The new Apple Vision Pro headset is displayed during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on June 05, 2023 in Cupertino, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Apple let some people try out its new Vision Pro mixed-reality headset. People seem genuinely impressed by Apple’s technology, but the device is notably heavy for long wear, and some users were left with questions about what the headsets will ultimately be used for.
The Vision Pro will allow users to see apps in a new way, in the spaces around them. Users can use their eyes and hands to navigate through apps and search with their voices. The headset can be used to watch movies, including in 3D, with spatial audio, view pictures or videos, and play video games. It can also be used for work with video conferencing apps, Microsoft Office tools or Adobe Lightroom.
The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern said the Vision Pro was intuitive to use, has the “fit and finish” of an Apple gadget and is more comfortable than Meta Quest Pro or Quest 2. But even so, she said “It’s not for everyone. It’s not even for most people.” By the end of the demo, she said her nose and forehead were feeling the weight of the device, and she experienced some nausea.
Stern said Apple showed her a number of different demos, and she said she thinks the most valuable initial uses for the Vision Pro will be for watching movies and working.
9to5Mac‘s Chance Miller said it was easy to get the Vision Pro to feel “snug” and that it was generally pretty comfortable. He wore the device for 30 minutes and said he could understand that it might be heavy to wear for extended sessions.
He said there was a bit of a learning curve to figure out the right gestures to use, but that the “eye and hand control gestures were really impressive.” He did not experience any motion sickness.
Miller said consuming content like movies, TV shows and sports games was particularly impactful: “The experience is absolutely incredible.”
Apple’s new Vision Pro virtual reality headset is displayed during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, on June 5, 2023.
Josh Edelson | AFP | Getty Images
The Verge‘s Nilay Patel said the device is a “really, really nice VR headset” with impressive video passthrough and displays. “It is easily the highest-resolution VR display I have ever seen,” he said.
But, Patel said even after using the Vision Pro, he did not have a clear answer for what the headsets will ultimately be used for.
TechCrunch’s Matthew Panzarino said the Vision Pro is “nothing less than a genuine leapfrog in capability and execution” of mixed reality. He said the gesture control and eye tracking on the device is “near perfect,” and he found that the resolution made text easy to read.
Movies were also a highlight for Panzarino: “3D Movies are actually good in it,” he wrote.
He said the headset is “really, really well done,” but that he isn’t sure whether the headset will really bring about the onset of spatial computing like Apple claims.
Source: Apple
Stratechery’s Ben Thompson said he found the Vision Pro experience “extraordinary,” and that it surpassed his high expectations. He said the user interface feels natural, and that it is “surprising” how high resolution it is.
He said critics are right to question what the device will be used for. Thompsaid suspects a lot of early Vision Pro users will likely buy the device because they are “Apple super fans” or because they are “interested in its novelty value.”
Thompson wondered if the Vision Pro might become the world’s “most expensive paper weight.”
Even so, he said he suspects the Vision Pro is “the future of the Mac.”‘
Wired‘s Lauren Goode said the Vision Pro’s best selling point is its ability to adjust the immersion level of the virtual environment. She said the headset also “shone” in the entertainment category because of the dynamic experience, and she found that it was intuitive to use.
Goode said the headset felt “hefty,” even with the external battery pack, and her face “breathed with relief” when she took it off. She added that, unlike other Apple devices, this one can’t disappear into a pocket or a bag, so it requires some “suspension of disbelief and a sacrifice of autonomy” to use it.
“Even Apple can’t out-design its way out of what is fundamentally an obtrusive technology,” Goode wrote.
Financial Times‘ Patrick McGee said the Vision Pro has an “intuitive interface that is novel and intimate,” and that it was entertaining to view photos, watch movie clips and take a call.
McGee said despite the impressive nature of the technology, he said it “is difficult to make the case that any consumer ‘needs’ this device.”
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a “Morning Meeting” livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here’s a recap of Friday’s key moments. 1. The S & P 500 turned higher Friday. The index opened lower after posting its worst one-day performance since Oct. 10. Still, Wall Street remains cautious of Big Tech’s heavy spending and stretched valuations. Jim Cramer reminded investors to stick with profitable companies — like Nvidia and Microsoft , both Club names, and Alphabet — rather than those that make promises they can’t back. While our trusted S & P Short Range Oscillator is not yet oversold, we’re eyeing some select buying opportunities among stocks that have pulled back. We’re preparing to free up more cash as we look to move on from Disney , where linear television networks have been weighing on profits. Jim said Disney is “in denial” about their challenges. 2. Shares of drugmaker Bristol Myers fell more than 3.5% on Friday after a phase 3 trial for one of its experimental drugs was halted due to a patient health issue. The drug in question was not Cobenfy — the schizophrenia treatment we’ve been bullish on for its potential use on Alzheimer’s. A big Cobenfy readout is due by the end of the year. It’s a make-or-break update for us as investors, given management’s consistent issues with execution. “It’s hard to have faith in management after a series of miscues,” said portfolio director Jeff Marks. We’ve been selling the stock, and as Jim said during Thursday’s November Monthly Meeting , if the shares resume their recent rise, we would look to trim further. 3. Looking ahead to next week, there are four Club names reporting earnings, starting with Home Depot on Tuesday before the opening bell. The near-term setup makes it challenging to maintain a positive stance due to the current elevated state of mortgage rates. At the same time, there’s a significant amount of pent-up demand in the housing sector, which should be beneficial for the home improvement retailer. Next up is TJX on Wednesday before the opening bell. The off-price retailer is a big under-promise, over-deliver story, as it tends to beat the high end of guidance. Nvidia also reports on Wednesday, but after the closing bell. There are a lot of bears on the stock right now, but Jim maintains his “own it, don’t trade it” stance. Finally, cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks reports on Wednesday, after the bell, and we’re interested in hearing how management plans to beef up its agent-based security. 4. Stocks covered in Friday’s rapid fire at the end of the video were: Applied Materials , Walmart , Gap , and Nucor . (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long DIS, BMY, HD, TJX, NVDA, PANW. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
An exterior view of the new JPMorgan Chase global headquarters building at 270 Park Avenue on Nov. 13, 2025 in New York City.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images
JPMorgan Chase has secured deals ensuring it will get paid by the fintech firms responsible for nearly all the data requests made by third-party apps connected to customer bank accounts, CNBC has learned.
The bank has signed updated contracts with fintech middlemen that make up more than 95% of the data pulls on its systems, including Plaid, Yodlee, Morningstar and Akoya, according to JPMorgan spokesman Drew Pusateri.
“We’ve come to agreements that will make the open banking ecosystem safer and more sustainable and allow customers to continue reliably and securely accessing their favorite financial products,” Pusateri said in a statement. “The free market worked.”
The milestone is the latest twist in a long-running dispute between traditional banks and the fintech industry over access to customer accounts. For years, middlemen like Plaid paid nothing to tap bank systems when a customer wanted to use a fintech app like Robinhood to draw funds or check balances.
That dynamic appeared to be enshrined in law in late 2024 when the Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized what is known as the “open-banking rule” requiring banks to share customer data with other financial firms at no cost.
But banks sued to prevent the CFPB rule from taking hold and seemed to gain the upper hand in May after the Trump administration asked a federal court to vacate the rule.
Soon after, JPMorgan — the largest U.S. bank by assets, deposits and branches — reportedly told the middlemen that it would start charging what amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars for access to its customer data.
In response, fintech, crypto and venture capital executives argued that the bank was engaging in “anti-competitive, rent-seeking behavior” that would hurt innovation and consumers’ ability to use popular apps.
After weeks of negotiations between JPMorgan and the middlemen, the bank agreed to lower pricing than it originally proposed, while the fintech middlemen won concessions regarding the servicing of data requests, according to people with knowledge of the talks.
Fintech firms preferred the certainty of locking in data-sharing rates because it is unclear whether the current CFPB, which is in the process of revising the open-banking rule, will favor banks or fintechs, according to a venture capital investor who asked for anonymity to discuss his portfolio companies.
The bank and the fintech firms declined to disclose details about their contracts, including how much the middlemen agreed to pay and how long the deals were in force.
Wider impact
The deals mark a shift in the power dynamic between banks, middlemen and the fintech apps that are increasingly threatening incumbents. More banks are likely to begin charging fintechs for access to their systems, according to industry observers.
“JPMorgan tends to be a trendsetter. They’re sort of the leader of the pack, so it’s fair to expect that the rest of the major banks will follow,” said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator.
Shearer, who worked at the CFPB under former director Rohit Chopra, said he was worried that the development would create a barrier of entry to nascent startups and ultimately result in higher costs for consumers.
Source: Robinhood
Proponents of the 2024 CFPB rule said it gave consumers control over their financial data and encouraged competition and innovation. Banks including JPMorgan said it exposed them to fraud and unfairly saddled them with the rising costs of maintaining systems increasingly tapped by the middlemen and their clients.
When Plaid’s deal with JPMorgan was announced in September, the companies issued a dual press release emphasizing the continuity it provided for customers.
But the industry group that Plaid is a part of has harshly criticized the development, signaling that while JPMorgan has won a decisive battle, the ongoing skirmish may yet play out in courts and in the public.
“Introducing prohibitive tolls is anti-competitive, anti-innovation, and flies in the face of the plain reading of the law,” said Penny Lee, CEO of the Financial Technology Association, told CNBC in response to the JPMorgan milestone.
“These agreements are not the free market at work, but rather big banks using their market position to capitalize on regulatory uncertainty,” Lee said. “We urge the Trump Administration to uphold the law by maintaining the existing prohibition on data access fees.”
Govini has fired Eric Gillespie from its board of directors after the founder was charged with attempting to solicit sexual contact with a minor online.
“The actions of one depraved individual should not in any way diminish the hard work of the broader team and their commitment to the security of the United States of America,” the defense software startup said in a release late Wednesday.
The company said the 57-year-old had no access to classified information since stepping down as CEO nearly ten years ago.
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office charged Gillespie with four felonies, including multiple counts of unlawful contact with a preteen.
A judge denied bail for Gillespie, who lived in Pittsburgh, citing flight risk and public safety concerns.
At the time, the Pentagon officials told CNBC that they were investigating the arrest and possible security risks.
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Last month, the Arlington, Virginia-based startup surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue and announced a $150 million growth investment from Bain Capital.
