On June 5, 2023, Apple unveiled Vision Pro, the company's first virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headset. The announcement took place at the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California.
Shortly after the news broke, the @BasicAppleGuy Twitter account tweeted a picture of several people lined up in chairs to camp outside the famous Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York City.
The tweet was captioned with the words, "BREAKING: A line has already begun forming outside Apple Fifth Avenue in New York as customers eagerly await Apple's Vision Pro headset slated for launch in early 2024."
BREAKING: A line has already begun forming outside Apple Fifth Avenue in New York as customers eagerly await Apple's Vision Pro headset slated for launch in early 2024. ⛺️ #WWDC23 pic.twitter.com/XFXqcCCsPP
— Basic Apple Guy (@BasicAppleGuy) June 5, 2023
However, this was just a joke.
While the Twitter user didn't specify in the account's bio that its content is satirical, we did find at least one past tweet in which satirical intent had been acknowledged.
Around three months earlier, long before the Vision Pro's announcement, @BasicAppleGuy had tweeted the same picture and remarked that camping out to secure launch day product had "faded out over the past decade."
Camping outside Apple Stores ⛺️
It was common in the early days of the iPhone for people to camp out in front of Apple stores to secure a launch day product. This method has faded out over the past decade. pic.twitter.com/8CIU35ahK2— Basic Apple Guy (@BasicAppleGuy) March 17, 2023
According to cultofmac.com, the photograph in question may have been shot in 2014 for the launch of the iPhone 6. The name credited next to the picture was Dan Benton.
Another viral claim about Vision Pro that circulated in June 2023 posited that the device would include access to a "virtual Disney World" thanks to a partnership between Apple and Disney.
For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.