Apple Vision Pro Review: A Glimpse into Spatial Computing

0:00 Intro

The Apple Vision Pro is a highly anticipated headset that offers spatial computing and real apps, positioning it as a full-fledged computer in Apple's ecosystem. However, it comes with significant trade-offs, such as a wacky external battery and philosophical considerations. The reviewer questions whether the benefits outweigh the inconveniences, pondering whether it's worth sacrificing comfort, convenience, and natural vision for the use of a computer within the headset. This review highlights the challenges and considerations of using the Apple Vision Pro.

2:00 Spatial computer or a VR headset?

The Apple Vision Pro is reviewed as a VR headset with exceptional spatial tracking that almost makes it seem like it's not a VR headset. The hardware is praised for its stunning design, made of magnesium, carbon fiber, and aluminum, giving it a sleek and familiar look. The device is noted for its ability to show video feeds from the front cameras, creating the illusion of seeing through the device. The compact size of the Vision Pro is highlighted, making it appear smaller than expected compared to other VR headsets.

2:59 EyeSight and front display

The Apple Vision Pro's front display is marketed as a bright screen that shows your eyes to people around you, but in reality, it is a dim, low-resolution OLED covered in reflective glass. This makes it hard to see in normal to bright lighting, and there is no indicator of what others see from the inside. The eyes on the display are also described as creepy and off-putting, raising doubts about its effectiveness as Apple intended.

3:38 Hardware and accessories

The Apple Vision Pro features a lot of cameras and sensors, along with an M2 processor and Apple's new R1 spatial co-processor. It has a Digital Crown for adjusting volume and virtual reality immersion, a camera shutter button for 3D photos and videos, and two headbands, the solo knit band and the dual loop band. The device is quite heavy, weighing more than an 11-inch iPad Pro, and it gets warm during long sessions. The speakers provide good, loud, and convincing spatial audio, but the device is substantially heavier than other headsets like the Quest 2 and Quest 3, and the battery only provides about two and a half hours of battery life.

6:38 Displays & field of view

The Apple Vision Pro boasts tiny microOLED displays with incredible pixel density and resolution, which are the main reason for its high price. However, the field of view is not as expansive as other VR headsets, with noticeable black borders, color fringing, distortion, and vignetting around the edges of the lenses. These display issues are common in VR headsets, but at a price of $3,499, Apple's ambition seems to surpass the product's actual capabilities.

8:27 Video passthrough (latency, dynamic range, motion blur)

The Apple Vision Pro headset offers an impressive video passthrough feature, providing a convincing and high-resolution display that minimizes latency. However, it still faces limitations such as motion blur, dynamic range issues in low light, and a restricted color space, reminding users that they are looking at video on screens rather than perceiving reality. Despite being the best in its class, the headset falls short of reproducing the true experience of reality.

11:41 Personas and FaceTime call with Marques Brownlee (@mkbhd) and Joanna Stern (@wsj)

The Apple Vision Pro and visionOS feature Personas, which creates a 3D model of your face for video conferencing. The process involves scanning your face and head, capturing facial expressions, and creating a 3D model. During a FaceTime call with Marques Brownlee and Joanna Stern, they find the feature both impressive and flawed, with some aspects being accurate while others appear cartoonish and frozen. The spatial audio and hand tracking add to the experience, but overall, the feature is considered to be in beta and needs improvement.

14:29 Eye tracking

The Apple Vision Pro boasts an advanced hand and eye tracking control system, referred to as Optic ID, that allows users to control the interface by looking at and tapping their fingers on desired items. The initial experience with hand and eye tracking is described as awe-inspiring, making users feel like they have a superpower. However, over time, the system becomes less impressive and can even make using the Vision Pro more challenging. The precision of the eye tracking and the size and proximity of controls on the interface are highlighted as areas where the system falls short, leading to a conclusion that it works until it doesn't.

16:26 Hand tracking

The Apple Vision Pro review discusses the hand tracking feature, which is powered by cameras watching the user's hands to convert their movements into input. While this technology seems like magic at first, there are limitations to consider. The cameras need to constantly see the hands, and there are scenarios where the hands may not be visible to the cameras, such as when they are dropped to the sides in a chair or lying down in a dark room. The system makes the user constantly aware of their hand movements, and using the onscreen keyboard can be challenging for longer inputs, making it preferable to use dictation or a Bluetooth keyboard. Users who talk with their hands may experience unintended scrolling and clicking.

17:41 VisionOS (apps and window management)

The Apple Vision Pro runs on visionOS, a customized version of iPad OS optimized for spatial computing. Unlike iPad OS, visionOS allows free floating window chaos, enabling users to run apps from three different operating systems simultaneously - visionOS, iPad apps, and Mac OS. However, the lack of window management tools can make the experience overwhelming, requiring users to think more about literal window management in space compared to other iOS devices or even Mac. Notably, some major developers like Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube have delayed allowing their apps to run on the Vision Pro.

19:27 Secondary Mac display

The reviewer discusses the potential of using the Apple Vision Pro as a secondary Mac display. The good news is that Mac display sharing works well, allowing seamless integration with the Apple ecosystem. This includes features like Handoff and Continuity, which provide a smooth user experience. However, the bad news is that only one 2560 by 1440 Mac display is supported in visionOS, and multiple Mac monitors cannot be used simultaneously. Despite this limitation, the seamless integration and functionality make it a compelling option for those looking for a secondary display.

20:22 AR & MR

The Apple Vision Pro review discusses the limited AR features in the device, with only three true AR interactions observed. These include a Connect display button appearing above a Mac, a text preview window when typing on a Bluetooth keyboard, and an AR loading screen for a game. The Vision Pro primarily focuses on MR (mixed reality) and VR features, making it a great headset for watching movies.

21:25 Watching movies with Vision Pro

The Apple Vision Pro offers an immersive theater mode and the capability for true 3D movies, making it a top-tier TV with unique features. However, it has trade-offs such as its weight, lack of HDMI input, and DRM for eye viewing. It also has limited VR game and fitness app options and lacks guardrails against VR motion sickness, which can lead to discomfort for users. It is recommended for early adopters to proceed cautiously to avoid VR motion sickness.

23:18 Spatial videos

The Apple Vision Pro allows for taking spatial videos on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and watching them back on the headset. However, the playback effect is bittersweet, as the user is alone in the headset and unable to share the experience. Currently, there is a limitation in choosing between shooting spatial videos at 1080p 30fps or the full 4K resolution. The quality of photos and videos taken with the Vision Pro cameras is subpar, with noticeable compression and distortion. The recommendation is to stick to using the iPhone for video capture.

25:01 Conclusion

The Apple Vision Pro review discusses the product as an impressive and innovative creation, showcasing Apple's capabilities in engineering and resources. However, it also highlights potential flaws and trade-offs, such as the device's limited battery life, privacy concerns, and the solitary nature of the user experience. The reviewer emphasizes the current limitations of the Vision Pro and suggests that the trade-offs may not be worth it for potential buyers, despite its potential as a glimpse into the future of spatial computing. The video ends with a humorous exchange about the prolonged use of the device.