Here's a First In-Person Look at the Apple Vision Pro

[jjwwqq]

Awesome. Let the early adopters buy them, use them, love them, then the price will drop and wider distribution will happen.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

But does it replace your Mac? Does it run MacOS, can I run Illustrator and After Effects on it or do I need my Mac still, and how does it act as a display for a Mac wouldn't there be latency if it's wireless, how can multiple 4K "screens" be wirelessly beamed to the Vision Pro without unbearable latency? Does it use wifi to send the video signal, so many questions. What does it "see" on the actual MacBook display when you use it or does the display just stay black. If the headset itself can run Adobe apps then we can use a wireless keyboard and mouse with it too and use it on the train? Will we see an M4 Max version of it one day, if I use it on the train can it run off the MacBook in clamshell mode, the headphones which sit above your ear and blast sound down into your ear can people around you hear it, how does it isolate sound if it doesn't cover your ears, do you need to take it off if it starts raining, can you make it so it still looks like you are wearing glasses on your avatar, can games run off the M2 chip on it, will VisionOS run MacOS games or will they need porting to VisionOS, will they make a cellular version, if you're in full VR mode will it still show you tripping hazards on the floor if you're standing up and walking around some, is it good enough to replace the VR headsets Disney currently use in their parks, the content preview people can see in the outward screen would it give away enough to indicate you are looking at porn, will it alert you that the camera has picked up someone walking into the room or looking through a window if you are looking at porn in full VR mode, can you fake your avatar to impersonate someone else on a video call or can you only be yourself verified through your eyes and skin tone around your eyes, can you plug your xbox and PS5 into it somehow, etc.

This thing is not a peripheral. It's its own device, with its own OS.

It's a full computer you wear on your face.

From what I understand, when syncing to your Mac that screen becomes a peripheral... all the horsepower processing happens on your Mac, while the Vision handles everything else you're seeing.

Mind blowing stuff.

 

[nylonsteel]

a few comments
- better bring sanitizing wipes to try them on
- looks better than pre announcement renderings
- 2024 release seems a long ways out
- yes its insanely expensive but is it insanely great?

 

[seclusion]

The only thing negative is the battery and cable. Battery tech has made great strides, for V2 they have to at least ditch the external battery n cable.
But for a V1, gives a chance for developers to figure out what they do.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

I have questions

1. Who is the target group ? (those who want it, can't afford it, those who can afford it, don't want it)

Developers, college/graduate single folk (people that earn well), tech enthusiasts, home theater buffs, upper middle folk with families/kids (3-D video), content creators (imagine applying what you know now to when YouTube launched), upper-middle people with disabilities.

2. What is the key-feature (use case) for this product ?

For me, the 3D video recording/consumption. No one else does that as far as I can tell. And I'm over 50 and earn well enough, so I want to do EVERYTHING they showed in the demoes because it's a dream come true.

In its current state The product will not succeed. If it is 40% of the price and the hardware is smaller (not something that's doable right now), then it will sell like hotcakes.

Hard disagree. It will sell out. As reviews come out (if it delivers) and people try it, minds will be blown. Even MKBHD was impressed with it, and Brian Tong was as excited as I am and I haven't used it yet.

I know a few who have bought the Oculus Quest, and when they have walked the line on the board above skyscrapers, it ends up on the shelf collecting dust.

That is a game-focused device. Nowhere near the same thing.

As of right now, it's purely gimmick, nothing that this product can do, is simpler to do, than already available on much cheaper products.

Perhaps, but some EXPERIENCES are worth the money to some. Apple has the single best track record of this.

Remember the 3D flatscreens ?, they only needed lightweight glasses, and nobody uses it anymore. Why?, because reasons

Again, this is different. This is a 3D flatscreen that you can take with you on a plane, work, take calls, scuba dive, play games, handle your email, surf the web, etc, in a KICKASS three dimensional space. It's not meant to replace other devices. I'm sure I'll use my phone, MBA, and work PC more. But I would easily burn 2-3 hours a DAY on this thing, just for entertainment's sake. People that used it are raving about the clarity and sharpness and uniqueness and how solid the OS is as a platform.

I want it. BAD.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

The only thing negative is the battery and cable. Battery tech has made great strides, for V2 they have to at least ditch the external battery n cable.
But for a V1, gives a chance for developers to figure out what they do.

I just don't see that happening in the near future. The device is reportedly already heavy (aluminium & glass).

I have the PS VR and my son has some other VR set for his PC and the amount of cables required is staggering. Storing and powering them sucks.

The single, MagSafe-type cable to the battery is elegant as hell, and can be both hidden in clothes and modular enough for you to have more than one and/or clothes that hide it (I remember seeing snowboarding jackets that hid headphone cables). And of course, you're not tethered to anything.

 

[cadewii]

This is way too soon. They should have teased what they were working on and showed a demo and that's it. No one I have talked to is excited, cares, or finds this practical. This is just to force people to stay in their bubble and plugged in. Not good.

 

[SoldOnApple]

This thing is not a peripheral. It's its own device, with its own OS.

It's a full computer you wear on your face.

From what I understand, when syncing to your Mac that screen becomes a peripheral... all the horsepower processing happens on your Mac, while the Vision handles everything else you're seeing.

Mind blowing stuff.

Sounds great for workflow. I have so many windows open that it gets really mind boggling. But how on Earth does the Mac wirelessly send "unlimited" screens to the Vision Pro wirelessly? Not that it matters, I won't be able to afford it. But this is the kind of device I have always wanted, being able to make windows any size I want would be incredible.

 

[East India Company]

This has been years in the making. Finally on this historic day we see Apple finish eating itself, intoxicated on their own hype juice.

A sad day indeed. It makes me feel a bit disgusted that I have some attraction for these products. How did we get there?

 

[AdeFowler]

I have questions

1. Who is the target group ? (those who want it, can't afford it, those who can afford it, don't want it)
2. What is the key-feature (use case) for this product ?

In its current state The product will not succeed. If it is 40% of the price and the hardware is smaller (not something that's doable right now), then it will sell like hotcakes.

I know a few who have bought the Oculus Quest, and when they have walked the line on the board above skyscrapers, it ends up on the shelf collecting dust.

As of right now, it's purely gimmick, nothing that this product can do, is simpler to do, than already available on much cheaper products.

Remember the 3D flatscreens ?, they only needed lightweight glasses, and nobody uses it anymore. Why?, because reasons

I'm the target group. I want it, and I can afford it. There have been plenty of other people on here saying that they will be buying for someone.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Does it have fans?

View attachment 2213110


View attachment 2213111

yeah fans right in front of the eyes!

This is not something you want some 3rd party my-T-shop doing unofficial repairs with that's for sure.

 

[rjjacobson]

I'm the target group. I want it, and I can afford it. There have been plenty of other people on here saying that they will be buying for someone.

Well I want it, cannot afford it on my pension this year, Just spend my tech savings for past couple years to buy new 16 inch M2 Pro MacBook Pro and new 2 TB 12.9 inch iPad Pro (I upgrade every 4-. Years). Have to rebuild that fund for awhile

But would love to test one for a few months to see what I could do with it? So as long time apple only user maybe I am a target group at some point

 

[jhoff8600]

I don't $3500 is unreasonable given the cost of all the components inside it.
(and I'm sure millions of R&D$)

Millions? Try Billions. Acrobatic leaps of accounting tricks for the investors and tax collectors not withstanding, It will be 5-10 years before apple has a chance to truly turn a profit on this segment, if they ever do.

Apples spends as much on R&D as much of the S&P 500 put together. Apples unofficial catch phrase could be: The Apple Tax, getting users to subsidize the future for over 40 years. We over pay for our apple devices to fund apples R&D for future products.

 

[jhoff8600]

Yeah… this has not aged well.

please fix your link. I'm super curious.

 

[jhoff8600]

Couple of things from all the promotional videos:

- No children are seen wearing one.
- It's not being used outside at all. Wonder if being in sunlight impacts the viewing?
- No one is with someone else using it. So when someone does a FT call, they see me with the goggles on?

you obviously did not watch the entire presentation. Go back and watch it and you will have your answers.

 

[ictiosapiens]

The only thing negative is the battery and cable. Battery tech has made great strides, for V2 they have to at least ditch the external battery n cable.
But for a V1, gives a chance for developers to figure out what they do.

There will be third party accessories that will do just that, and move the battery(or a higher capacity one) to the back of the device. The strap is swappable.

 

[jhoff8600]

Do you remember those days on the subway when everyone was beting on useless tiny thousands of dollars typing screens? Never again! The next generation, the children of the Z, will finally be free !!!

This!

I've been a dedicated apple user since 1989. I am not an early adopter. Every time apple releases a new product segment, it seems wonky, limited uses, expensive, and I say to myself some version of "its kinda cool. Cant afford it. Don't need it". Then within 3-5 years they iterate enough, AND (this is the most important part), the world evolves enough, That a switch kinda goes goes off for me, and it "suddenly makes sense" to buy in.

For me it was the eMac (which evolved from the very first CRT iMac), the iPod 4g, which added the capacitive click wheel and ditched the fugly buttons, had enough space to house all my music, AND actually fit in my pocket. The iphone 4S with its sleek design, fast enough modem, and acctually usable screen and battery, and mature app ecosystem came next. I though the first apple watch looked useless, till they came out the the series 4 with expanded display, ECG, and and other mature features.

Flat panel iMacs didn't make sense to me until the 2006 iMac core duo when the thing finally had modern processors, and started to actually look like a display and not just an awkward plastic block with an underwhelming screen embedder into it. Also software was finally catching up to maker use of the increased resolution and screen size.

Except maybe the Newton, this Vision OS platform is more ahead of its time than any other product apple has produced. Not just the technology, Which is insanely advanced for a first gen device, but its place in this world. Due to the complexity of the technology, and nascent use cases, Maybe its not 3-5 years to hit critical mass, maybe its 6-10 years, but make no mistake, some future unknowable iteration of this platform is going to change the world every bit as much as the mac, iPod, and iPhone, and most people will want one, or something like it.

 

[Richard700]

Millions? Try Billions. Acrobatic leaps of accounting tricks for the investors and tax collectors not withstanding, It will be 5-10 years before apple has a chance to truly turn a profit on this segment, if they ever do.

Apples spends as much on R&D as much of the S&P 500 put together. Apples unofficial catch phrase could be: The Apple Tax, getting users to subsidize the future for over 40 years. We over pay for our apple devices to fund apples R&D for future products.

I'm fine with paying taxes, as long as I get benefits (like more neat stuff in the future)

 

[jhoff8600]

I guess it's debatable whether enough people will part with $3500 for these ugly goggles to make it worthwhile for developers to create application for it and, hopefully, create a kill app - which Apple didn't have for this device - that then drives more demand for this ugly thing and, hopefully future less ugly things.

Years ago, Tim Cook expressed his enthusiasm for AR and, specifically, AR glasses. It's unbelievably disappointing to find that after all these years and effort, all Apple could come up with is these ugly ski goggles - with a friggin' tether! Steve Jobs is turning over in his grave as we speak :-(

I ask this simple question: why isn't all the heavy-duty processing - which is the cause for the ugly goggles and the tethered battery - done in the iPhone??? People already have one of those in their pockets and Apple has the know-how to make the networking to nearby AR *glasses* fast enough to have those glasses project transmitted images and send sensor data back. We could have had AR *glasses* instead of this contraption.

Wrong. For augmented really to be accepted by the human brain, There must be near zero detectable latency. There is an extreme amount of sensor integration, and optimized video processing that is required to achieve this. The video data bandwidth just for the displays, would nearly max out modern data cables (2 5k 120hz displays roughly). You cant relay all that camera and sensor data wirelessly to a pocket device, process it into useful display video, then wirelessly relay it back to the goggles, which then have to decode and display said video, whiteout destroying all attempts to reduce latency. Apple wants your brain to think you are looking at the real world when you wear these things, and that's only possible with onboard processing.

 

[Richard700]

This!

I've been a dedicated apple user since 1989. I am not an early adopter. Every time apple releases a new product segment, it seems wonky, limited uses, expensive, and I say to myself some version of "its kinda cool. Cant afford it. Don't need it". Then within 3-5 years they iterate enough, AND (this is the most important part), the world evolves enough, That a switch kinda goes goes off for me, and it "suddenly makes sense" to buy in.

For me it was the eMac (which evolved from the very first CRT iMac), the iPod 4g, which added the capacitive click wheel and ditched the fugly buttons, had enough space to house all my music, AND actually fit in my pocket. The iphone 4S with its sleek design, fast enough modem, and acctually usable screen and battery, and mature app ecosystem came next. I though the first apple watch looked useless, till they came out the the series 4 with expanded display, ECG, and and other mature features.

Flat panel iMacs didn't make sense to me until the 2006 iMac core duo when the thing finally had modern processors, and started to actually look like a display and not just an awkward plastic block with an underwhelming screen embedder into it. Also software was finally catching up to maker use of the increased resolution and screen size.

Except maybe the Newton, this Vision OS platform is more ahead of its time than any other product apple has produced. Not just the technology, Which is insanely advanced for a first gen device, but its place in this world. Due to the complexity of the technology, and nascent use cases, Maybe its not 3-5 years to hit critical mass, maybe its 6-10 years, but make no mistake, some future unknowable iteration of this platform is going to change the world every bit as much as the mac, iPod, and iPhone, and most people will want one, or something like it.

I agree - my 1st iPhone - 4s; my first watch - Series 4; I did wait for the iPod Touch before I got one. iPad - 1st gen (it was just so cool).
I've always bought the 1st generation of Apple computers (when I needed (wanted) a new computer) - starting with the IIx.
This, however, in my opinion, is a long term game changer.
Not necessarily for only this type of product, but certainly, ideas and technology from it will appear in different future products.
And it, or it's decendents, or spin-offs, or bits of it, may very well change forever how we interact with technology in the future.

 

[freediverx00]

Exciting stuff but for $3500?!?! Tim, I better be able to see into the future

The first iPod cost $688 after adjusting for inflation.

 

[freediverx00]

I work a lot while traveling. One of my main issues is not having a big external monitor when I’m away from home. This solves that problem for me and integrates with my MacBook Pro.

That sounds great on paper, but the devil’s in the details.

As a standalone device, I think this will be about as useful a general purpose computer as an iPad. Plenty of power and great for some tasks, but not suitable for others due to limitations in the software design.

Perhaps it has potential as an alternate display while tethered to a Mac or MacBook, but that condition weakens the value proposition. It’s akin to justifying the cost of an iPad Pro by telling yourself you’ll use it as a second display for your MacBook. And then there’s the 2 hour battery life and dangling cable.

 

[_Spinn_]

Looks nice but I just can’t get excited for a headset.

 

[freediverx00]

Looks nice but I just can’t get excited for a headset.

Gruber's review has me jumping back and forth between thinking this is just an interesting preview of future products and something I'd love to play with right now...

First Impressions of Vision Pro and VisionOS

In the same way that the introduction of multitouch with the iPhone removed a layer of conceptual abstraction — instead of touching a mouse or trackpad to move an on-screen pointer to an object on screen, you simply touch the object on screen — VisionOS removes a layer of abstraction spatially.

daringfireball.net

 

[osplo]

This is a great step for Apple. People complaining about the price remind me of people dismissing the early personal computer as unnecessary and expensive. Same for the original iPad.

This has the chance to change how we interact with computers and knowledge. It may fail, of course, but kudos to Apple for trying.