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Apple Hardware Technology

Apple Vision Pro Review Roundup 80

Posted by BeauHD from the new-and-shiny dept.
Apple has lifted the embargo on the first wave of non-curated reviews of its Vision Pro headset, and the results are somewhat surprising. The initial "high" experienced upon first impressions, where reviewers laud the headset's "incredibly impressive displays" and "near perfect" tracking capabilities, has waned. In real-world conditions outside of Apple's heavily-regulated demos, the Vision Pro appears to suffer from limited productivity usecases, DRM'd apps, and half-baked features that suggest this device is still very much in the dev-kit stage. Above all, however, is the isolation experienced when using the Vision Pro. It offers very few options for wearers to socialize and share memories with one another in any meaningful way. Tim Cook may be right when he said headsets are inherently isolating.

"You're in there, having experiences all by yourself that no one else can take part it," concludes Nilay Patel in his review for The Verge. "I don't want to get work done in the Vision Pro. I get my work done with other people, and I'd rather be out here with them."

These are some of our favorite reviews of the Apple Vision Pro:

- The Verge: Apple Vision Pro review: magic, until it's not
- The Wall Street Journal: Apple Vision Pro Review: The Best Headset Yet Is Just a Glimpse of the Future
- Washington Post: Apple's Vision Pro is nearly here. But what can you do with it?
- Tom's Guide: Apple Vision Pro review: A revolution in progress
- CNET: Apple Vision Pro Review: A Mind-Blowing Look at an Unfinished Future
- CNBC: Apple Vision Pro review: This is the future of computing and entertainment
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Apple Vision Pro Review Roundup More

Apple Vision Pro Review Roundup

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  • work (Score:3)

    by systemd-anonymousd ( 6652324 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2024 @06:55PM (#64202182)

    > "I don't want to get work done in the Vision Pro. I get my work done with other people, and I'd rather be out here with them."

    Sounds like he doesn't do the kind of work that any headset would ever help with. But I'm sure he typed that sentence alone, at a computer, so I guess he's saying that's not the kind of work he wants to do.

    • The problem is virtually NO ONE does work that particularly benefits from this sort of tech. Yes a few niche areas do but not for the greater consumer audience.

      • Aah, but those that do do this type of work could benefit from it greatly... anyone working with 3d models for cinema, video games, or manufacturing springs to mind.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward
          manufacturing maybe. The others, not so much. you want to see how others view your materials and as movies and video games are not usually viewed with 3D glasses that is not how you want to work.

        • Aah, but those that do do this type of work could benefit from it greatly... anyone working with 3d models for cinema, video games, or manufacturing springs to mind.

          Surgery.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

        The greater consumer audience generally is not buying gadgets to do work.

      • Sounds like the same argument people made about computers 50 years ago.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dfghjk ( 711126 )

      Well, it's The Verge, they aren't in the expertise business, they're into the monetizing ignorance business. Can't see how headsets help with that.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Kisai ( 213879 )

      The Vision Pro is probably doing what Meta wish it had been doing from the start.

      Still, from the reviews I've seen so far, it feels like 3/4 baked, and 1/4 compromise, like all first and second generation Apple products.

      Every first generation Apple product has missed the mark with it's compromises.

      The iPhone, AppleTV, Ipad, Ipod nano/touch, and various "rethinks" of the Mac Pro have all been this way.

      Wait for the third one before committing to it. Personally, I was kinda sold on it until I saw the complaint

      • Re: work (Score:4, Interesting)

        by macmurph ( 622189 ) on Wednesday January 31, 2024 @06:51AM (#64203108)

        The verge says 92% P3 color gamut. Thatâ(TM)s pretty darn good even for a flat screen lcd on your desk. Sure you can now get affordable full P3 but we are spoiled. Nobody had anything this amazing on their desktop 10 years ago.

        • I had a monitor with 100% Adobe color gamut on my desk five years ago.

          • The P3 color space is 25% wider than the Adobe sRGB color space. I don't believe I've ever seen a consumer device that supports 100% P3 - even great display panels tend to support 90-someodd percent.

      • Still, from the reviews I've seen so far, it feels like 3/4 baked, and 1/4 compromise, like all first and second generation Apple products.

        Unlike every other AR/VR device under $10k; which feel like 1/8 baked, 9/10 compromised Drek.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      How is having virtual screens in the headset any use for, say, a software developer?

      First you have to wear a bulky headset for 8 hours a day, and it has to be tethered because the battery doesn't last that long. If you want your colleague to look at something, you need to move it to a monitor so they can see it. The resolution of images inside the headset is okay, but not up to 4k monitor quality. You are stuck with Apple's ecosystem because it doesn't work with Linux or Windows, and your computer's perform

      • Being surrounded by gigantic monitors has been the dream of every software developer since Hackers. One for your IDE, one for YouTube, one for generative AI, one for Discord, one for a game, one for a search engine (if those will even be used in the near future). I'm personally waiting for social VR to allow us to transport our presence remotely, so I can be something like my VRChat avatar in a friend's workplace, chilling.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          In reality most of your body will start to waste away while you stay in bed all day, working for the man. The only exception will be your neck muscles, which attain gorilla-like strength due to the weight of the headset.

      • How is having virtual screens in the headset any use for, say, a software developer?

        First you have to wear a bulky headset for 8 hours a day, and it has to be tethered because the battery doesn't last that long. If you want your colleague to look at something, you need to move it to a monitor so they can see it. The resolution of images inside the headset is okay, but not up to 4k monitor quality. You are stuck with Apple's ecosystem because it doesn't work with Linux or Windows, and your computer's performance is reduced because it needs to also run the headset.

        Ah, okay, it's the coder who spends hours flying for some reason and needs to work during that time. Niche is a bit of an exaggeration for that use case.

        How is the Computer "running the headset"?

        From what I have read, it appears the link is basically AirPlay2/VNC; which isn't even taxing for a Phone, let alone a Desktop/Laptop.

        I'm sure there will be a "Mirror" Mode soon, if it doesn't already exist; so "Sharing" with a Colleague who doesn't have their own VisionPro will be trivial.

        As far as Windows or Linux, since they will be running under Virtualization (e.g. Parallels Desktop) anyway, one would assume that VNC and AirPlay will still be available.

  • What's the surprise? (Score:3)

    by ThumpBzztZoom ( 6976422 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2024 @07:06PM (#64202196)

    "and the results are somewhat surprising'

    The results are not surprising at all to anyone who has paid any attention to the VR/AR market over the last 20 years. They pretty much are exactly what the non-fanboys have been saying since the product was announced.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by znrt ( 2424692 )

      this is totally what i expected (i said as much just a week ago here) but the degree of unreadiness/failure is a bit of a surprise. what a clusterfuck! i really can't fathom why they launched this in this state with so much fanfare. reeks of total disconnect between product and marketing, this often spells the demise of a company.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dgatwood ( 11270 )

        this is totally what i expected (i said as much just a week ago here) but the degree of unreadiness/failure is a bit of a surprise. what a clusterfuck! i really can't fathom why they launched this in this state with so much fanfare. reeks of total disconnect between product and marketing, this often spells the demise of a company.

        Maybe you don't remember the original iPhone. It was also a clusterf**k of unreadiness. Zero app support beyond what came on the device, no copy and paste support, no multitasking....

        Don't get me wrong, I think Apple made a lot of very big mistakes, starting with not supporting Mac apps, followed by staggeringly inadequate battery life. (What could possibly make it so power inefficient that it draws on the order of 4x as much power as a MacBook Pro on average for such a tiny pair of displays?) I feel li

        • Maybe you don't remember the original iPhone. It was also a clusterf**k of unreadiness. Zero app support beyond what came on the device, no copy and paste support, no multitasking....

          But the iPhone *did* have a pretty decent web browser. It was not the first browser on a mobile device, but it was the first one that wasn't painful to use. Being able to access web content while out and about was a compelling use that other devices didn't offer.

          I don't see a similarly compelling use for Apple's headset (yet?)

        • this is totally what i expected (i said as much just a week ago here) but the degree of unreadiness/failure is a bit of a surprise. what a clusterfuck! i really can't fathom why they launched this in this state with so much fanfare. reeks of total disconnect between product and marketing, this often spells the demise of a company.

          Maybe you don't remember the original iPhone. It was also a clusterf**k of unreadiness. Zero app support beyond what came on the device, no copy and paste support, no multitasking....

          Don't get me wrong, I think Apple made a lot of very big mistakes, starting with not supporting Mac apps, followed by staggeringly inadequate battery life. (What could possibly make it so power inefficient that it draws on the order of 4x as much power as a MacBook Pro on average for such a tiny pair of displays?) I feel like the first generation product probably should have been sold as a developer preview machine, but as far as I can tell, it probably isn't nearly the worst thing Apple has released. :-)

          1. Have you looked at the battery pack? It's about 1/6 the volume of a typical MacBook Pro battery. I think they compromised the battery size a little bit too far; but I am sure they did studies on prototypes with both bigger and smaller batteries before settling on that size/capacity tradeoff. Plus, improved efficiencies, such as 2 nm process nodes, should help somewhat.

          2. There's a fair amount of increased rapidly-switching transistors hungrily sucking-up all that juicy di/dt Juice; so, perhaps snarky Cur

      • this is totally what i expected (i said as much just a week ago here) but the degree of unreadiness/failure is a bit of a surprise. what a clusterfuck! i really can't fathom why they launched this in this state with so much fanfare. reeks of total disconnect between product and marketing, this often spells the demise of a company.

        It's an Apple methodology. Hype it into the stratosphere in hopes a few nerds with big ideas get ahold of it and want to build something worth using on it. Sell it as if it's going to change the universe. Whether it does (iPhone) or doesn't (Newton) is irrelevant to the process. We're just watching this one play out today, rather than looking back at it with a filter that only shows the big wins.

  • Seems like isolation is why you need the metaverse, so you can rejoin all the headset people in a virtual space. But who really wants that?

    I don't want to wear any tech on my head, not even headphones.

    • Seems like isolation is why you need the metaverse, so you can rejoin all the headset people in a virtual space. But who really wants that?

            The pathologically maladjusted. e.g. Zuckerberg.

      • The pathologically maladjusted. e.g. Zuckerberg.

        And a number of us are pathologically maladjusted and still don't want that.

      • You'll find that narcissistic, self-absorbed egomaniacs don't want to share their space with like-minded people. They want to show off, and nobody likes a show off. Especially not narcissistic, self-absorbed egomaniacs... at least none but themselves.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by znrt ( 2424692 )

      i don't get why isolation should be a bad thing. isolation is a perfect state for many activities. it last only until you decide to take it off.

      oh, maybe it's a bad thing for motherfuckers trying to create the ultimate social hive. je suis désolé.

      I don't want to wear any tech on my head, not even headphones.

      i think given enough time alive, future awwshit would indulge in a pair of prescription glasses without hesitation.

      • Yeah, okay, I wear contacts but I'm of an age where presbyopia is an issue. Seriously considering cataract surgery to fix my vision.

  • Isolation is a feature, not a bug (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Austerity Empowers ( 669817 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2024 @07:24PM (#64202238)

    i have absolutely zero desire, or need, to interact with a single person when I'm working, except via controlled channels like dm tool or email or video conference tool. Whoever wrote this sounds like a shill that may or may not work for a living.

    Valid commentary are probably lack of productivity applications, that will be a killer. It's not a "spatial computer' if you cannot do all the things you can do on a computer, including develop, install homebrew, pop shell windows, etc. Those things may not be very 3D friendly, but if you're going to sell a computer, it must be a computer, not an iDevice. If Apple has locked that down, then shame on them.

    • Substitute the word "working" with "gaming" and I'd agree with you. I have zero desire to immerse my self deeply in work to the neglect of the entire world around me. It's a job, it's not my life.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      If you thought Zoom was hell, just wait until you experience it in VR.

    • i have absolutely zero desire, or need, to interact with a single person when I'm working, except via controlled channels like dm tool or email or video conference tool. Whoever wrote this sounds like a shill that may or may not work for a living.

      Valid commentary are probably lack of productivity applications, that will be a killer. It's not a "spatial computer' if you cannot do all the things you can do on a computer, including develop, install homebrew, pop shell windows, etc. Those things may not be very 3D friendly, but if you're going to sell a computer, it must be a computer, not an iDevice. If Apple has locked that down, then shame on them.

      Not everything has to be a full-blown, general-purpose computing device. Get over it.

      This MAY be one of those things.

      BTW, has Apple "sold this as a Computer"? They have thrown around the term "Spatial Computing"; but that seems to describe the User Experience regarding the expanded Display/Control capabilities, rather than as a Description of any particular Device.

  • How hard is it to come up with an interface concept for screen sharing in a 3d environment? I concur that it sounds unfinished, but I reject the extrapolation that it would be hard to finish.

    • The main problem is having N Vision Pro headsets, where N is greater than 1.

      N=1 is pricey enough as it is.

  • Just like we've been saying since they first announced it. Too expensive, practically no good actual uses, shitty apps. etc. The HoloLens had more practicality than this utter waste of time, resources, and technology.

  • VR is too isolating, which is why AR will have to lead the way. There are already (cheaper) alternatives that are just as good as a dumb screen. The killer app needs to combine sensors with apps. Something like a competent Google Lens along with a functioning JARVIS using cameras, microphones, GPS, etc.

    For example, imagine a Google Glass that senses cars and other road dangers. A teleprompter for talks and presentations, including popping up aids for responding to impromptu questions. A (cheat) helper

    • VR has a killer app, gaming. Being isolating is not inherently a bad thing. We do countless isolating things, often because we want to be isolated and immersed in a new world.

      You're not describing VR, you're describing AR, combining computer graphics with real world interaction. That's a very different beast.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by narcc ( 412956 )

        VR has a killer app, gaming.

        That hasn't really happened, I think for good reason. Nausea aside, it takes far too much space and there's too much 'missing' from the experience. That is, expectations and reality are too far apart, and even perfect video and audio won't change that.

        Honestly, I see more potential for AR in that space than VR, particularly if other users can see and interact with the same things you can.

      • Why electro-wussy VR ? Take a walk in the local woods. Birds and deer and foxes appear ... trout leap in a bubbly stream. You will be immersed in a new world. You do ... you do live near the woods ...

    • VR already has its killer app. It's some VR playground, mostly populated by furries and anime fans who want to "be" their favorite alter ego.

      And that's pretty much it. That's your target audience. Who else is willing to drop four digits on a vomit-inducing experience of the blurry kind but people who are so desperate to be something or someone else that they put up with this at the price tag associated?

  • The $3500 price tag makes this a big no for me. I get it though, Apple built an entire computer into this thing, but why? The 2.5 hour battery life makes this useless to walk around with or use as a mobile device so you're most likely going to be tethered to a spot while you use it. So why not use a computer at that tethered location as the horsepower behind the device? Simple, Apple has complete control of the entire experience. Lack of HDMI input and Disney DRM blanking the screen out during a screenshot

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dgatwood ( 11270 )

      The $3500 price tag makes this a big no for me. I get it though, Apple built an entire computer into this thing, but why?

      But they didn't. It's a glorified iPad. It won't run computer software — only iOS software and VisionOS software specifically written for the platform. They don't even have a porting guide to help developers move real computer apps to VisionOS — only iOS apps.

      No, it's a "computer", not a computer.

      • The $3500 price tag makes this a big no for me. I get it though, Apple built an entire computer into this thing, but why?

        But they didn't. It's a glorified iPad. It won't run computer software — only iOS software and VisionOS software specifically written for the platform. They don't even have a porting guide to help developers move real computer apps to VisionOS — only iOS apps.

        No, it's a "computer", not a computer.

        You have no idea what the future holds for this brand new limb of the Apple Tree.

    • “No Wireless. Less Space than a Nomad. Lame.”

  • Are you telling me Apple released software that wasn't actually complete? Knock me over with a feather!

    Ugh, in the early days of OS X I'd look forward to Apple's major releases - I might hold off upgrading a few days, but I'd jump on board pretty quickly. But nowadays I find it prudent to wait as long as possible. On my phone and my watch, I wait for the .2 or .3 release. On my computer, I'm running the oldest still-supported version of macOS.

    Side note - I was forced/tricked into trying Ventura recently...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dgatwood ( 11270 )

      Ugh, in the early days of OS X I'd look forward to Apple's major releases - I might hold off upgrading a few days, but I'd jump on board pretty quickly.

      I looked forward to hanging out on the forums and trying to find ways to help people get their computers working again without reformatting and reinstalling. Good times.

      But nowadays I find it prudent to wait as long as possible.

      I tend to follow the n-1 rule. Where n is the major release, n-1 is the first minor release where the OS is stable enough to use. 10.2.1, 10.3.2, 10.4.3, 10.5.4. Of course, this means version 10.6 (Snow Leopard) was the last usable version of Mac OS X. Every major OS since then has felt like it never stopped being in a perpetual state o

  • ... and will kill off software support for Vision Pro (1) in the process.

    Thanks bleeding edge adopters who bought Gen 1. The Vision Pro 2 will be better thanks to your feedback.

  • Shut up and take my money!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

  • I'm not going to get the Apple Vision, but I'm very confident that the ability to shoot first person HD video will become the killer app. Expect the Apple Vision Pro Challenge and Darwin Awards coming soon to TicTock and YouTube. APV motorcycle racing, APV BASE jumping, APV Planking, etc.
    • People thought wearing a pair of regular eyeglasses with a small protrusion and going around recording everything was annoying enough that they called them "glassholes". I can only imagine what people would say about wearing a headset that covers much of your face with an uncanny apparition of your eyeballs on the outside of it. And it only gets about two to four hours of battery life, so it's not like you'll be able to go around everywhere while wearing it, even if you didn't care what people thought abo

  • I have macular degeneration in both eyes, which manifests as a visual field that contains dead patches and crumpled areas. Could this device, given a mapping of my visual field , let me see a more normal external world? How close is its processing power to being able to re-render the external world as I walk through it? As I run through it? As I drive through it?

    • no, if you can't see well ~2 meters away without it you won't be able to see well inside of it. it's also optimized for minimal video latency. latency from additional video processing might trigger vr sickness unless there is something simple that could help. keeping in mind that with current technology the acuity will be significantly lower than normal eyes at that fixed focal distance

    • I have macular degeneration in both eyes, which manifests as a visual field that contains dead patches and crumpled areas. Could this device, given a mapping of my visual field , let me see a more normal external world? How close is its processing power to being able to re-render the external world as I walk through it? As I run through it? As I drive through it?

      I don't know anything about macular degeneration and how it appears. I was thinking about 3D morphing of the world, but presumably the degeneration

  • Wait for 3D porn / sexbot with enhanced hardware..for a more involved experience !!!

    • This is already quite popular on the Quest headsets. Not exactly sexbots but a range of sex toys that sync up to the 3d porn videos

  • "you shouldn't have put a strap on it."

  • Apple probably felt confident releasing a product like this for developers and extremely early adopters, because there was no equivalent Apple product it could cannibalize. This public Beta will be great for developers to see what kind of products can be made and if there's commercial viability.

  • I don't want to get work done in the Vision Pro. I get my work done with other people, and I'd rather be out here with them.

    Then what are you doing wearing a headset? Go interact with people in that crazy thing called the real world.

    Web v4.0. It's where people interact with other people and nature and physical objects. Bonus: you don't have to surrender your life to the tech bros in SillyConman Valley to do it.

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