Johny Srouji was mysteriously absent from the Vision Pro launch, this could be why

Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies, has been a stalwart of Apple’s recent launch videos, particularly when the company is introducing new Apple silicon. However, Srouji was conspicuously absent from the launch video of the Apple Vision Pro, which introduced the new Apple R1 chip as well as the announcements of the new Mac Studio and Mac Pro, which saw the debut of the new M2 Ultra powerhouse.

The Apple Vision Pro, however, has been a somewhat controversial product for the company with both the New York Times and Bloomberg highlighting ahead of its launch that there was rare internal dissent within the company about launching it. According to Bloomberg, Srouji distanced himself from the project despite his team’s involvement in its development, skeptically comparing it to a “science project”. With Srouji’s unusual absence from the launch of the Apple Vision Pro, it could be interpreted that he prefers not to be associated with it even now that Apple has progressed to officially launching it.

The Bloomberg article, which dates back to May 18 noted that the Vision Pro had suffered from various design compromises during development. The New York Times article, which dates back to March 26 noted that the Vision Pro was originally intended to be unobtrusive, akin to a pair of glasses that ended up becoming much more like a regular AR or VR headset. A notable critic of the headset following its launch was former Apple hardware senior vice president Tony Fadell, who said that Apple had “jumped the shark”, as it is overpriced and lacks a compelling marketing strategy.

Apple CEO hasn’t always been bullish on the prospects of AR or VR headsets either. In a 2015 interview with The New Yorker, Cook assessed headsets as being a product category to be avoided:

We always thought that glasses were not a smart move, from a point of view that people would not really want to wear them. They were intrusive, instead of pushing technology to the background, as we’ve always believed. … We always thought it would flop, and, you know, so far it has.

According to Bloomberg, legendary former Apple designer Jony Ive, who had been working on the Vision Pro before he left Apple, was concerned about creating a device that would isolate people from each other. The design team responded by incorporating a new EyeSight feature into the product that puts an external display on the external visor to project the user’s eyes and eye expressions so that someone nearby could see where wearers are looking and more "naturally" interact with them.

The Apple Vision Pro will hit the US market in 2024 priced at $3,500 with other markets to follow in 2025.

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