The MacRumors Show: Talking Vision Pro and iOS 18 Beta

[MacRumors]

On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we revisit the experience of using Apple Vision Pro and talk through our first impressions of the iOS 18 public beta.

Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos​

Apple's Vision Pro headset is now available in the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore, prompting renewed interest in the spatial computing device. We discuss our thoughts on the best aspects of the Vision Pro, such as immersive video, spatial photos and video, gestures, and UI design, as well as its shortcomings, such as weight and comfort, video passthrough in dark environments, limited content, and general usefulness.

Earlier this week, Apple released the first public beta of iOS 18, bringing the new software to the general public for the first time since the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Apple has seeded three developer betas so far, and the first public beta includes the same content that's in the third developer beta. We talk over our thoughts on iOS 18's new Home Screen and Control Center customization features, the redesigned Photos app, and more.

Let us know what you think about the experience of using the Vision Pro headset and the iOS 18 beta in the comments. The MacRumors Show has its own YouTube channel, so make sure you're subscribed to keep up with new episodes and clips:

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If you haven't already listened to the previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up for our discussion about all of the major new device announcements from Samsung's 2024 Galaxy Unpacked event and how they compare to Apple's offerings.

Subscribe to The MacRumors Show for new episodes every week, where we discuss some of the topical news breaking here on MacRumors, often joined by interesting guests such as Luke Miani, Matthew Cassinelli, Brian Tong, Quinn Nelson, Kevin Nether, Jared Nelson, Eli Hodapp, Mike Bell, Sara Dietschy, iJustine, Jon Rettinger, Andru Edwards, Arnold Kim, Ben Sullins, Marcus Kane, Christopher Lawley, Frank McShan, David Lewis, Tyler Stalman, Jon Prosser, Sam Kohl, John Gruber, Federico Viticci, Thomas Frank, Jonathan Morrison, Ross Young, Ian Zelbo, and Rene Ritchie.

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Article Link: The MacRumors Show: Talking Vision Pro and iOS 18 Beta

 

[spaxxedout]

The comfort gets a lot better over time. The lens glare is a much more significant drawback. My hope is that Apple figures out a way to triangulate where glare appears on the screen and intelligently dims those areas dynamically. If that’s even possible…

 

[re-cycle]

Hartley should try the Annapro Vision Pro head strap. I'm in the UK and bought one of those to have ready for when my Vision Pro arrived and it has made the experience SO much better.

I also agree that the immersive video and UI 'glass' feel and gestures are the stand-out features. For me, since they've just announced a forthcoming Blackmagic camera and workflow that can support Immersive Video at 8k per eye, the big remaining question is: when will people other than film studios be able to release Immersive Video? When will successful YouTubers be able to do so? That would immediately launch the Vision Pro as a stand-out content consumption device.

I thought that an isolated productivity environment would be the other killer app but maybe that takes time to get used to. The foveated rendering makes peripheral vision blurry and that's offputting when working inside the Vision Pro for me at the moment.

Of course, court/pitch-side sports is probably what the killer app will be. Pity I'm not into that.

 

[lenningj]

Are there any long-term health risks with these headsets to be aware of? Does the VP mitigate this with the tech used in the headset?

 

[turbineseaplane]

Yikes
...and then factor in all the returned units!

 

[spaxxedout]

Are there any long-term health risks with these headsets to be aware of? Does the VP mitigate this with the tech used in the headset?

Yeah, every frame it does a lot to compensate for optics and barrel distortion. There's also of course the system warnings such as "don't use while driving" and "eyes are too close to the displays".

 

[Naraxus]

Yikes
...and then factor in all the returned units!

View attachment 2398322

This thing has been an abject failure since day one. Everybody knew it. The tech has some good things to it but this was yet another case of a solution in search of a problem. The emperor wears no clothes in Cupertino.

AVP, Apple Car and its various permutations, software that used to be best-in-class, Macs languishing in oblivion for years and the list goes on.

 

[DamienMurer]

I have a discal hernia since some weeks and I had to stay in bed for a few days. I’m sooo happy I had the VisionPro to fill up my days!
Yet, I do use the AVP mainly laying so the weight is just on my head an not tightly squizing my face.

 

[spaxxedout]

To Dan's argument for just watching a TV instead of using the Vision Pro - the screen is massive and the OLED looks amazing. It's a much more impressive experience and some people like it.

 

[SGSfanboy]

I’m surprised at this price point Apple didn’t use carbon fiber in place of aluminum. Not sure how practical it would have been or how much weight saving would have been realized.

 

[supersteve]

After 3 visits to my local Apple Store, I have a pretty comfortable set up now. I’ve tried a few different light seals and settled on the 23W+ with a Small solo band for the back and another small solo band for the top using a 3d printed adapter. When I put it on I make sure the back soloband is as low as it can sit on my head. I have been Rocking this set up for 2 days now and it’s been great.

It should not be hurting your cheeks or forehead with the correct light seal and strap. Just keep trying different configurations.

Also the last time I went to my local store the guy who helped me did the training in California and he knew everything about the light seals and bands. Try to find the person who did the trading in California at your local store.

Try the small solo band for the back

 

[triton100]

Hartley should try the Annapro Vision Pro head strap. I'm in the UK and bought one of those to have ready for when my Vision Pro arrived and it has made the experience SO much better.

I also agree that the immersive video and UI 'glass' feel and gestures are the stand-out features. For me, since they've just announced a forthcoming Blackmagic camera and workflow that can support Immersive Video at 8k per eye, the big remaining question is: when will people other than film studios be able to release Immersive Video? When will successful YouTubers be able to do so? That would immediately launch the Vision Pro as a stand-out content consumption device.

I thought that an isolated productivity environment would be the other killer app but maybe that takes time to get used to. The foveated rendering makes peripheral vision blurry and that's offputting when working inside the Vision Pro for me at the moment.

Of course, court/pitch-side sports is probably what the killer app will be. Pity I'm not into that.

Is the Anna pro even better than the double strap that apples supplies as it seems a similar design?

 

[triton100]

After 3 visits to my local Apple Store, I have a pretty comfortable set up now. I’ve tried a few different light seals and settled on the 23W+ with a Small solo band for the back and another small solo band for the top using a 3d printed adapter. When I put it on I make sure the back soloband is as low as it can sit on my head. I have been Rocking this set up for 2 days now and it’s been great.

It should not be hurting your cheeks or forehead with the correct light seal and strap. Just keep trying different configurations.

Also the last time I went to my local store the guy who helped me did the training in California and he knew everything about the light seals and bands. Try to find the person who did the trading in California at your local store.

Try the small solo band for the back

Did they give you the second solo strap or did you have to buy it separately

 

[axantas]

Are there any long-term health risks with these headsets to be aware of? Does the VP mitigate this with the tech used in the headset?

You certainely will not "kill" anything within you.
Lets say...
- sitting 10 hours in a plane without moving is not advisable. So: get up and walk arount sometimes.
- staring 5 hours at your computer screen without a break is maybe irritating your view.

I DO have irritations, exiting the virtual world, being back in reality (no more Bora Bora Beach), but this all about getting breaks - like with everything.

If you do feel uncomfortable - change it to something comfortable and get that "howto"-feeling like with everything.

It is known, that peopla start to get some kind of "crooked back", constantly staring at their phones. So be aware of it and use it in a reasonable way.

It is known, that constantly eating 5 Hamburgers with fries per day, there will be some long-term health risks. So: switch to salad with a decent dressing from time to time.

 

[anthogag]

Hartley's comments about fit and weight are normal. You guys are not used to wearing something on your head. Wear it every day and you'll start to get used to it. There is fatigue with any type of head gear. I am surprised you two don't know this.

It's Apple. More native apps will come. More immersive videos will come. Immersive sports will come.

This week's Vision Pro podcast sounds more like complaining than an evaluation or constructive criticism.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

I have a discal hernia since some weeks and I had to stay in bed for a few days. I’m sooo happy I had the VisionPro to fill up my days!
Yet, I do use the AVP mainly laying so the weight is just on my head an not tightly squizing my face.

Have fun, and get well soon!

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Hartley's comments about fit and weight are normal. You guys are not used to wearing something on your head. Wear it every day and you'll start to get used to it. There is fatigue with any type of head gear. I am surprised you two don't know this.

It's Apple. More native apps will come. More immersive videos will come. Immersive sports will come.

This week's Vision Pro podcast sounds more like complaining than an evaluation or constructive criticism.

I think it all depends on the focus of your evaluation.
If you first focus on finding negative points, you will magnify them so much that anything positive will become irrelevant, and you may not have any desire to continue using it.

If you focus on the positive points first, you will find ways to take advantage of it and make the best out of it. You will find negative points, but then you put everything on the scale and decide what has more weight to you: Positive or negative. And now you will be ready to make a valuable decision.

 

[supersteve]

Did they give you the second solo strap or did you have to buy it separately

i bought the small band the day i got the unit. July 12. With the intention of 3D printing the adapter. It seemed like a pretty solid solution for a top strap and it’s worked out really well.

My original order came with the medium and without the help from the Apple Store employee I wouldn’t have even thought to try a small band on the back. It was a game changer for me.

 

[Wieslawo]

This device may get better over time, but it won't get better in this version and it won't get better for everyone who bought it. Apple made a stupid choice, they opted for at least controversial solutions, they made a show of strength, not a show of ergonomics. They could only make a good impression once and they didn't. This device should be comfortable above all! All types of belt solutions from other companies should be an option for a few, an exception, not a standard. Tim is great with numbers, but vision is not his strong suit. In a moment, the numbers may start to slip away from him, and he doesn't have even a fraction of Jobs' charisma to fix anything just like that.

 

[frou]

When you know you wanna return it, but let the return period lapse for some reason, you will feel like a real fool being stuck with the boat anchor.

 

[jo-1]

I’m surprised at this price point Apple didn’t use carbon fiber in place of aluminum. Not sure how practical it would have been or how much weight saving would have been realized.

Sustainability is the reason - Aluminium can be fully recycled - carbon fiber is a fully disposable and thus not suiting to the sustainability goals of Apple.

 

[jo-1]

Hi Hartley - in case you'r reading here some ideas from an aging perspective and hopefully a bit more view on the past.

1.) Waiting for stuff that might happen:
In my life I've experienced that waiting can make sense in case you need your resources to be in place but sometimes it is clever to invest right now and not wait - especially in case you enjoy the process.
I bought several really pricy toys and I still own most of them and I should have bought them earlier - it can be so much fun being part of the show and why wait for something thought might be out a while

2.) Don't concentrate too much on price in life
Money is no object once you start looking at the resources you will have over your lifespan. There is a place for almost every thinkable investment as long as the timing is right provided you are carefully watching your cashflow.
I've learned so much in program management at one of my customers 15 years ago with a huge scale program that exceeded $ 300 M investment - the program manager at my customer had a simple excel list with what to invest when and when to get return on investment and how much interest rat has to be payed. A very simple list that changed may life. Now I have a 2 year rolling investment plan and a 5 year long term investment plan and I have more financial freedom as ever before.

I have place holders of toys every year and this year the AVP is my mid term toy - that does not mean that there is no room for long term toys

The time is always now and looking back I should have concentrated much earlier on the things I want not buy or wait for things that might come. The trick is to distinguish between the things that matter and that don't matter for you.

Personally I have a much better view on things I would like to own now. The AVP is a thing I must own having it for a bit more than a week.

@ Dan - I disagree for the augmented reality thing being more attractive - IMHO Apple did it absolutely right with the AVP being a demonstrator with all in. This is not the only thing we'll see - this will be one of many things to come and thus this will be a path but not the only path - it is the right thing to start with allowing developers to test all things out and let Apple test bench new ideas

Just my 2 Ct though

 

[triton100]

i bought the small band the day i got the unit. July 12. With the intention of 3D printing the adapter. It seemed like a pretty solid solution for a top strap and it’s worked out really well.

My original order came with the medium and without the help from the Apple Store employee I wouldn’t have even thought to try a small band on the back. It was a game changer for me.

But how does it differ to the Apple double strap which also has a strap on the top?

 

[shenfrey]

This is my first podcast, is that Hartley guy always this critical?

 

[jo-1]

This is my first podcast, is that Hartley guy always this critical?

no - and it’s for the most part fun and entertaining for me watching both guys.

The main driver IS the price for people ( including Hartley ) being critical.

But that is IMHO extremely shortsighted to say the least. Price for this peace of high end technology is more than adequate. Hartly had probably other things in mind with his new flat. Understandable.

After all it’s a pricy year when you like the Apple Eco System. New iPP, watch and probably phone And the AVP on top. I’ll get most of the list - but I had planned for it.