Apple has unveiled its long-awaited VR/AR headset called Vision Pro, and it's one of their most radical and possibly dystopian products ever. After using it for a week, I have a lot of thoughts.?
On the hardware side, the Vision Pro headset is very high-end but also quite heavy at over 600 grams. It's made of metal and glass, with outward facing cameras and sensors for tracking, eye tracking infrared cameras inside, and speakers directed at your ears. The battery life is only 2-4 hours, but you can connect an external battery for longer use.
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The primary input is your eyes and hands - there are no separate controllers. You calibrate it when you first put it on, then use pinch gestures and eye tracking to select and move objects in the virtual space. The placement lock and spatial positioning accuracy is incredible - virtual objects really feel locked in place in your environment.
The new Vision OS is like iPadOS but more 3D and immersive. You can dial the real environment in and out, and Apple has created relaxing virtual environments too. The passthrough AR view is the best I've tried - nearly indistinguishable from real life. This concept of "spatial computing" makes it feel like augmented reality.
In terms of apps, some like Apple Music and Apple TV+ are rebuilt for VR. Others like Apple Maps look identical to the iPad. Some big names like Netflix are missing. For me the killer app is the ecosystem - having all my Apple stuff integrated is huge, especially using the headset as a second display for my Mac.
The craziest feature is "Personas". It scans your face to create a digital representation of you, eyes and all, that shows up on the outside of the headset when in AR mode. It looks okay, but still a bit weird and uncanny valley. Using it for FaceTime though is wild - your Persona mimics your expressions and you can place people's windows in space.
So in summary - some parts of Vision Pro truly blow me away, while others feel unfinished or borderline dystopian. But it represents a bold risk into a new category, which makes it fun despite its flaws. We'll see over time if Apple's big bet pays off.
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