The Apple Vision Pro is a miracle. But who will buy it?
Last week I was led by an Apple employee through a security gate, past a manicured lawn, down a flight of stairs and into a tastefully decorated faux living room at the Steve Jobs Theater to get a sneak peek at Apple's new Vision Pro headset Company.
Like other reporters given early tours of the Vision Pro, my demo was far from exhaustive. I spent about 45 minutes using the device under the supervision of two watchful Apple employees, who guided me through a curated demo as I sat next to them on a gray mid-century couch. I was not allowed to take photos or videos of the device itself, or take one home for further testing.
Considering how limited my trial period was, I can't in good conscience tell you whether the Vision Pro is worth the $3,500 – yes, three thousand five hundred United States dollars – it costs. (That price does not include tax or the cost of any additional accessories, such as the $100 Zeiss lens inserts needed if you wear prescription glasses or contact lenses, or the $200 travel case.)
I also can't say whether the Vision Pro solves the 'six-month problem'. With many VR headsets I've tried (and I've tried a lot), the initial novelty wears off and minor annoyances like blurry graphics or a lack of compelling apps start to pile up. Six months later, every headset I test invariably ends up in my closet to collect dust.
But I can say two things about my first impressions of the Vision Pro.
First off, the Vision Pro is in many ways an impressive product, many years and billions of dollars in the making. It's a cut above the previous best VR headsets on the market, the Meta Quest series, when it comes to the eye-tracking and gesture-based controls, the quality of the displays and the way it combines immersive virtual experiences with the ability to see the world around you, a feature known as 'pass-through'.
I was prepared for skepticism going into my demo (Apple's aggressive stage management made me wonder what the company was trying to hide), but there were several moments while wearing the Vision Pro where I felt genuine wonder and a sense of presence to be for what could mean a major change in the computing world.
The second thing I have to say about the Vision Pro is that even after trying it, I still have no idea who or what this thing is supposed to be for. At $3,500, it's not a device for the masses, or even the affluent masses. It's a big, honking statement piece – a status symbol for your face.
That's not to say the Vision Pro isn't convincing, or that I didn't enjoy testing it. It is, and that's what I did. But after my experience, I have a better idea of the kinds of people who might be tempted to buy one now, and who might be better off waiting.
If you are one of the an estimated 40 percent of Americans who have never tried a virtual reality headset, the Vision Pro will likely wow them.
If this is your first foray into VR, it's really worth getting a Vision Pro demo at an Apple Store once they go on sale Friday, or talking a friend into letting you use theirs . (VR headsets, like boats, are often better to borrow than to buy.)
Early VR headsets were plagued with problems like blurry displays, headache-inducing motion tracking, cheap controllers, and the fact that you couldn't do anything else while wearing them.
Apple has fixed many of these issues, starting with the Vision Pro's displays: two screens about the size of postage stamps. They're great: sharp, clear, detailed. When you look at it, you feel like you are looking out of your eyes and not into a screen.
I was also impressed with the Vision Pro's immersion switch, which lets you see more of what's going on in the room around you by turning a dial on top of the device.
Unlike other VR systems, the Vision Pro does not require any controllers. To navigate, just look at an icon. Then pinch your thumb and one finger together to select it. The learning curve isn't steep, but it took me a few minutes to get the hang of it.
Wearing the Vision Pro is comfortable. I say 'ish' because while it felt fairly light on my head and didn't give me a headache like other VR headsets, I did feel a little discomfort as my eyes adjusted after putting it on and taking it off. (A colleague who also received a demo compared it to the feeling you get when leaving a dark movie theater on a sunny day.)
I don't know if these are temporary problems, or if I would get used to them. But they weren't bad enough to ruin the experience.
Sentimental parents
After a short installation process, my Apple-minder led me to the Photos app on the Vision Pro. There I found several examples of what Apple calls “spatial photos and videos.” These are taken using a three-dimensional camera built into the Vision Pro itself. (The latest high-end iPhones, the iPhone 15 Max and Max Pro, can handle them too.)
I've been excited about – and disappointed by – the promise of 3D photos and videos for years. I'm a bit of an obsessive camera dad, and I've long waited for the day when 3D images are good enough to make me feel like I'm actually reliving a family memory, rather than looking at a grainy snapshot.
As I looked at spatial photos and videos on the Vision Pro, I realized that moment had arrived. The photos and videos in Apple's demo – which included a scene from a child's birthday party, a video of a mother making bubbles for her daughter, and a family gathered around a kitchen table – were beautiful, and the depth was added by the 3D camera made them eerily realistic. In my eyes it felt no different than being part of the scene myself. I got a lump in my throat thinking about re-watching my son's first steps like this in a few years.
Not everyone is so sentimental. But Apple's spatial photos and videos touched me deeply, and I imagine other camera-obsessed parents will almost be able to justify the Vision Pro's high price tag for its home movie potential alone.
Office workers
I was less impressed when it came to work-related tasks.
Apple has billed the Vision Pro as a desk worker's dream: a spatial computer that lets you create your perfect desk setup and take it anywhere. Users can open any number of virtual windows, resize and move them in space, and combine them with a real Mac screen.
I haven't tried writing a column or hosting a podcast in the Vision Pro. But I did try some basic web browsing and typing, and found the experience disappointing.
The pinch-and-drag gesture you use to scroll on a Vision Pro was fiddly compared to using a regular mouse or trackpad. And typing on the Vision Pro's virtual keyboard was a slow, clunky mess. (It took me almost a minute to type nytimes.com in Safari.) Anyone who wants to do any real work with the Vision Pro will probably need to hook up a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, which takes the portability part of the pitch.
Video calls may not be much better. I haven't been able to test FaceTime on the Vision Pro or third-party videoconferencing apps like Zoom, but other reviewers have given Personas (Apple's attempt at creating a lifelike avatar that can act for you during video calls) a thumbs down.
I did get to try out a workplace tool that wasn't part of the official demo: a version of Keynote, Apple's slideshow app, that lets you practice a presentation in a simulated meeting room or on a virtual stage. But it felt more like a gimmick than a real productivity booster.
Movie buffs and gamers
Apple is also trying to make the Vision Pro attractive to fans of immersive movies and games.
My demo included several movie clips, including a scene from “Super Mario Brothers 3-D,” a trailer for “Star Wars” and some Apple-produced clips from various compelling films, such as footage of a football match and of a diver swimming is. I also saw an interactive video where a butterfly landed on my finger and a dinosaur seemed to step out of the screen towards me.
Some of these clips were impressive, and the technology required to display them on such small screens is nothing to sneeze at. (One clip, of a tightrope walker balancing herself while hanging high above a gorge, was so realistic it triggered my fear of heights.)
But I've seen similar things on other VR headsets, and the Vision Pro's movie-watching experience wasn't superior enough to those models to justify the cost of the device. It doesn't help that several leading entertainment companies, such as Netflix and YouTube, do not offer apps for the Vision Proso you'll have to use Apple TV or another compatible service, like Disney+, if you want the fully immersive experience.
I also don't see myself playing games in a Vision Pro, at least not with the meager game selection currently available for the device. Without external controllers, the device isn't good for fine movements or quick button presses, making it a poor choice for serious gamers. And forget about training in it; You think I'm going to risk ruining a $3,500 computer with my facial sweat?
Showoffs and shut-ins
The clearest takeaway from my demo (aside from the fact that I need to spend more time with this thing to get a fuller sense of its capabilities) is that the Vision Pro doesn't blend into its surroundings as well as Apple wants. Unpleasant.
Apple has avoided marketing the Vision Pro as something that replaces the real world or isolates you in some kind of sci-fi metaverse. They want using a Vision Pro to feel as subtle and unobtrusive as pulling out an iPhone or a pair of AirPods.
But that's not going to happen, at least not for a while.
That's because most of what's impressive about the Vision Pro takes place in fully immersive VR environments, rather than the kind of “augmented reality” situations Apple envisions, in which virtual objects are overlaid on top of your physical environment. And while Apple has made it much easier to switch between virtual and physical worlds, there is still some friction.
VR headsets are still niche enough to turn heads, which is why the target market for the Vision Pro currently includes both show-offs (people who want to to get noticed with the latest high-end Apple gadget) and shut-ins (people who rarely leave their house anyway, so why does it matter if the device attracts attention?).
The novelty factor may wear off, but for now it's a real consideration for anyone looking to fly under the radar while wearing a Vision Pro. Like it or not, Apple has built a device that's too wild to ignore.