Apple’s foray into mixed reality with the Vision Pro was always going to pique my interest. After spending some time putting it through its paces, it’s certainly been an experience. Forget the TikTok stunts; this is about the tech, the practicality, and whether it’s worth a punt.
First Impressions and the elephant in the room
Apple launched the Vision Pro with significant fanfare back on February 2nd, stepping into the mixed reality category. It was met with electric excitement but also immediate criticism, particularly around its rather eye-watering starting price of £3,500 (well, $3,499 in the US, before international pricing). That price point is a major talking point, positioning it at roughly seven times the cost of devices like the Meta Quest 3. Some sources suggest this isn’t about mass adoption right now, but rather playing a ‘status’ game, much like Tesla did with its initial Roadster.
Having used a plethora of VR headsets over the years, including the Quest 3 and many others, I knew Apple wouldn’t just churn out another gaming rig. They pitched it as a “spatial computing” device. But does it live up to the hype, or is it just a fancy, overpriced gadget? That’s what this Apple Vision Pro review aims to explore.
Design, Build, and That Weight Problem
From a purely aesthetic standpoint, the Vision Pro is undeniably well-designed. It’s crafted from aluminium, glass, and carbon fibre, with a polished glass front featuring the EyeSight display. This design does a good job of drawing heat away from the headset itself. However, the most immediate and widely reported issue is its weight. It’s heavy. Even with different strap options like the Solo Loop and Dual Loop bands, many users report significant pressure and discomfort, particularly on the forehead and cheeks, after only an hour or two of use. The weight distribution, being heavily front-loaded, seems to be the primary culprit. This isn’t just a minor niggle; it significantly impacts how long you can comfortably wear and use the device.
The headset is powered by an external battery pack, connected via a cable. While the battery life is modest (around 2 to 2.5 hours), which is sufficient for watching a film, the need for an external pack tethered to you is seen as annoying and awkward by some.
Hardware Prowess and Visuals
Inside, the Vision Pro packs some serious kit. It features two 4K micro OLED panels, each the size of a postage stamp, boasting a staggering 23 million pixels. This results in incredibly sharp visuals when content is brought close. The display quality is frequently praised as among the best seen in a headset.
It’s loaded with sensors and cameras – 12 cameras and five sensors (including LiDAR and IR) outside, plus six microphones. Powering all this are two Apple Silicon chips: the M2 and a new R1 chip specifically for processing sensor input and streaming images to the displays within 12 milliseconds. This low latency contributes significantly to the impressive passthrough quality. The view of the real world through the cameras is remarkably realistic, perhaps only slightly less colour-saturated than reality itself, and noted as being far better than other headsets.
VisionOS and Interaction
The headset runs visionOS, an operating system built on iPadOS. The interface uses a honeycomb-style app layout similar to the Apple Watch. Interaction is primarily managed through eye tracking and simple hand gestures, such as pinching your thumb and forefinger to select items you look at. This eye tracking is often described as “magic” or intuitive. However, a significant criticism is that the eye tracking can lose calibration quite easily, sometimes requiring recalibration multiple times a day, which can be frustrating. Hand tracking, while more reliable, isn’t precise or fast enough for active uses like gaming.
Text input on the native virtual keyboard is considered tedious and slow. While you can tap keys in the air or look and pinch, voice dictation is often preferred for efficiency. Fortunately, the headset integrates well with external accessories like a Magic Keyboard and Trackpad, and supports wireless game controllers like those from PlayStation and Xbox.
Key Experiences and Use Cases
Several aspects of the Vision Pro stand out:
- Spatial Videos and Photos: This is frequently highlighted as a “game-changer”. Watching spatial videos or viewing spatial photos taken on the Vision Pro or compatible iPhones (iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max) feels like reliving a memory, adding depth and immersion beyond traditional photos or videos.
- Media Consumption: The Vision Pro is arguably the best personal media player available. It can simulate a massive virtual screen (equivalent to 100-150 inches) with exceptional picture quality and spatial audio. Even 3D movies, which some reviewers were previously not fond of, become a pleasure to watch with added depth and detail. You can even place yourself in environments like a virtual cinema.
- Immersive Environments: The built-in digital environments (like Mount Hood or Yosemite) are praised for their realism and ability to create a sense of calm and focus. They can be used for relaxation, mindfulness, or simply tuning out the real world.
- Mac Virtual Display: You can connect your Mac and mirror its display onto a large, virtual 4K window within the headset. This can be useful for working on a large screen while away from your desk. However, it’s limited to a single virtual monitor, unlike some competing headsets that offer multiple virtual displays.
- Collaboration and Communication: Spatial FaceTime creates lifelike “Personas” (virtual avatars) that materialise in your space, making calls feel more personal, though the current Beta quality of Personas can be a bit unnerving (“Uncanny Valley”). Apps like Zoom and Webex offer immersive meeting experiences with spatial audio and the ability to place participants or view 3D models in your physical space. Microsoft 365 apps are also available for collaborative work. Despite these features, the experience can feel quite isolating at times.
Beyond personal use, the Vision Pro is being explored for various professional and educational applications:
- Workplace Productivity: It offers opportunities for immersive collaboration, data visualization (viewing data as 3D graphs), enhanced multitasking with multiple floating app windows, and spatial support for field workers.
- Training and Upskilling: Immersive digital twin environments can be created for hands-on training. Apps can overlay step-by-step instructions or 3D models onto real equipment or environments. It can accelerate the path to proficiency in complex tasks.
- Education: Use cases include interactive AR learning experiences like viewing anatomical models, exploring 3D models, taking virtual field trips through immersive videos, exploring new filmmaking modalities, shooting and viewing spatial videos for projects, spatial FaceTime for remote tutoring or expert calls, using immersive environments for focus, practising public speaking in virtual settings with Keynote, and even designing spatial apps for visionOS.
- Customer Support & Sales: It can transform customer interactions with 3D property tours, virtual product demos, and guided technical support in shared environments.
Shortcomings and the Road Ahead
As a first-generation product, the Vision Pro has notable flaws beyond the comfort issues and price. Reports of issues like “spontaneous cracking” of the front glass have surfaced, with cracks often appearing in the same location without the device being dropped. Other reported issues include problems with sound, and glare.
Integration with the Apple ecosystem isn’t perfect; for instance, it doesn’t offer seamless Handoff or the ability to unlock your iPhone using Optic ID. The limited app ecosystem, while growing, means the “killer app” that makes the high price justifiable for the average user is still missing. Market analysis suggests the VR/AR market is still quite small and niche, which might deter developers from committing significant resources to creating apps. Shipment estimates have been significantly lowered for 2024, suggesting weaker-than-expected demand, particularly outside the US.
Many observers believe that significant updates to the Vision Pro, particularly around hardware design to improve comfort and reduce bulk, aren’t expected until closer to 2027, with the next model likely to be lighter and potentially less expensive. Refining production efficiency and supply chain management are current focuses.
Fascinating, Flawed, Future
My time with the Vision Pro confirms it is a technological marvel. The displays, passthrough, and core interaction methods feel genuinely next-gen. Features like spatial video and the media consumption experience are truly compelling.
However, the significant drawbacks – primarily the weight and discomfort, the high price tag, the current isolation it imposes, and the lack of a must-have use case for many – make it difficult to wholeheartedly recommend for most people right now. It feels very much like a Version 1.0 product, albeit a highly polished one for its generation.
For developers, early adopters with deep pockets, or companies exploring specific high-value use cases in areas like design, training, or collaboration, the Vision Pro offers a glimpse into the future of spatial computing. For everyone else? It’s fascinating to observe, perhaps worth trying out at an Apple Store, but probably best to wait for future iterations that are lighter, less expensive, and supported by a more mature software ecosystem.
