Samsung didn't understand Apple and just kept nodding.

Just last week, Apple quietly launched this year's new MacBook on its official website. It is also a MacBook equipped with the M5 chip. Alongside the two newly released MacBooks, the Apple Vision Pro with the M5 chip was also introduced.

According to official Apple news, the Vision Pro with the M5 has a 10% improvement in image rendering ability, a 50% increase in AI operating speed, a 120Hz refresh rate, a video latency of 12ms, and its daily battery life has reached 2.5 hours.

Shortly after the release of this Apple MR headset with higher computing power and stronger parsing ability, Samsung's XR glasses are finally coming.

Yes, what Samsung is about to release this time is the headset device that was once "scared off" by Apple and sent back for re - engineering.

After two years of re - engineering, Samsung's MR glasses, the Samsung Galaxy XR, have finally made their debut.

However, at a time when Apple's Vision Pro has faced a cold market reception and Apple intends to shift towards the AR market, the Samsung Galaxy XR seems to be somewhat ill - timed and bleak.

In a field where even Apple has failed to turn the tables, what Samsung needs to prove is: What makes the Samsung Galaxy XR unique and capable of taking over from Apple and leading the trend.

01 Apple Failed to Achieve Instant Success

In June 2023, Apple announced the long - awaited Apple Vision Pro to the world. This MR headset, carrying Apple's past aura of invincibility, made Meta, which had always been at the forefront of the entire XR market, feel a sense of crisis. It also made Samsung, which had planned to take another gamble in the XR market, feel timid.

In the following six months, on one hand, Apple was ramping up the mass production of the Vision Pro, and on the other hand, the public was full of expectations.

Of course, there was also a hidden crisis in the middle, which was the high price of this product (around 25,000 yuan), and the even higher expectations that were further raised behind the high price.

This product was officially launched in February of the following year. It was first launched in the United States, and it was a restricted release where consumers could only buy it by queuing up at local offline stores in the United States.

As a result, a global craze for buying the Vision Pro in the United States emerged. Almost all the top domestic technology review bloggers flew to the United States overnight just to produce review videos of this highly anticipated Apple device as soon as possible.

Even at that time, going to the United States to buy the Vision Pro became a legitimate reason to pass through the US customs.

However, this promising start also became the most glorious moment for Apple's Vision Pro.

After the first batch of Apple Vision Pro review videos were released, we saw Apple's influence on the public and its supply chain, the public's enthusiasm for this product, the excellent craftsmanship of this product, and Apple's future vision for MR headsets.

From our subsequent actual product experience, Apple has put a lot of effort into the Vision Pro. It's not an exaggeration to say that it has raised the industry standard to a new level:

——Single - eye 4K display at its best, 3D photography for content creation, highly accurate gesture recognition, freely adjustable immersion, and a thinner product form.

However, compared with other Apple products on the market, this product is more like a "futures product".

Although Apple has shown us the future of spatial computing, the Vision Pro, which is included in Apple's official product lineup, ultimately does not have the revolutionary significance to break through commercial constraints like other Apple products on sale.

At least from a commercial perspective, the Vision Pro, which most ordinary users stop using soon after purchase, cannot be considered a success.

Shortly after the official release, Apple repeatedly lowered its sales forecast for the Vision Pro.

In a report at the end of 2024, Bloomberg pointed out that the annual sales of the Apple Vision Pro were less than 500,000 units, and its usage rate was also lower than Apple's original expectation.

In 2024, the Apple Vision Pro failed to achieve instant success, which became a pity for the entire XR industry.

02 Samsung "Scared Off"

Although Apple failed to achieve instant success, the release of the Apple Vision Pro still brought some chain reactions:

For example, driven by the "Apple supply chain", the entire XR supply chain was forced to take a big step forward;

For example, Samsung's XR device, originally planned to be released in February 2024, was sent back for re - engineering after Apple's press conference.

However, this may not be a bad thing for Samsung.

Perhaps because the Apple Vision Pro is "too advanced", Google and Qualcomm have once again firmly stood by Samsung's side, wanting to develop an Android XR product that can compete with Apple together with Samsung.

Undoubtedly, in the global Android ecosystem, if you want to invest resources and create a competitive XR product, Samsung is indeed the best choice for Google and Qualcomm.

Samsung not only ranks second in the world in smartphone shipments year - after - year (only after Apple) and first in the Android ecosystem, but also holds the key display panels and display technologies for XR products.

Meanwhile, when VR boxes were popular around the world in the early years, Samsung also jointly created the phenomenon - level product Gear VR with Oculus.

So, in the past year, we have seen that although the release time of Samsung's product has been repeatedly postponed, it has been introduced at various events. Google and Qualcomm have also frequently supported Samsung at these events before the product's release.

Therefore, when Samsung presented the Galaxy XR, which looks similar to the Apple Vision Pro in appearance, at the press conference, we were not surprised.

So, what advantages have Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm brought to this Android XR masterpiece?

To put it simply, Samsung has contributed two 4.3K resolution Micro - OLED displays to the Galaxy XR, Google has contributed the large AI model Gemini Live and the Android XR operating system, and Qualcomm has contributed a Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chip.

In terms of the overall product design:

First, in terms of the interaction ability of the Galaxy XR, this product also supports voice, gesture, and eye - movement interaction. Meanwhile, a handle accessory has been added back for game enthusiasts.

Second, in terms of weight and battery life, the Galaxy XR weighs 545g, slightly lighter than the 600g Vision Pro. Its battery life is about 2 - 2.5 hours, slightly inferior to the Vision Pro.

Samsung officially revealed at the press conference the reason for delaying the release of this product, which was already ready before the release of the Apple Vision Pro - to improve the experience of applications such as YouTube, Google Photos, and Google Maps and enhance the device's immersive experience.

Actually, during this more than one - hour press conference, what Samsung spent more time explaining and demonstrating was the existing application experience of this product.

Among them, compared with Apple's emphasis on spatial computing, Samsung places more emphasis on "native AI".

For example, during a game, you can ask Gemini Live for game - passing strategies;

For example, when editing a video, you can add text and pictures to automatically generate a 3D effect;

Of course, you can also use this device to watch 3D video content on YouTube.

If there is any unique feature in the application experience of this product, the most eye - catching one for me is still the function of converting 2D pictures/videos to 3D, which is similar to that of the Apple Vision Pro.

Compared with the Apple Vision Pro, the most competitive aspect of this product is still its price. The price of $1,799 (about 13,000 yuan) is only half of the price of the Vision Pro, which it aims to compete with.

Even so, we still have to put a question mark on whether such a product can replace the Apple Vision Pro and lead the trend of the era.

03 Consumers Accept "Low - End AR"

In the year when Samsung launched its big - ticket Galaxy XR, another piece of news circulated in the industry:

Apple may abandon the development of the affordable Vision Pro and instead focus on developing AI glasses.

This news was also confirmed by an informed source through Bloomberg.

Yes, you heard it right. Apple, which has always pursued perfection, innovation, and the creation of "beyond - the - era" products, under the leadership of Cook, has begun to adapt to the market and develop a product that is not the "ultimate form".

This product is the intermediate form of AR glasses, AI glasses.

Previously, we mentioned that current AI glasses can be divided into three categories according to their main functions: photo - taking glasses, translation glasses, and display glasses.

——Photo - taking glasses mainly focus on first - person photo and video shooting and are favored by heavy users of current video - based social software;

——Translation glasses combine the capabilities of current large AI models to enhance foreign - language translation ability, and the target group is people who love traveling;

——As the type closest to the concept of AR glasses, display glasses are still at the top of the hierarchy and are divided into single - eye display, double - eye display, as well as monochrome display and color display.

During the period around the release of the Samsung Galaxy XR, the entire AI glasses market has actually been experiencing a new wave of product updates.

Overseas, Meta has updated its phenomenon - level AI glasses product.

At the Meta Connect conference in September this year, the Meta Ray - Ban Display with single - eye display function was released. This product was once again well - received. Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said in early October that this product was almost sold out in offline retail stores.

Domestically, INMO, one of the "Four AR Leaders", released the binocular monochrome AI glasses INMO GO3. Thunderbird also announced that it would release its first movie - watching glasses supporting HDR later today. Even Dapeng, an old player in the VR field, released an AI glasses product focusing on shooting this year.

In addition, Xiaomi officially launched its AI glasses in June this year. Internet giants such as Alibaba and Baidu have also entered the AI glasses market.