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Testing the Vision Pro With New Ultrawide Display Option in visionOS 2.2

Finally the first major update that makes me think this platform has a possible future.

If they release a second gen Vision Pro with M5 and 100%+ P3 and it’s even slightly lighter I‘d consider it after seeing this.

I agree the engineering should be celebrated, what an (apparent) improvement.
 
MacRumors said:


The first developer beta of visionOS 2.2 came out yesterday, and it includes a much anticipated new feature for Vision Pro users. When using the Vision Pro as a display for a Mac, there are now options to use wide and ultrawide layouts in addition to the standard virtual display.


We thought we'd check out the new display settings for those who might be interested in seeing how this changes the Vision Pro Mac workflow.

With the wide display option, there's enough screen real estate to use four apps at once without compromising on window size. Ultrawide bumps up the available space even more, and it's almost too much display space.

Using the ultrawide setting is like having multiple curved Mac displays in front of you to handle your Mac apps, and then you can also add in visionOS apps to better utilize the virtual space around you. The larger screen sizes for the Mac do improve productivity because there's so much more space to work with.

Note that you still can't use multiple Mac windows when mirroring your Mac display to your Vision Pro, but the wide and ultrawide provide so much space that it's essentially the same function. Apple says that the ultrawide mode is equivalent to using two 4K monitors side by side.

In addition to adding these display modes, Apple improved the quality of the virtual displays so they're crisper and higher resolution, plus audio plays from the Vision Pro rather than the Mac so it sounds better.

visionOS 2.2 is in beta right now, but it will see a launch alongside macOS Sequoia 15.2 and iOS 18.2 in early December.

Article Link: Testing the Vision Pro With New Ultrawide Display Option in visionOS 2.2
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Hey MacRumors guys. Thanks for all you do!

Also re: this article you may want to let people know that they need BOTH Vision 2.2 and MacOS 15.2. I tried to get wide display with only beta 2.2 and it doesn’t work unless you add macOS 15.2
 
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Algr said:
Most ultra-wide monitors are silly. You can get even more pixels and a larger screen by simply buying a 4k TV. I use a 42" 4k screen, and it works well for me.
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No, they're not. You can have two 4K displays side by side in one screen. 8K2K display. Samsung. Height of display is about 15.25", so it's very usable, and not like looking through a slot. And a big 4K tv is flat, the monitor curvature works well, so you are sitting nearly equidistance from the windows as you turn your head. (Just so you are aware of the scale, that's my kid sitting in front of the display.)
IMG_2440.jpeg
 
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macduke said:
Apple needs to focus on making a cheaper version that mainly does this. I would buy it! Should be lightweight and able to run off of being plugged into an iPhone.
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Unfortunately this will remain impossible for at least 5 years: AVP requires an insane bandwidth for pushing the pixels it needs to for the image quality that is in the different ballpark compared to everyone else. Even if iPhone would support Thunderbolt 5 and have M4, it could not do what R1 with direct connection to displays and cameras can.

Even a top of the line Mac Pro could not do it due to bandwidth constraints. As a comparison, the only headset on the market with similar resolution is Varjo XR-4. They cannot offer a comparable passthrough even with top of the line Nvidia GPUs in a desktop PC. Again due to bandwidth constraints.
 
chars1ub0w said:
No, they're not. You can have two 4K displays side by side in one screen. 8K2K display. Samsung. Height of display is about 15.25", so it's very usable, and not like looking through a slot. And a big 4K tv is flat, the monitor curvature works well, so you are sitting nearly equidistance from the windows as you turn your head. (Just so you are aware of the scale, that's my kid sitting in front of the display.)View attachment 2447388
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Impressive, but still pales in comparison to AVP Ultra wide resolution.
 
chars1ub0w said:
The AVP doesn't cost $499 either. So that's a red herring.
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My monitor does. At 21 inches tall, it has the 100dpi that is a sweet spot for MacOS, and more room than your monitor for scrolling web pages. If you want it to be curved, you can span three of them: 12x2k for $1497.
 
Algr said:
At 21 inches tall, it has the 100dpi that is a sweet spot for MacOS, and more room than your monitor for scrolling web pages. If you want it to be curved, you can span three of them: 12x2k for $1497.
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21" tall at the distance I sit at, i.e. at a desk, I would have to move my head up and down. But if it works for you, good. It's a matter of how far away you sit.

I'm not sure you have more room for scrolling, as 4K = 3840 x 2160 pixels. And I have the same number of pixels as you in the vertical dimension. (I have twice your number of pixels in the horizontal dimension.)

As for three of them, I wonder if anyone seriously runs that combination.
 
jole said:
10240 x 2880 🤯
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3200+ needs to be the standard veritcal resolution, it is so annoying especailly writing code with the lower vertical space on ultrawides. The XDR gets this right and there's one 38" dell that does but almost nothing else does.
 
My AVP is now running 2.2, and my Mac Studio is running Sequoia 15.1. But when I open the virtual display, there is no tag above the window as seen in the demo, and no ability to go wide or ultra-wide. If I look at the virtual display, and try pinching my fingers, nothing happens. Any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong?
 
This makes me wonder whether it would be more economical to buy a used Vision Pro, instead of a used Pro Display XDR, for occasional web article layout (about once a month) when I need more screen workspace than my 16 inch Macbook Pro M1’s built-in display can show at my preferred resolution (1312 x 848).

I’d like to be able to place at least two windows side by side (usually either two web browser windows, or two word processor windows, or one of each), with a horizontal resolution for each of about 1312 pixels. My perception of each of these windows, on the Vision Pro’s display (both resolution and brightness, for reading and editing text and simple photos—nothing high-end) would need to be at least equal to that of my Macbook’s arm’s-length display.

But economic comparisons aside, the VP seems more interesting given its ability to display more than two full-sized windows, if I find myself needing or just wanting more than two.
 
spaxxedout said:
Pretty solid review, but not enough being said how the existing and new displays all support high frame rates. Previously the native 2k and 5k ran at 30 and were basically unusable.

The Vision Pro is telling the Mac where you're looking every frame, and it's only rendering that portion of the screen in high resolution (foveated rendering). The fact it can do this between two devices wirelessly with no perceived lag is an incredible feat of engineering that deserves more praise.

It should also be noted that the audio is incredibly low latency. In fact, you can use AirPods Pro 2 USB-C with nearly zero lag in this configuration. Made a song last night in logic with that setup and, though barely perceptible, the latency is good enough to write music (esp. considering 32-sample buffers are the norm these days).
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Near zero latency? Isn’t the audio still blue tooth? Am I missing something here?
 
novagamer said:
3200+ needs to be the standard veritcal resolution, it is so annoying especailly writing code with the lower vertical space on ultrawides. The XDR gets this right and there's one 38" dell that does but almost nothing else does.
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If you really want and don't mind things being a little small, you can choose resolutions higher than the default with the virtual display. I find one step above the default (which means 50% more space in both the horizontal and the vertical direction) to be usable, but it doesn't look as nice as the default.
 
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Am I crazy for thinking they should offer tan option for two 16:9 virtual display on top? It seems to me that having the laptop in the middle and two display on each side would fit some workflows better
 
flybass said:
Don’t people still struggle to wear the headset for more than a couple hours at once? The other point that seems relevant is the maturity of the 2 technologies. Screens and speakers have really developed to the point where they can be used for many many years. I’m not as bullish on this first generation product being supported as long.
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It is too heavy. They need to remove the useless stuff from it. No forward facing screen, and offload the processor to the computer.
 
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NapoleonIV said:
It is too heavy. They need to remove the useless stuff from it. No forward facing screen, and offload the processor to the computer.
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I prefer they keep the function of showing where the user’s attention is at the very least, if not also showing eye/brow expressions, without having to take off the headset. I think it’s an important function when you’re using the device and occasionally interacting with someone with you, eg. a colleague.
The possible problems with offloading processing are latency and heat. Sending sensor data from the headset to another device then sending data back may cause too much delay, maybe even if wired. And the VP requires a fan which means moving the processing to a pocket device could lead to overheating. Unless it’s not meant to go in a pocket, but rather clip or hang on the outside. Meta Orion offloads processing, and wirelessly at that, but it may be sending less sensor data and less video resolution, requiring less bandwidth. Also who knows how well it works in the real world compared to VP.
I think one good way to decrease weight is to replace as much of the metal and glass as possible with plastic. Just keep as much metal as needed for heat dissipation. Probably needs more fitting options too.
 
appleCakes said:
If I may ask, how practical is this? Can someone work (coding, writing documents, ...) like this on their Mac/MacBook for 8 hours a day (I don't know if AVP charging allows that).
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If you are sitting at a desk, you can simply keep the AVP plugged in.

But, since I like to get up periodically and don't necessarily want to take my headset off all the time, I simply plug an external battery pack into the AVP battery and put one battery in my left pocket and the other in my right. Now I have power for as long as I want it, yet my AVP remains a mobile device, capable of moving wherever I want to go in the house.
 
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subjonas said:
I prefer they keep the function of showing where the user’s attention is at the very least, if not also showing eye/brow expressions, without having to take off the headset. I think it’s an important function when you’re using the device and occasionally interacting with someone with you, eg. a colleague.
The possible problems with offloading processing are latency and heat. Sending sensor data from the headset to another device then sending data back may cause too much delay, maybe even if wired. And the VP requires a fan which means moving the processing to a pocket device could lead to overheating. Unless it’s not meant to go in a pocket, but rather clip or hang on the outside. Meta Orion offloads processing, and wirelessly at that, but it may be sending less sensor data and less video resolution, requiring less bandwidth. Also who knows how well it works in the real world compared to VP.
I think one good way to decrease weight is to replace as much of the metal and glass as possible with plastic. Just keep as much metal as needed for heat dissipation. Probably needs more fitting options too.
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We don't need all the sensors. It doesn't need a spacial interface to be a portable display for a tethered computer. VP is trying to be a stand alone device, but the killer app for it (at least for me) is as a tethered portable display. I will repeat this again, the VP represents a savings of at least 5k$ vs buying four monitors (or two ultra wide) and a Mac Studio capable of outputting to them.
 
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