With Apple’s entry into the spatial computing market with Vision Pro, the Apple-Decentraland rivalry might take off in the coming months. Decentraland has been a leading platform in the development of Web3-based metaverse for years, focusing on decentralised ownership of land in the virtual world.
Meanwhile, Apple’s Vision Pro is a part of the company’s broader push into spatial computing, representing the first steps toward integrating AR and VR technologies.
Vision Pro vs. Meta Quest vs. No VR
With VR and AR metaverse hardware growing more and more popular over the years, every developer in these sectors has approached them in their own way. However, there is no single best solution, as each of them has its advantages and flaws. Vision Pro, for example, is limited to only 12 FPS in some apps, while Meta Quest 4 managed to reach 90 FPS.
Unlike Apple Vision Pro, Decentraland opted for a no-VR approach, focusing instead on being browser-native. That doesn’t mean that VR is off the table, but it is optional and secondary.
Vision Pro’s UX was designed with spatial, gesture, and eye-gesture controls, while Meta Quest was designed with a focus on VR immersion, with intuitive hand-tracking and standalone operation. Decentraland stands out again as it is based on the browser/desktop UI, where users can navigate using keyboard and mouse, or game controllers.
Commenting on the Vision Pro, the founder of Oculus, Palmer Luckey, said: "'They are trying to drag something out of the future that really shouldn't exist until 2026, 2027, and drag it into the present by making it ludicrously expensive.'"
Web3 and Walled Gardens
Apple’s Vision Pro creates its metaverse through spatial computing, introducing digital environments based on real-world space. However, this is a tightly controlled system, where Apple must approve all apps, and there is no support for blockchain-based products, such as cryptocurrencies or NFTs. Users are also not allowed to freely build and organize the environments freely, as it is locked down and heavily controlled.
In comparison to Apple VR, Decentraland offers a Web3 metaverse built on the foundation of open access and user ownership. The metaverse is governed by the Decentraland DAO, which enables anyone to purchase virtual land as NFTs and create their own unique experiences. Users also get to vote on development decisions, and they can build without permission.
Epic Games Acquires Sandbox
Metaverse acquisitions have become increasingly common news over the years, with many major names joining the race to provide the best experience, such as Epic Games. The popular gaming platform has acquired The Sandbox, another blockchain-based metaverse, allowing it to enter the growing world of metaverse gaming.
Experts are speculating that the Sandbox acquisition could be highly transformative in terms of interoperability. The Sandbox already supports NFTs, allowing players to have their own NFT avatars, wearables, and land. Thanks to shared blockchain standards, games can interact with each other, and assets can be easily transferred.
However, for Apple, this brings additional pressure, as its consumers might come to expect true asset ownership and interoperability in its own metaverse, which Vision Pro is not ready to give.
Identity & Ownership
That doesn’t mean that Apple’s experience doesn’t have its own strengths. The company enables the creation of photorealistic avatars through 3D rendering of the user’s face, allowing for a lifelike presence in its virtual environment. However, the downside is that this data is stored and managed by Apple, meaning that users would not own their avatars, but rent them from the company.
Decentraland has taken the opposite approach, where everything is stored on-chain, and users become the owners of their own information. Their avatars do not look exactly like them, but they can be stylized, and they are tied to the owner’s crypto wallet. Additionally, they can customize them further through NFT-based wearables, emotes, names, and similar items. Additionally, all these assets can be traded, allowing users to add, modify, and remove them as needed.
In terms of digital self-expression, Apple offers realism and polish, with no real control, while Decentraland offers less detailed creative freedom.
Creator Economies
In terms of the creator economy, Apple’s Vision Pro relies entirely on the proprietary App Store. That means that anything developers wish to add must be submitted for approval, and it must follow strict guidelines. Not to mention that Apple takes a percentage of all sales and in-app purchases. In other words, its content exists inside strictly curated environments where creators have low autonomy and face heavy fees.
Decentralized platforms like Decentraland’s metaverse are the complete opposite, where anyone can easily create and sell digital goods, from land to music to wearables. It is all based on NFTs, and there is no central authority that governs gamified worlds. Users can earn and spend the MANA token (or the SAND token in The Sandbox), and ownership of content rests entirely with the creator.
So, while Apple provides infrastructure and polish, its metaverse clearly feels like its own world, where players get to visit. In contrast, Decentraland allows users to own it, even if they must build it themselves first.
Investment Potential
Apple’s Vision Pro represents a long-term bet on the future popularity of spatial computing. It is an expensive mixed reality headset aimed at early adopters and developers. Its walled garden model does not include cryptos, NFTs, or real digital ownership. However, investors can benefit from a carefully built ecosystem provided by one of the world's most technologically advanced firms.
Alternatively, Decentraland operates as a tokenized platform that has created a playground for users, allowing them to take control over it. Land and all other assets are NFT-based, while its native token, MANA, trades freely between users.
Future of Metaverse Mergers
Moving forward, it is unlikely that open metaverse platforms like Decentraland will be able to integrate with Apple’s Vision Pro. For now, Apple is avoiding crypto, and Decentraland avoids centralization.
However, there could be hybrid models. In the future, new headsets could support both blockchain worlds. The problem does not lie in the technology, but rather the philosophies behind the two opposing sides.
Conclusion
Apple and Decentraland both aim to handle the metaverse, but in opposing ways, representing two opposite futures. One is polished and closed, while the other is open, but messy. One favors control, the other freedom, but both are building the digital spaces for users to explore, play in, and even work.
So, which future will win? Can users have both freedom and realism? And, what is the future of users’ digital identities? For now, it remains unknown, and it will be up to the users to choose their preference.