Apple Vision Pro and Vision OS Review Megathread
I figured it'll be easiest to consolidate discussion of all these in one place. As you find more good, thoughtful ones feel free to comment it and I'll edit them into this list.
Overall impressions seem very positive. LTT, in particular, tends to be pretty comfortable being critical of Apple and even he seems impressed (though I think his is the only review that doesn't have a hands-on component.
The Bloggers:
Daring Fireball: https://daringfireball.net/2023/06/first_impressions_of_vision_pro_and_visionos
Nilay Patel: https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/5/23750003/apple-vision-pro-hands-on-the-best-headset-demo-ever
The Vloggers:
iJustine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtCEGztr8cw
MKBHD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFvXuyITwBI&t=917s
Linus Tech Tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqB0lUcqFbA
Snazzy Labs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUblFIaZKIk
Norman Chan (via Adam Savage Tested): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0HBzePUmZ0
From DaringFireball:
Very exciting as a monitor replacement if true. I hope the refresh is 120Hz+ though, the 12ms latency (from other sources) hints at an 83.3Hz refresh rate.
I would love to hook up my PC to this, but that's never going to happen unless it gets jailbroken.
Same. Even if it requires plugging a thunderbolt cable into the battery pack.
I don’t think it’ll require a jailbreak though. In the demo when they showed looking at a MacBook and having it pop up a virtual desktop of the Mac my mind was blown. Citrix or VMware type Remote Desktop software could let you do that with anything, even a LINUX box. They might require you to be using a keyboard and mouse, but that’s no big deal. In theory you could even stick some kind of QR code on your wall and have your Vision Pro automatically pop up a VM in an S3 bucket somewhere every time you look at it if you wanted.
I can imagine all kinds of applications for that, like an eGPU that basically runs a version of MacOS where your Vision Pro offloads specific heavy workload to it. Imagine if I could access my router control panel by looking at it with something like an App Clip, or if I could access my NAS the same way. The remote PC thing I can actually see being doable with something like Steam’s game streaming box, or even your PlayStation with their game streaming deck.
If I remember correctly, in a WWDC Developer video they stated that the displays are 90Hz but can go up to 96Hz.
From what I’ve heard from an industry insider (not an Apple worker) it could very well be 120 Hz. Supposedly the display manufacturer Apple is sourcing from could do it.
I like Snazzy Labs’ video on the headset. His ultimate conclusion is that Apple has shipped a seemingly fantastic headset, but with no really unique applications that couldn’t be achieved on a competing headset like the Quest Pro. It will be up to the developers to give the Vision Pro a reason to exist.
For me, I think the Vision Pro looks really cool but without any controllers and/or a way to play PCVR games with it, it’s useless. I sure hope developers can make that happen.
When the iPad came out, there were also no real compelling use cases. Everybody made fun of it as a giant oversized iPhone.
(I was an early adopter of the 1st gen iPad and didn't know what to do with it other than play games and browse the web.)
That’s an interesting point of comparison, if only because as much as the iPad has become the definitive tablet, I feel there’s still a large contingent that don’t see the value or purpose of this device category. Obviously, it’s been an incredible success regardless, but it’s probably easier for your average person to at least see and understand use cases for a tablet, whereas VR and AR is a lot harder to market. Of course, if anyone is going to achieve it, it’s going to be dapple. Exciting times ahead…
Totally agree. We’ll see how this turns out in a year or two after developers take a crack at it.
They showed a PS5 controller being used with it, so I expect it has all the standard iOS game controller support built in.
Nothing first-party, but considering the AppleTV remote I doubt I'd want anything first party.
Can't the Vision Pro connect to third-party accessories?
I think so? The marketing showed a PS5 game being played on it with a controller but no traditional VR controllers/games.
As I'm not familiar with the sports games, I assumed that was just an iPad game with a dualsense over Bluetooth, not a PS5 game.
It was indeed the iPasOS version of the game, played with a PS5 controller
Don't forget Norm Chan's look (of Adam Savage's Tested), a VR vet, and the most comprehensive breakdown I've seen so far.
Overall I'm more and more impressed with the thing, especially after watching some of Apple's spacial design dev videos (filter by Spacial Computing).
But right now I'm just disappointed to hear that the weight is an issue for almost everyone - even the most casual fanboys mention it, even with the top head strap attached (which they had all press wear, despite it not being in any promotional footage).
For all that Apple did right and brought to the next level, it seems like such a fundamental mistake to build your headset out of glass and metal. It's such an Apple thing to do, further increasing the cost along the way.
To hear multiple people say they might not be able to wear it for the full 2 hours, it's a shame. But yunno, gen 1, and I guess they can make the consumer one out of plastic.
Yeah I think this is likely to be a first-gen growing pain. I'm not even sure how much is a consequence of having it be metal honestly. There's so little of it and aluminum isn't all that heavy. I expect the main culprits are probably just the SOC (the fans in particular) and the camera arrays. The glass is likely a big factor too, but I don't know if I'd want to trade out glass for plastic since the face of the thing is also an external display. I think evening out the weight distribution a bit more (even if it makes the total weight heavier) might actually be beneficial.
One obvious thing I can see is to just have a built-in backup battery to let you hot-swap the battery pack or in case you snag your cord on a door handle or something. It wouldn't need to be much, it could be small enough to shut off the feeds and input and just preserve state while you reconnect your cable or fish your spare battery out of a bag. Even, like, 2 minutes of that would be a big quality of life improvement I think.
Also, to be honest, laptops are ergonomic horror-shows but we just kind of overlook it. I suspect even with the weight this is probably better for your neck and upper back than typical computer posture.
Apple bought a startup called NextVR that specializes in VR broadcasting, such as live events like sports. Live or on-demand sports is not a reason I would buy this thing, but I would imagine for some, this is a killer app to be able to “attend” sports games from home without sacrificing the feeling of being present at a game. I would imagine concerts could be recorded similarly.