Vision Pro Hands-On: Reviewers Comment on Weight, Disney+ Experience, Virtual Keyboard and More

[smulji]

I can see many people returning their AVPs after realizing how underwhelming the experience is for the price they paid. Maybe Apple will gain valuable insights from those who decide to keep their units so the next generation AVP will be significantly better/improved.

There's a reason why Microsoft, even after focusing on enterprise / industrial use cases, cancelled HoloLens. It's a device that doesn't solve a problem.

 

[Lakersfan74]

I would be interested in a VR gaming/3D movie headset for $1000 but not a $3500 one that also does computing.
I'm enjoying the heck out of my PSVR2 and like 3D movies.

 

[rnizlek]

I’m still getting it, but only for the use case of having a 4K display I can put in a bag and travel with. I’ve already put 4K monitors at the home of family and friends that I spend a lot of time at, but when I travel elsewhere it’s hard to get much done on my laptop screen. I’ve tried portable displays but they haven’t been great - my iPad Pro is somewhat workable as a solution but not the same as being at home with my 32” 4K monitor. I wish there was a solution that could just be a portable display for half the price, but none of the other headsets on the market have the needed resolution. I will make back the cost in a reasonable amount of time being able to do work for my side gig on flights, trains, hotel rooms, etc.

All the rest of the technology is cool but isn’t something I could drop that kind of money on. If it sucks I’ll sell it, but its worth giving it a shot based on what it potentially provide.

Personally I watch very little TV and don’t play many games. When I’m not working my day job or side gig I prefer to get out into the world and do things beyond screens and with the people I care about. But I will absolutely spend the money to get a sizable portable monitor. People like me are probably not a large demographic, though.

 

[mosesvii]

? And why should i be wearing $3500 technology with my eyes closed anyway ...

Meditating with your eyes open can be a valid and effective way to practice mindfulness. It's a technique that's been used in various meditation traditions for centuries. This form of meditation can be particularly helpful for those who find it difficult to concentrate or to stay awake with their eyes closed

Exactly. Alone. Maybe I'm old - and I am probably relatively old at 46 to many people on this forum - but I generally watch movies with my kids or my significant other or friends. I can't imagine us all watching on different AVPs in the same room.

I agree; watching videos on different AVPs in the same room sounds not only expensive but awful.

My daughter is about to turn 20. We watch a lot of stuff together, but for the most part, it's just me. So I'm super keen to use the headset when I'm alone.

 

[DENZIE]

after 16 years of the iPhone, I’m still not used to people being glued to their screens all day.

So I absolutely don’t care for a world where people have these things strapped to their heads.

Im sure I’m not alone in this.. if not, man this thing is gonna flop.

 

[dampfnudel]

There's a reason why Microsoft, even after focusing on enterprise / industrial use cases, cancelled HoloLens. It's a device that doesn't solve a problem.

I think what most of us are really waiting for is the Holodeck.

 

[deepspacecowboy]

There's a reason why Microsoft, even after focusing on enterprise / industrial use cases, cancelled HoloLens. It's a device that doesn't solve a problem.

Until someone proves otherwise, I’ll continue to believe this sort of stuff looks great in movies but really doesn’t add much real world value.

 

[dampfnudel]

I feel very luke warm about this Apple product.

I felt lukewarm with the first generation iPhone as well, but I had a feeling Apple would give us a much better experience in future versions. I only see marginal improvements coming to the AVP in future generations. Not enough to drastically improve and change the experience that we’ll get with the first generation. A very different situation compared to the iPhone’s history.

 

[Harvey Zoltan]

Not sure how much value I would place on anything Joanna Stern writes. I remember her video review of the original Apple Watch as being one of the more stupid things I've watched.

 

[Harvey Zoltan]

A lot of people here seemed to be concerned about being separated from their Friends and Family. What do you do with your Friends and Family when you want to spend an hour or so reading?

 

[Jensend]

A lot of people here seemed to be concerned about being separated from their Friends and Family. What do you do with your Friends and Family when you want to spend an hour or so reading?

Or when your friends and family live thousands of miles away?

 

[Jensend]

after 16 years of the iPhone, I’m still not used to people being glued to their screens all day.

So I absolutely don’t care for a world where people have these things strapped to their heads.

Im sure I’m not alone in this.. if not, man this thing is gonna flop.

ehhh... in some ways I'd rather people be fully immersed or not, instead of being half there. My mother is constantly listening to fringe political stuff with her AirPods, and I try to talk to her and don't realize that she can't hear me.

 

[Donoban]

From The Verge. I think this says a lot:

“This is all well and good, but it’s strange to wear the headset and not actually know what’s happening on that front display — to not really have a sense of your appearance. And it’s even stranger that looking at people in the real world can cause them to appear, apparition-like, in the virtual world. The social cues of this thing are going to take a long while to sort out. Admittedly, it was all a whirlwind. I spent a half-hour like a kid gawping at an alien planet — even though I’d never left the couch. But by the end of my demo, I started to feel the weight of the headset bring me back to the real world. I’d been furrowing my brow, concentrating so hard, I felt the beginnings of a mild headache. That tension dissipated as soon as I took the headset off, but walking back out into Manhattan, I kept replaying the demo over in my head. I know what I just saw. I’m just still trying to see where it fits in the real world.”

These comments from the verge and other reviews are ridiculous.

Remember when the Apple Watch came out, the type of crap these guys were spruiking in their initial reviews? All I can suspect is its creating something that generates clicks.

The real review will be what you think of it.

 

[Donoban]

What problem is the Vision Pro solving? What does it allow me to do that existing tech does not in order to really, truly make me more productive?

Pretty much nothing, that’s what.

Look up Clayton Christensen and the Jobs-To-Be-Done principle of product design. Vision Pro isn’t doing any new job, or any existing job better. It’s just putting the jobs in the air and giving you and different input system, and likely doing fewer jobs than other computers because Apple is too arrogant to put a proper OS in anything but a Mac.

You can’t imagine use cases with AR could help with staff induction, safety training, etc.

We’re only seeing entertainment uses at this stage. If replacing your 65inch TV With a virtual cinema isn’t getting you horny then I don’t know what will.

 

[Donoban]

I would say most of the negative was nitpicky - "I was in pain" - because my long hair was pinching and I didn't ask to change the strap as it slid down my hair - that is filled with glossy hair product.

"The keyboard was hard to use" but if you read the full review, she was doing the pinch gesture wrong.....

Even the comment about "I felt excluded too..." in the full review ends with her in tears about how special that type of recording will be with her own kids when they are grown.

Some of this was MR quoting very poorly too.

Thank you Jesus - someone else can see how stupid these reviewers are. Lolz. I sometimes wonder their credentials other than being professional complainers.

 

[Donoban]

"I was in pain" is nitpicky, there you have it folks.

Lolz - when you’ve spent your life sitting on a couch watching TV and are required to exert any type of physical energy.

 

[Donoban]

after 16 years of the iPhone, I’m still not used to people being glued to their screens all day.

So I absolutely don’t care for a world where people have these things strapped to their heads.

Im sure I’m not alone in this.. if not, man this thing is gonna flop.

LOLZ - Change is coming.

It won’t flop.

Have you worked with a Gen Z yet? Vision Pro is the least of your worries.

 

[Born Again]

This is so messed up.

Not sure if I’m going to be able to resell my preorder for $5000

 

[Mikep976]

So unlike the future, if Apple is indeed willing to push out half baked ideas, with solutions in seach of a problem that aren’t really done yet, Apple: Run on over and grab yourself a Honor Magic V2 or OnePlus Open. Throw A18 in that pupper and some iOS + iPadOS on the inside, and ship that. Please. If you’re trying stuff many are going to denounce anyway, at least make it utilitarian.

 

[MrSkoTA]

Loudest MEH ever.

Good job Apple. How about you go back to finding ways to innovate and streamline instead of trying to cram the market with whatever you’ve decided is “cool?”

Precisely what the massholes said about the iPhone before it came out!

 

[contacos]

True. Its not like you can adjust your virtual seating position to be more favorable then real life with the same size displays and resolution. Apple's marketing is just being clever. It's just a substitution as headset for a great TV setup. The AVP will never duplicate a good multi-channel lossless audio system with full range speakers.

You actually can since you will be sitting in a virtual room. I don’t know how to explain it but on my Quest I can sit on a virtual „sofa“ looking at the huge imax screen from different angles and further or closer to the screen as I like.

Anyway, not sure if it’s simply me and my eyes / vision (though my BF feels the same) I cannot watch more than a half hour tv show on a VR device because my eyes just get too tired. It’s the best feeling in the world to take them off after a while, it’s almost like you can finally „breathe“ again and your eyes get to relax.

 

[glindon]

Too early to judge what will become of it. Developers didn't have enough time yet to come up with great Apps.

But the hardware likely has a lot of room for improvements. Gen 1 is likely not gonna be "it" for me.

But i'm not gonna write it off yet. iPhone, iPad and Watch, all needed needed tons of improvement when they were released. None of them would have succeeded, judging by comments on here and other places.

But this one definitely has an added price problem.

I’m still hard pressed to imagine what “apps” will benefit from VR outside of the niche 3d apps (such as modeling, VR chat) and games. The platform also has all the pitfalls of the iPad ecosystem (desktop performance but no desktop apps or even worse “desktop type apps” missing features of their Mac counterpart).
I get the “transportable monitor” aspect of it but not at the asking price and in its current unwieldy state.

 

[cardfan]

Precisely what the massholes said about the iPhone before it came out!

Not really. lol. Apple had lines around the building. A few competitors said stupid things but that’s expected.

 

[dante_mr]

Disappointed at the lack of a comparison to the Quest. I'm pretty sure Joanna tried it so she could have at least compared.

 

[bloomfeld]

Engadget's Cherlynn Low wore the headset for just 20 minutes with the standard strap and "was in pain" due to the weight of the device. Apple swapped her over to the Dual Loop Band, which "felt much better for weight distribution."

It's the ergonomics, stupid.