The Apple Vision Pro is so ambitious that Apple doesn’t even call it a VR or AR headset. It’s a spatial computer that Apple calls “the most advanced personal electronics device ever.” That’s a pretty hefty claim when you’re making something called the iPhone, and there’s a whopping $3,500 price tag for this new device to match.
Available early next year, the Vision Pro is really quite powerful, with an M2 chip and a new R1 chip designed for real-time processing. It offers eye tracking, hand control, and voice control, and seems fairly light and comfortable to wear. And Apple has thought of many use cases for this Vision Pro, from improved productivity with your Mac and a new way to apply FaceTime to immersive video watching, playing games, and viewing and capturing photos and video.
If that sounds like a lot, it is. However, the Vision Pro doesn’t seem to have that flashy experience or killer app that would force you to shell out that kind of money. The good news is that Apple has more time to offer these experiences, because the headset (yes I call it that) won’t ship until early 2024.
I haven’t even worn the Vision Pro yet, but I got a chance to get up close and personal with the device, and have some thoughts on what Apple has created. Here are my early pros and cons.
Vision Pro design: It’s sleek yet elegant
The Apple Vision Pro in person looks like a high-tech pair of glasses, and I mean that mostly in a good way. The 3D glass looks smooth and polished, the aluminum alloy frame looks sturdy, and the light seal between the headset and your face feels very smooth and comes in multiple sizes to fit your face.
The Vision Pro’s flexible head strap also feels very comfortable, complete with an easy-to-use tension dial. The upper right side of the headset houses a digital crown that lets you adjust the immersion level, and the left side contains the content capture button.
So far so good, but there are two problems here. For example, the Vision Pro has to stay tethered to an external battery, so there’s a wire coming off your head that has to stick to the battery in your pocket. And although the headset is light, I wouldn’t call it small; We are a long way from the stylish Apple glasses.
What can you do with Vision Pro?
Vision Pro has a long list of use cases, starting with a larger dashboard to displaying multiple applications at the same time. So, for example, you could have a music player pinned to your left, Messages to the right and a large browser in the middle. In fact, you can extend your MacBook screen just by looking at it while wearing the Vision Pro. It’s also impressive that you can look at the address bar and say the name of the site instead of typing it. It’s a smart way to interact.
Apple has also reinvented the FaceTime experience. The Vision Pro’s front-facing cameras can capture your digital persona and then display it during video calls, mirroring your face and hand movements while chatting. I’m sure my wife won’t want to talk to me in person, but it’s great that you can use it during business calls. Other callers will pop up to see you.
When it comes to kicking back and watching a movie, the Vision Pro can mirror a screen 100 feet wide in front of your face, complete with Spatial Audio. And you must enjoy 4K resolution while watching movies and TV shows. Vision Pro also supports 3D movie playback.
Apple says the Vision Pro will play more than 100 Apple Arcade games at launch and will work with game controllers. But I’d like to see games made explicitly for the Vision Pro, especially ones that take advantage of augmented reality and the headset’s ability to read hand gestures.
Apple Vision Pro is designed to let you experience unforgettable photos and videos in an immersive way with life-size scale, and you’ll be able to view your panorama shots as if you were there. But things get a lot more interesting with the Vision Pro 3D camera, which lets you take spatial photos and videos.
I like that you have the ability to capture 3D content, but I feel like it’s very distracting for everyone around you if you’re wearing this headset while everyone else is singing “Happy Birthday!”
Vision Pro will also allow you to run iPhone and iPad apps via the new VisionOS, but it will take compelling third-party apps from Disney and many others to get people really excited about spatial computing. Being able to watch an NFL game while getting real-time stats around the screen or seeing a separate overhead view of the field is great, as is Disney World on a table.
New way to interact (with a scary factor)
The Vision Pro hopes to leave other headsets like the Meta Quest Pro in the dust with its complete lack of controllers. It starts with a 3D interface and eye tracking. You can just look at an app to start using it. And you press your fingers together to select, without having to raise your hand, and also to scroll by flicking your wrist.
A scary feature I have to tell you about is EyeSight, which projects your eyes onto the Vision Pro’s external display. This is designed to help you feel connected to those around you, but it feels a little unsettling. When someone decides they want to turn the Digital Crown fully into immersive mode, you’ll see a different animation — kind of like Do Not Disturb.
Powerful as hell but short battery life
Apple’s Vision Pro is Apple’s most powerful VR/AR headset yet, thanks to a separate M2 chip and R1 chip for real-time processing of 12 cameras, five sensors, and six microphones.
The Vision Pro’s tiny OLED screens display better-than-4K resolution—23 million pixels—in two postage stamp-sized screens. A spatial sound system is powered by two sound units on either side of the headset to deliver customized spatial sound.
Just don’t expect the fun to last long. The Vision Pro requires an external battery pack, which lasts about two hours before needing to be recharged.
Outlook Vision Pro
I’m excited but also concerned about the Apple Vision Pro. This speaker sounds very solid, and it’s important to keep in mind that this is a version 1.0 product. We haven’t even seen what the developers can do with this device yet.
However, $3,500 is too steep a price even for a taste of the future of computing, so most people will skip this headset and wait for a more affordable model. I’ll update my impressions once I’ve had a chance to try the Vision Pro.
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