic and I like to get my hands on and explore as much of the technology I can get my hands on whether it’s Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, Nintendo, Or Xbox, or PlayStation, they each have so much to offer and have given me great fun exploring them all I’ve been drawn to writing about technology because I love learning about the latest hardware and also sharing and reading any insights my experience can bring to the site[candthissparkedapassionforApplebutalsotechnologyingeneralInthepastdecadeI’vebecomeincreasinglyplatformgnosticandlovetogetmyhandsonandexploreasmuchtechnologyasIcangetmyhandonWhetheritisWindowsMaciOSAndroidLinuxNintendoXboxorPlayStationeachhasplentytoofferandhasgivenmegreatjoyexploringthemallIwasdrawntowritingabouttechbecauseIlovelearningaboutthelatestdevicesandalsosharingwhateverinsightsmyexperiencecanbringtothesiteanditsreadership[cوقدأثارهذاشغفًابشركةApple،ولكنأيضًاالتكنولوجيابشكلعامفيالعقدالماضي،أصبحتأكثرحياديةللمنصةوأحبأنأحصلعلىيديواستكشفأكبرقدرممكنمنالتكنولوجياالتييمكننيالحصولعليهاسواءكاننظامالتشغيلWindows،أوMac،أوiOS،أوAndroid،أوLinux،أوNintendo،أوXbox،أوPlayStation،فلكلمنهاالكثيرلتقدمهومنحتنيمتعةكبيرةفياستكشافهاجميعًالقدانجذبتإلىالكتابةعنالتكنولوجيالأننيأحبالتعرفعلىأحدثالأجهزةوأيضًامشاركةأيرؤىيمكنأنتجلبهاتجربتيإلىالموقعوقراءه[candthissparkedapassionforApplebutalsotechnologyingeneralInthepastdecadeI’vebecomeincreasinglyplatformagnosticandlovetogetmyhandsonandexploreasmuchtechnologyasIcangetmyhandonWhetheritisWindowsMaciOSAndroidLinuxNintendoXboxorPlayStationeachhasplentytoofferandhasgivenmegreatjoyexploringthemallIwasdrawntowritingabouttechbecauseIlovelearningaboutthelatestdevicesandalsosharingwhateverinsightsmyexperiencecanbringtothesiteanditsreadership