Apple Vision Pro Hands-on: A Great AR Capability That’s Still Too Expensive

I only had 30 minutes to test Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro headset. Some who received a review unit from Apple or bought it themselves have spent a week or more with it at this point. We’ve seen many interesting use cases for the headset and an equal number of people who don’t know about the potentially dangerous features of Vision Pro for clicking. The latter have become so popular that they have been dubbed the “Vision Bros.” After my short time in Apple’s new, beautiful, and very interesting “space”, I’m not sure there’s any reason for anyone without thousands of dollars to burn. or a burning need for temporary internet fame to consider. to have it.

With more than a week having passed since the Vision Pro first hit store shelves, we were left with dwindling options to get our hands on. Former Gizmodo staff had a few good things to say about the headset when Apple first announced it, but a full review wasn’t in the cards. The base $3,500 for a new Apple-brand headset is equivalent to a month and a half of my salary before taxes. I’m still paying off my iPhone 14 Pro in installments of $50 each month. So, if I had the choice to rent or buy a VR headset, I would go for the roof over my head. Sure, a video of a dinner table setting will look great on Vision Pro, but I’d probably prefer real food to any real food.

My in-store demo of Vision Pro was limited to just a few software under a tight time limit, but I was able to quickly measure the quality of the systems. Simply put, it’s hands-down the most capable VR headset I’ve used. Its color depth on its 4K mini-LED screens was unmatched, and the controls are so simple and intuitive that I took notes in minutes. Its location video and photos had a very unique, 3D effect that reminded me of the hologram video from the movie Minority Report. 3D movies really look great on Apple headsets.

Ignore the impressive hardware specs for a moment, as it’s clear that the Vision Pro’s biggest advantage is its software. Gesture controls were incredibly intuitive, and it’s clear the company has put a lot of man-hours into how users can rearrange their apps. You can leave the window anywhere in your field of view.

Apple has promised a true revolution in computing, but despite the company’s mandate that they never use the letters “V” and “R” together when referring to their new headsets, the real question we should be asking is how good the Vision Pro is compared to other VR headsets. . I’ve used some of the latest, top-of-the-line VR from companies like Varjo and their latest XR-4 headset. The $3,990 Varjo headset doesn’t have the same level of eye tracking as Apple’s latest device, but it, too, uses 4K, micro-OLED internal displays. I would need to have both together for the truth on the other hand in terms of overall pixel density, clarity, and color depth, but they are still comparable.

Vision Pro’s passability is one of its strongest features. However, I couldn’t give it much of a chance compared to other headsets designed for developers or businesses other than Apple enthusiasts. Instead, we can look at the $500 Meta Quest 3, which also sports a full-color game. No, the image quality of Meta headsets is not much better than that from Apple cameras. Video from the Quest 3 looks warmer indoors. Quest tends to distort things placed in front of the headset. There is also a lot of lag between your movements and what you see on the Quest compared to the Vision Pro. You can probably play ping pong on an Apple headset, but on the Quest, it would be a huge handicap.

But does that matter? The Quest doesn’t have the eye tracking of the Vision Pro, but it does have hand gesture controls that work surprisingly well. Its video quality isn’t as good as Apple’s, but it’s also a seventh of the price. Here is this. The Quest 3 is as close to where Apple will end up once it starts cutting costs. I have no doubt that the future Vision app will be powerful, but it needs to scale down. It doesn’t need a complicated EyeSight display to pretend you’re in the room with friends or family. It doesn’t need the still ugly 3D Persona avatars for video calls. There are some parts that could have been left out of the original drafts that would have helped save costs. Apple is known for its spartan approach to design changes for the iPhone. The Vision Pro seems unnecessarily fancy.

The thing that has pissed me off so far about the Vision Pro review process is how few people wanted to accept the device’s pricing plan. The New York Times (which did not receive a review unit) pointed out that anyone looking for accessories or additional battery packs will spend more than the $3,500 starting price. However, the headset is one of the most expensive consumer devices to get this advertising number. Bloomberg, which finally released its review of the Vision Pro Sunday (probably because the store had to buy one for review), says we may need a few more generations of the headset. Vision before we get something that closely resembles Apple’s real ambitions confirmed.

After using Vision Pro, even briefly, I can’t help but agree. The amount of effort that Apple has put into these demos shows how important a good first product presentation is to the Cupertino Company. It doesn’t need to sell millions like the company does with the latest iPhones. Instead, the company reportedly cut about 500,000 units this year. No, Apple doesn’t expect someone like me to buy it. It requires people with enough money to burn and/or limited impulse control to immerse themselves in real space computing.

The real test will be whether consumers, perhaps even the so-called “Vision Bros,” are still using the Vision Pro as their desktop a few months from now. If they keep releasing it every once in a while when a friend comes over, it’s actually for future Vision releases, which is cheaper.

Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best laptops for phones, the best TVs, and the best headphones. If you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 16.