Hands-on Apple Vision Pro: Amazing but expensive

After some thorough hands-on time with the Apple Vision Pro, here’s my review, as originally shared in the Rich on Tech Newsletter.

This is the first product I’m at the same time in love with, but I can’t fully recommend purchasing it.

Apple Vision Pro is a headset that combines virtual reality and augmented reality. You can either see apps and screens superimposed on the world around you, or you can turn a wheel and be completely immersed in a digital world.

I’ve tried a bunch of things so far.

For starters, the headset is actually kind of heavy, and it can be uncomfortable to find just the right fit and position to both wear it and sit with it. This is mostly due to the first generation of the product. It will get smaller and lighter.

The software is incredible. Apple thought of almost everything and the experience inside the headset is very magical. Unfortunately, it’s also quite limited at this point.

For instance, there aren’t many streaming apps inside. No Netflix, No YouTube app.

There is Max and Disney+ and, of course, Apple TV+.

Logging into Max was impossible because I wasn’t about to type my long password into a virtual keyboard so I defaulted to watching a TV show on Apple TV+.

The picture was bright and crystal clear, the audio was excellent and the screen rivaled an IMAX (at least to my brain), but I struggled to get comfortable watching the show. Towards the end, I was checking the timeline to see if it was almost over.

I used the device as a “spatial computer,” and again, it’s super cool but exhausting. When you look at your (Mac) computer screen, the Vision Pro recognizes that and asks if you’d like to project the screen onto its virtual screen. (I know, it hurts your brain just thinking of this stuff)

Once your computer screen is virtual, you can make it giant and fit a lot more app windows in your space. You can still use your physical laptop keyboard and trackpad, but they now control a big screen in outer space or whatever environment you choose to be in.

I was checking emails and planning my radio show in the middle of the Joshua Tree desert and later atop Mount Hood. Birds were chirping in the distance.

It’s neat but not as razor-sharp or straightforward as using my MacBook.

I did a FaceTime with some folks from Apple who showed me how to use things and then my wife. Let’s say her reaction was something I won’t forget.

I’m not sure if she screamed but she said something to the effect of “why do you look so strange!” and I explained she was video chatting with my Persona, a virtual representation of myself.

Setting this up took a bit. First, you put on the headset, then take it off, and use the built-in 3D cameras to capture your head from various angles. The system stitches the photos together and creates a floating head that moves as you talk. It even mimics your facial expressions.

Apple just pushed out a software update today to improve this feature.

So far, my kid has tried the headset, and he thinks it’s super cool. It isn’t meant for kids under 13, so he mostly just checked it out to see what the fuss is all about. He interacted with a virtual dinosaur and got the hang of the gesture-based navigation system in seconds.

Since the headset is paired to you, it’s not easy to let someone else try it out. There is a guest mode, but it’s clunky. First, you have to put on the headset and unlock it (it does this with some sort of optical scan of your eyeballs or a PIN code), then navigate to Guest Mode, select it, take the headset off, and hand it to someone else within 5 minutes.

Once they have it on, they have to go through a full setup process that involves looking at a bunch of on-screen dots to get the eye tracking just right.

If they remove the headset, they have to start all over again. Apple should let me put the device into guest mode from my phone.

Overall, my journey with Apple Vision Pro has just begun, and so has the company’s.

This is a nascent technology. Tim Cook nailed it when he said it is tomorrow’s technology today. Even the price tag reflects that.

At $3500, it’s not something most people can go out and buy. I want this technology to succeed, and I have no doubt it will get so good that it will be second nature to lower some glasses on your face and watch a movie, check email, or video chat with a friend.

This is a rare anomaly where virtual technology is here, and it’s really good, but it will be a matter of time before the real world catches up.

Do yourself a favor and make an appointment at the Apple store for a demo. It is unlike anything you’ve experienced before.

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