At some point, I’m going to live inside the Apple Vision Pro: doing work in it, checking messages, playing games, watching shows. Apple’s $3,499 mixed reality headset aims to be the computer of the future, but I don’t know if it will be my computer of the present. In the meantime, I’ve had demos to give me a feel for where Apple is going. My latest one, days before the headset is available to order was my deepest dive yet, even though it was still a limited taste. Still, it’s clearer than ever that Apple isn’t going for the exact same thing as previous VR headsets or even AR ones. It’s flaunting different functions. Where its advantages and missing pieces lie is what fascinates me, as someone who’s used headgear for over a decade now.
If you’re considering getting an Apple Vision Pro, here’s what you need to know based on my short demo experiences with Apple, maybe 30 minutes each. I haven’t fully reviewed one yet. But I’ve used it enough to know that, out of the gate, the Vision Pro is a product you can wait on (for most people, because of its cost alone, it will be), but it has moments that definitely shine. And sometimes get weird.
Vision Pro app icons look iPad-like, but the immersive environments stretch around in 3D.
That display
Again and again, I’ve come to appreciate the Vision Pro display. That’s the real star here. Apple knows it. My demo showed me more photos and spatial videos again, along with video clips: a trailer for Ted Lasso (which I watched while in a 3D immersive environment of a volcanic landscape as my backdrop), and a Star Wars trailer I watched in Disney’s Vision Pro-optimized Disney Plus app. It had an immersive environment that looked like I was in a speeder on Tatooine. It made me feel like I was in a Disney-ified Star Wars drive-in experience.
The micro-OLED display is high-res and rich enough to make movies look stunning. Yes, this could be a personal cinema that may rival whatever setup you already have. Spending $3,499 for a personal cinema seems incredibly indulgent, but some will see the appeal. I’m in love with the idea of seeing movies in it, for sure. The audio also sounds pretty good with the included speakers in the headset, but I’m curious what lossless AirPods Pro 2 buds will do for immersion.
It’s still pretty amazing you can do so much with hand and eye tracking in Vision Pro.
Hand-eye coordination is generally great
Apple’s blend of eye tracking and small-gesture hand tracking feels far more refined than headsets like the Meta Quest 2 and 3 use or the Hololens 2. The tiny gestures, combined with quick eye movements to focus on buttons or other things to click and drag, can feel like mind reading. Sometimes it’s not perfect: I found I had to look at places several times occasionally or slightly turn my head. Maybe it’s me getting used to the interface or eye-tracking adjustment.
But after four times in Vision Pro now, I’m impressed that this is the most effortless and functional hand-tracking system I’ve ever seen in VR or AR. I forget there are no controllers. Will I miss not having them? Sure, sometimes. It’s wild when I see my own hands via passthrough in Disney’s immersive Tatooine environment, vignetted so they look like they’re in the world with me. I almost thought they were virtual hands.
There are some interaction tricks that surprised me. The Digital Crown on the Vision Pro headset, which dials virtual environments in and out of existence, also adjusts volume. All I had to do was glance at one of two icons while twisting the dial to pick its function. My eyes literally changed reality.
