Apple gave select members of the press an Apple Vision Pro so that they could use this new device in the real world for about a week, and yesterday the embargo lifted and their initial reviews were released. It is clear from these reviews that Apple has come up with something really incredible. There was tons of praise … and also some critiques, but they are what you would expect for any first-generation product and not unlike the drawbacks of the very first iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch, car, airplane, and just about any other major new technology. Nevertheless, the consensus seems to be that what the Apple Vision Pro does now, and what it has the potential to do with future updates, is groundbreaking. Mark Spoonauer of Tom’s Guide calls it "the most innovative Apple product since the original iPhone." And Todd Haselton of CNBC says: "This is an entirely new type of computing, providing a whole new world of experiences. It feels like the future."
Perhaps the biggest praise came for the Apple Vision Pro as an entertainment device: a way to watch movies, TV shows, and especially 3D content in an immersive environment. As John Guber of Daring Fireball noted: “There are 3D immersive experiences in Vision Pro that are more compelling than Disney World attractions that people wait in line for hours to see.” And Gruber notes that he is normally someone who is not a fan of 3D movies, “but in Vision Pro the depth feels natural, not distracting, and you don’t suffer any loss of brightness from wearing what are effectively sunglasses.”
The reviewers were also impressed by the quality of the tiny screens that are in front of your eyes. Text on a website is actually readable. And thanks to the HDR, you can look out a window in your room or at an iPhone screen and the bright areas are not completely blown out.
Reviewers seemed to agree that the device is heavy enough that you notice the weight, although the two different straps that Apple provides seem to do a decent job of accounting for that weight on your head, with different reviewers preferring different straps. Keep in mind, though, that if you have hair with a lot of volume, the over-the-top strap (the Dual Loop Band) might mess up your hairdo, in which case I hope that you like the Solo Knit Band. One issue that had not occurred to me is that for people who wear makeup, the light seal cushion can mess up your makeup and collect makeup on the cushion. All of these issues, it seems, are inherent to this being a 1.0 product. Of course future generations will be smaller and lighter and have better battery life etc. If you don’t mind waiting a few years, I have no doubt that future Apple Vision products will address these issues, and at some point we will look back and be amazed at how big the first generation Apple Vision Pro was. During the recent 40th anniversary celebration of the first Mac, I sometimes found it hard to believe that the original Mac’s tiny black-and-white screen with a single floppy drive seemed so revolutionary at the time—except that I remember how fascinated I was by that original Mac when it debuted in 1984, not only compared to what else was on the market at the time but also because it seemed to provide a glimpse of what the future would bring.
Using the Apple Vision Pro as a productivity device is something that I’m particularly interested in, and the reviews were mixed on this front. Everyone seemed to be impressed by the ability to place different windows in different spaces all around you. You can even leave a window in a specific place if you walk around—for example, leave a timer right on top of a pot on the stove. But it is clear that to get any real typing done, you’ll want to use an external keyboard instead of the virtual keyboard. No big surprise; I’m tying these words on my iPad right now, but I’m using a bluetooth keyboard to do so because nobody likes to type multiple paragraphs on the iPad’s on-screen keyboard.
If you own a Mac, the Vision Pro provides your Mac with an amazing huge external screen that would be too expensive to ever buy. But remember that you are working in isolation. If someone else is in the room with you, you cannot simply turn a monitor to show them what you are seeing.
If you want to learn more, I’ll recommend two written reviews and three videos. The above-referenced review by John Gruber of Daring Fireball is excellent. I also really enjoyed the review by former attorney Nilay Patel of The Verge, who does a great job of pointing out the strengths and weaknesses.
But you might be able to learn more by seeing the Vision Pro in action, albeit in a 2D video. There are lots of them out there, but I particularly enjoyed these three:
(1) iJustine:
(2) Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal:
(3) Nilay Patel of The Verge, whose video is very similar to his written review, so just pick one or the other:
