Apple Vision Pro hands-on roundup | Mashable.
Apple Vision Pro hands-on impressions make it seem cool, but not essential
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| Professional vision. Credit: Philip Pacheco/Bloomberg via Getty Images |
After years of rumors, we finally know what Apple's vision (get it?) for VR and AR looks like.
The iPhone maker formally announced its Vision Pro headset this week at WWDC, lifting the veil off a device that we knew existed for a good, long while ahead of time. At $3,499, it's incredibly expensive for consumer tech. So, with that in mind, does the thing even work? And if so, what can you use it for?
We haven't gotten our hands on the Vision Pro yet, but some news outlets got to try it at WWDC. Here's what they came away with.
How does Vision Pro work?
Based on the 45-minute long product demonstration during the WWDC keynote, we already have a pretty good idea of what the device can do. It's a mixed reality headset (think of that as a mix between VR and AR) that rests on your face like a pair of futuristic ski goggles. A wire protrudes out the back, leading to a small battery pack that rests...wherever you want to rest it. Its battery life is supposed to be around two hours, but you can plug it into a wall outlet via USB-C for indefinite use.
According to hands-on pieces from Engadget and Wired, the Vision Pro headset is more comfortable to wear than something like a Meta Quest. The Verge described it as "a little less than a pound" in weight, though Engadget noted that you can still feel pressure against your face once the device is properly fastened. Wired reporter Lauren Goode pointed out that her face "breathed with relief" upon taking it off, the same as any other VR headset.
In other words, it sounds like Apple has made something that beats other VR/AR contemporaries in terms of comfort, but it's still not totally invisible.
All three outlets were impressed by Apple's eye tracking and hand gesture tech. The Verge noted that the automatic eye adjustment when you turn the device on was far quicker than Meta Quest Pro. Engadget compared the eye tracking to "[gaining] a superpower," as apparently it's simple as can be to just look at app icons or other elements and pinch with your fingers to activate them.
You can apparently even do hand gestures from your own lap, unlike Meta Quest.
Everyone also complimented the dual 4K displays for each eye, with The Verge calling it "easily the highest-resolution VR display" they had ever used. 3D elements supposedly work quite well, with reporters getting a quick demo via Avatar: The Way of Water. I will point out that Way of Water is a three hour long movie and Vision Pro's battery life is only two hours.
What's the point of Vision Pro?
This is where things get tricky, based on early hands-on reports.
Put simply, it sounds like Vision Pro's tech is very cool, but there isn't much about its functionality that can't be replicated or replaced by conventional means. Sure, you can blow up a virtual movie screen to create a fake home theater, but that's a totally solitary experience; no one else in the room can see it unless they also paid $3,500 for a headset.
The same is true for reading websites, looking at photos, or doing FaceTime calls. These are all things you can already do pretty well on devices you already own. FaceTime calls in particular seem extra strange, as the headset creates a CG replication of the user's face in lieu of a real video feed. Engadget called this a "cold CG simulacrum" of a person, noting that it's "stiff" and "robotic." That doesn't sound great.
To sum it up, these hands-on impressions basically reached the same conclusion: Vision Pro works and is impressive, but Apple still needs to prove why it's necessary and worth spending so much money on. Good luck with that, Tim Cook.
The point is escapism
ReplyDeleteThis will go down as the biggest money loser for apple! No one is going to pay $3500 for this!
ReplyDeleteNot essential now. But it is the next smartphone for sure. Over the coming years this will completely change social media, gaming and work flows once it gets thinner, has a better battery life and a suite of apps from developers.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine everyone walking around with a pair of these on their face everywhere they go not needing a laptop or any physical peripherals.
this thing has hand tracking, which means down the road you could be producing music with no physical peripherals needed and thats just one example. you could watch movies in a theatre with your friends who are far away from you etc etc.
Definitely where tech is headed. And definitely the next essential tech
Maybe. I was programming CAVE environments almost 25 years ago and back then the exact the same thing was said... in 10 years the tech will be essential. I've been using the same saying in the educational field at least that VR is the future of education and it always will be.
DeleteThis may be the first step toward an actually useful VR experience but it has a *long* way to go. WIth the AR you can do a lot of what this headset can do now without having a 1 lb device on your head and interact with others in the room a lot easier.
I guess we shall see, Apple has a way to marketing products to people that makes them want them and pay for them whether they need it or not...
Said when they introduced the first computer 😊
ReplyDeleteI don’t even want it, but a lot of our goods are not essential 🤷♀️ Now, personally, I’d just never try it at that price for sure.
ReplyDeleteIf it comes with a working JARVIS and light saber then it could be worth it. Otherwise, for $3500 it had better be so much better than the other headsets out there. I could be useful for a testing ideas and things like that in AR/VR using some of the new tech but for the average consumer?
ReplyDeleteIt’s a step into the right direction. Once the functionality is incorporated into contact lenses (yes it will happen) the true value will emerge.
ReplyDeleteYou could make the very same argument about the smartphone, the device we cannot live without.
ReplyDeleteCome on... If we learn anything from the wild successes that were 3d TV, Metaverse and Google Glass is that people are eager to stick silly oversized glasses to their faces for hours.
ReplyDeleteThat said, DaftPunk's ones looks nicer.
https://media.tenor.co/X5dUYWY0v_8AAAAC/daftpunk-heart.gif?t=AAX9hsdEvXQKZhNCsQVJMg&c=VjFfZmFjZWJvb2s&itemid=26283986
It really looks like they've developed this for the Army
ReplyDeleteIt’s very cool and right up there with everything you’d expect from Apple. It’s a matter of priority spending. People spend billions of dollars on weddings and think that’s a good investment of money.
ReplyDeleteEssential was not the question - ever. If you only take the essential road you would still have no touch and only desktops and bulky laptops. It’s an evolution of computing and marks the first serious point in this starting journey.
ReplyDeleteAwesome
ReplyDelete3.5k for a glorified AR headset that has no games and a 2 hour battery life. 3.5k...
ReplyDeleteWhen automobile was introduced, the horse cart makers laughed so hard… I think.
ReplyDeletehttps://media1.tenor.co/images/f946f553a09f36ccfa58f12275f74f3c/tenor.gif?c=VjFfZmFjZWJvb2tfd2ViY29tbWVudHM&itemid=23204861
ReplyDeleteI can remember a device (but not the name) putting a small display over one eye (probably monochrome, and DOS) with some type of command execution. Any tech grandpas remember it?
ReplyDeletevr been around for 30 years still just a niche product that majority can care less about
ReplyDeleteNot essential? It's the beginning of some fundamental changes, we will see in the future. Augmented reality will become standard. And it will change every part of daily life. Work, entertainment, shopping, interior design, communication – everything. How many screens will be left in let's say 2035? 😉 Imagine the AR device beeing mere smart lenses, a powerful computer in your pocket or at your wrist, both running and on 24/7. imagine how different rooms and furniture could look like, when texture, style surface designs etc. all are generated within your AR? The POS will change immensely. So, not essential? Are you serious? Don't look at the single device, extrapolate.
ReplyDeletedrug can do the same thing as this thing
DeleteLooks Gucci to me better than usual
ReplyDeleteI have a Quest 2. It is not essential either. Your point is what?
ReplyDeleteMY BEST TRADING EXPERIENCE EVER
ReplyDeleteMust people are complaining about the pandemic disaster that they can not afford $500 there is no job so I saw a review on investment tried it without a $1,000 even though they are lower cost of investment. starting from the range of $500 but I got a multiplication of my funds to over $10,000 in a week time it's magical because I never believe until I gave it a trial that is why I need to post an epistle of this online.
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Isn't that Apple in a nutshell? Cool, expensive, useless.
ReplyDeleteA foldable iPhone would’ve made more sense and a bigger splash
ReplyDeleteHenry Ford “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” In your case, a foldable phone.
DeleteYeah, exactly the same words used when the iPad came out, and now the iPad is a must have.
ReplyDeleteHello, sorry to approach you inappropriately, I was wondering how you appeared on my suggestion list for a couple of days now?.. So I ask if we knew each other from somewhere? I would appreciate us being good friends and getting to know each other better, send me a friend request. Thank you.
DeleteTo be honest, I haven't seen an iPad in active usage for ages. Only sometimes in stores they use it as POS substitute. Even for reading people are using their phones, the screen is big enough.
DeleteYou don’t have children do you?…😂😂🤣🤣
DeleteThey are big enough to ask for new phone every year. LMAO
Delete🤣🤣😂😂
DeleteI’ve seen many people using ipad as an alternative to laptop, specially after the advent of M1 ipad and magic keyboard. Most of them just need to so some word processing, spreadsheets, emails, browsing and content consumption
DeleteI’ve seen iPads in so many places - school settings, adults/kids at home, professional illustrators, in shops using it in place of a cash register. Perhaps you are not the target consumer for this product.
DeleteIt’s a very cool prototype for an idea. That idea being none of us can afford to own a home . With Apple vision you can be a king, have a massive screen at home, in your little box , if you pay 4K for the right to do so.
ReplyDeletemake sense
DeleteExactly the same when iPhone came out.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you need more from a phone? You only need it for texting and calling, why you make sure a big screen? So expensive it’s $699 for a phone, no one will buy it. It doesn’t even have a keyboard, we need keyboard for texting!
is it ski goggle?
ReplyDeleteInferior version of Google Glass — which appeared a decade ago then fizzled out in less than a year. And Apple Vision is more than twice the price.🤷♀️
ReplyDeletehttps://inews.co.uk/news/technology/google-glass-apple-vision-pro-headset-too-expensive-sell-2390221
It’s for playing Subnautica while submersed in the pool at the Holiday Inn.
ReplyDeletejust a reminder, it's $3500!!! Definitely not for the common man
ReplyDeletelmao haters. it’s expensive but fakk i’m getting one lol
ReplyDeletethat’s crazy
Deletewell it's your money that your wasting.
Deletewhy I was following mashable? for irrelevant headlines?
ReplyDeleteIts not d most necessities n even not d most compaq or portable its more of a leisure to have product … but think about having and you are in airplane but in a movie theater
ReplyDeleteIs there no cd-player or Walkman anymore...
ReplyDelete$5000?? are they made? Also psst. it's made in China lol
ReplyDeleteReally Player 0
ReplyDeletewas kinda expecting something more slim but it’s a first gen product, no doubt it’ll shrink over time
ReplyDeletehttps://giphy.com/gifs/life-mind-kenny-rogers-TppeLsqt8Jz20
ReplyDeleteOh ok geniuses. I guess your hate of trump has destroyed your minds. Your headline reads like those headlines making fun of ‘no keys’ on the iPhone!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not a necessity. But still cool if your are a gadget lover.
ReplyDeleteAll the apple haters are gonna throw shade.
3500 is steep but the HoloLens 2 cost the same.
An over-engineered toy with no clear purpose.
ReplyDeleteSo true
ReplyDeleteWant
ReplyDeleteThey cost WHAAT?
ReplyDeleteThey cost $2.50 to make in Wenzhou, Zhejiang and you wanna charge WHAAT??
Blue Blockers for generation alpha.
Nope I’m good. Hard pass.
Apple overpriced GARBAGE
ReplyDeleteWhat a dumb no sense item and waste of money. Give it a year and this crap will be 399
ReplyDeleteHere's another take
ReplyDeletehttps://aieranews.com/posts/apple-vision-pro-bridging-reality-with-the-metaverse
Too expensive, toy for the rich
ReplyDeleteMaybe Apple's new $3,500 VR Goggles should be named LISA?
ReplyDeletehttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lisa