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

[tomtad]

Wow this is even worse than I was expecting

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

It’s not going to be a computer to me until I can actually use it as a computer and have the webcam not over on the side making it unusable.

Yes, because every single computer in history has included a WebCam.
All of them.
It’s a computer, that’s literally what it is.
Fun fact, the Watch is a computer too.
A computer you can’t even change the default notifications sound on, but a computer nonetheless.

 

[sw1tcher]

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."

You can improve weight distribution even more with the OptiGrab

 

[ComRadMac]

"but "also excluded" because it's lifelike, but no one in the immersive videos "sees you or interacts with you."

A grown person not only had this thought, but then wrote it down and was paid for the effort, that recorded video is not the same as live video.

 

[JTK Awesome]

i’d argue AirPods Max, which have the amazing software integration AirPods are known for, but have sound quality that doesn’t rise very high above the current AirPods Pro, and a design that is either “ the most comfortable headphones i’ve ever used” or, what I found in my experience, are extremely uncomfortable after 30 minutes because they’re made out ofmetal and weigh 400G.

The physical design of AirPods Max is an abomination compared to the svelte, aesthetically pleasing design of Bose 700 headphones.

 

[Aeolius]

It will take more than streaming services to sell me on this. I have no interest in sporting events, so that's not a selling point for me. Watching TV in 3D is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to VR.

I need games, but not hyper-realistic war games as I don't enjoy that genre (the cartoonish old west game Dead & Buried 2 for the Quest was more my speed). A host of fitness apps like Supernatural would be great.

I need exclusive content. Give me a VR world based on the tv shows of Sid & Marty Krofft. Give me Disney's Yesteryear Showcase - a virtual theme park based on all of the discontinued rides at Disney World. And a virtual McDonaldland would be the stuff of glorious nightmares.

Give us sports that we cannot experience otherwise - quidditch or pitz (the mesoamerican ball game) perhaps. Or put 3D cameras in football helmets and race cars for a live broadcast like no other.

And let's think ahead to haptic gloves and vests, 360° treadmills, and programmable scent diffusers. And let's see those telepresence drones and ROVs equipped with 3D cameras.

 

[RaphaZ]

Don't you feel this is the kind of innovation that can ruin a company?

 

[deepspacecowboy]

We don't know what jobs it isn't capable of doing yet, asides from games, which has been proven to be possible with other headsets. This one is self-contained, so that's a step up from headsets that require setup like base stations. I can think of ways my workflow would be improved, like being able to see 3D work in actual 3D, or not being restricted to physical computer screen dimensions.

It won't do everything I need; I have an iPad for drawing, which it handles better than my Macbook while also being much more portable, but it can't replace my Macbook for general stuff and going beyond what the vanilla OS can do.

What's surprising, though, is that Apple isn't showing us the way forward. @eicca poses a very valid question. What problem does this solve? I agree with your take as well, but it's quite surprising that Apple themselves didn't jump in and show us a whole new way of doing something. Everything they've demoed has been obvious and predictable, more about eye candy and parlor tricks than how this amazing "spatial computer" can solve <pick your problem> better than other computing tools.

 

[THE VATICANTS]

This is not good....if the "paid" reviews are this bad then imagine the real world reviews that Apple cannot control...

 

[NT1440]

Yeah, with the weight issues and the unreliable virtual keyboard, this is a device still in beta.

How often are you expecting to do longform typing on this? And if you are, why not use the ****ing Bluetooth keyboard of your choice like any rational person.

“The cigarette lighter was a little cumbersome to use. Other than that it’s easily the best car I’ve ever driven. Also, I don’t smoke”

 

[jimbobb24]

It appears Apple innovated in a lot of amazing ways but did not innovate in a very important practical way...makling it lighter. Carbon fiber, get rid of the heavy glass front. They did move the battery to external which was very weight conscious but it wasn't enough. This thing sounds like it needs to be much much lighter.

In fact they should have reached out to Jonny Ive. His specialty is thinner, lighter. They could have used him for this.

 

[klasma]

Disagree...Not only movies but also VIRTUAL TRAVEL!...Purchasing apps to visit different countries around the world...(Yippee!)

That would be nice, but you’ll get railroaded tracks at best, similar to Google Street View.

 

[spazzcat]

I dont understand the meditation at all....you are supposed to close your eyes. What does it matter what the visuals are?

There are many different types of meditation, not all types require you to have your eyes closed.

 

[DblHelix]

Any word on apple card payments on this? I assume you will be able to but how long can you spread them? If only 12 months I will pay outright. If 2 years I will do it to keep the price per month low for me.

 

[spinedoc77]

From Kirk’s communicator to iPhone took more than 40 years, and we’re still waiting for it to flip open.

From Stark’s Jarvis helmet to AVP 13 years. Give it at least another 13 years before we get something close to it.

Flips open just fine...

 

[MacAddict1978]

Not exactly a glowing set of hands-on first impressions.

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.

 

[dannyyankou]

I do think Vision Pro will eventually be popular. But it'll take some time. The market isn't ready yet. Ask Meta. They had to slash to Quest Pro by $500, and even with their more popular headsets, their retention is low.

 

[MacAddict1978]

"Immersive video was part of the demonstration, which Low said showed impressive levels of texture. Wollman felt immersed in the scene, but "also excluded" because it's lifelike, but no one in the immersive videos "sees you or interacts with you."

That was the most on brand absurd thing I have read from Engadget. Oh my goodness the amazing perspective to feel excluded from an immersive video. These reviewers are special.

MacRumors did a terrible job quoting this though.... if you read the full review - she was in tears at the end knowing that having that of her own kids one day will be amazing.

 

[NorthernFrostbyte]

Well if this is the best that comes from Apple’s meticulous review farming, I won’t be the least bit surprised if all the unbridled reviewers absolutely decimate the Vision Pro.

so pretty much like the iPhone? Must I link the original macrumors thread where it decimated the iPhone?

 

[klasma]

MacRumors did a terrible job quoting this though.... if you read the full review - she was in tears at the end knowing that having that of her own kids one day will be amazing.

…while also saying she’ll feel like a ghost. That paragraph was quite a contradictory read.

 

[spinedoc77]

isn’t the current rumor that they’re working on both?
It would not surprise me if we see AR glasses within the next decade, but they’ll definitely be a lot more Google glass than mini Vision Pro.
At least I hope that’s what they do

I really mainly want an AR overlay, navigation, store reviews, restaurant menus, grocery ordering, to do lists, measuring things, etc, and also a large virtual screen(s). With Apple's software side they could easily make a killer application that people would feel they couldn't live without *IF* they could make them comfortable enough. Existing AR glasses are approaching that quickly, conversely it will be a LOOOONNNNGG time before a VR headset is comfortable, and much longer until it would be something people actually wore all day.

 

[klasma]

The battery will never be small enough, so we need to wirelessly broadcast power, right?

I’d say the latter is even more unlikely.

 

[User 6502]

Considering this were heavily ‘orchestrated’ reviews this thing is going to be a car crash once it gets into the hands of real people. Basically it’s a Quest 3 without controllers and with less apps or functionality, at seven times the price. Hard pass.

 

[spinedoc77]

We don't know what jobs it isn't capable of doing yet, asides from games, which has been proven to be possible with other headsets. It's probably also worth pointing out that if we don't know what its capabilities and restrictions are, we can't really say for sure if it will be innovative or not. This one is self-contained, so that's a step up from headsets that require setup like base stations, and making VR more viable as a product rather than a niche hobby.

I can think of ways my workflow would be improved, like being able to see 3D work in actual 3D, or not being restricted to physical computer screen dimensions. It won't do everything I need; I have an iPad for drawing, which it handles better than my Macbook while also being much more portable, but it can't replace my Macbook for general stuff and going beyond what the vanilla OS can do. But it's still very important to my workflow despite its limits or any lack of "innovation"

It sounds like what you want won't satisfy you unless it conforms to a traditional desktop anyways, in which case I'd say VR, not just the Vision, isn't for you.

Yeah but how is that doing anything differently than VR headsets which have already been available for years now? Sure it's the best VR headset by far with some incredible features, but at the end of the day what exactly is it doing that is revolutionary?

 

[satchmo]

Sounds like the usual set of pro/con/issues/caveats as with most all VR headsets basically

This is going to be underwhelming and niche, especially at this price

Yeah. VR headsets are relics from 10 years ago that many have since written off as not a very productive devices. They’re probably best suited for occasional gaming and porn.