You guys have heard of things that suck, right? Vacuums, Black Holes, Nickelback, and (insert PG-13 joke here). Well, we can now add something else to the list:
Apple Vision Pro
You may be surprised to find out that in my spare time, I'm an app developer that works on family and education games utilizing AI and other emerging tech. So when a supposed new form factor (aka "spatial computing") shows up, I'm one of the first to sign up for alpha and beta testing so I can be the first to market with an app product.
But not this time. I've tried the Vision Pro long enough to know that this isn't some new form factor. It's just a VR headset, but much more expensive, and with a ridiculous battery pack you have to carry with you (and trip over, and get tangled in repeatedly). Oh and it's also heavier than Meta Quest. And much less comfortable. With way worse battery life, and way less games and content. And seems extremely fragile, while still being excessively bulky and easy to drop (more on that later).
Listen, I know a lot of people will write this thing off just because it's Apple, or just because of the price. And they have every right to do so. But to do that would completely ignore the markets that Apple has created for "luxury" products in non-luxury spaces, and the economy that fuels it. As an app developer, it behooves me to give this thing a fair shot. And I tried. I really tried. But it's just ... not good.
And for the other people, those Apple fanboys that think their company can do no wrong, I'm sorry to say that I'm also an Apple fanboy, and I love most of their products, even some of the more "controversial" ones like the trash can Mac Pro and the luxury first generation Apple Watch Edition. I've supported some of their insane marketing stunts like this before, so I'm not coming into this as a hater. The reality is, I just hate it.
So with all that said, let me give you my honest review of Apple Vision Pro after nearly 4 days of use:
Capability
On paper, this device has a lot going for it. The screen, in particular, is sharper than any VR device I've used up to this point, and the AR vision while wearing the headset (active passthrough) is next to none. Apple did much better than competitors at making you feel connected to the world while you're obviously trying really, really hard to get away from it. And that's laudable. This is, by far, the best aspect of the device, but it also reveals a significant shortcoming:
The screen is beautiful, but there's almost nothing to watch on it
Not even mentioning the noticeable absence of Netflix and Youtube (those are primarily 2D entertainment outlets anyway), there really isn't a lot to do on the Vision Pro that you can't do on a TV. And the TV doesn't require you to wear an uncomfortable headset, and there is WAY less eye strain when looking around the edges of the picture. Honestly, it's kinda cool to sit in Luke's speeder on Tatooine to watch the intro to Episode IV, but once the credits roll and the movie starts, why in the world would I sit there in solitude to watch the rest of the movie? Star Wars, like many great films, is an experience best shared with others. Watching the thing alone feels...lifeless. And it's not like other VR headsets won't let you do this if you really want to, it's just not a crux of their marketing strategy or one of the main draws of their content library. Apple seems to think that people really want to just sit in a room with other humans and completely zone them out so that they can watch movies on a perceived huge theater-style screen by themself. I'm not buying it. Nobody is going to do this after 1 day with the Vision Pro, even if they are an introvert or live by themselves. The lack of comfort and no real added benefit (it doesn't make 2D movies look any less 2D) will lead people back to their TVs in no time.
Content
And that's not the only content shortcoming. There are very few apps. And the ones that are made for Vision Pro are a mixed bag. Some, like Fruit Ninja, already had great VR versions that seem to have been faithfully ported. Yet that game crashed twice on me and I only played it for about 15 minutes. That never happened to me once on an original Oculus, much less a Quest Pro.
Other apps, like the Dinosaur Encounter, are really amazing. Honestly, that was one of the best looking AR/VR experiences I've ever had. But it lasted about 2 minutes, and there's nothing else to it. No DLC, nothing. It's just a single scene of a few dinosaurs roaming about, and then it's gone.
Like most other content on the Vision Pro, it just seems like a tech demo. And that's because it is.
Let's be honest at this point. If you get past the price tag and are still interested in this thing, you're not here for affordable entertainment. You want cutting-edge stuff. You want to be part of the first few to experience something new, no matter the cost. And, unfortunately, you're going to be very underwhelmed.
Tech
You can read about the tech specs elsewhere. They're impressive. But what does it mean for the consumer? Well, in practice it means you have a much more expensive (and heavy) version of a Quest 3, without the controllers. The use of eye tracking is, honestly, the one thing that is very impressive about this device besides its screen resolution and build quality. The fact that you can look at anything and pinch, and the computer just knows what you intended to do - that's cool. It took a ton of time and effort for Apple to get this right, and you can feel it. They did a great job. It's not perfect (sometimes it takes a little longer than you want to follow your eyes, but I'm sure it will improve over time and real-world feedback), but this is undoubtedly cool tech.
The problem is, it's a terrible way to control a computer. Let me explain.
Using your eyes to do some things makes sense. Look at an app and pinch, and the app opens. But when you start to type, you begin to realize the horrible limitations of this input method. First, you won't believe how many times you look at other stuff while doing a simple task like typing. Even if you're just looking at the keyboard, your eyes will wander elsewhere, like to the next letter, just fractions of a second ahead of time. And God forbid you want to look up at the input box to see what you've already typed so far and make sure there aren't any typos. All of a sudden, the focus has shifted to that input and you're no longer typing. And then you have to start the whole process over again, but NEVER looking at what you're typing until you're completely done.
I use that as a simple example of the bigger problem. Of course, you can get around this with a Magic Keyboard or some other input device, but that's one more thing you have to carry with you alongside this bulky monstrosity, and it also kinda defeats the purpose. If you have a keyboard, you should be at a computer. Or, at the very least, an iPad or tablet. Why the heck would you create an Excel spreadsheet on the Vision pro when you can just take the headset off and do it on your computer monitor? That's the question that Apple is unequivocally unable to answer. They've created an answer to a problem that doesn't exist, without providing important new functionality to encourage users to interact with their computer in a different way. Just like watching Star Wars, the Vision Pro honestly adds nothing to the experience you'd get looking at a flat screen. An Excel document is just...an Excel document. It doesn't benefit in any way from VR, so why make it a crux of your content library? The answer is, because there's nothing else really to do.
The dilemma
It's pretty obvious to me that Apple ran into a dilemma while developing the Vision Pro. During their rumored 10 year development time, many other competitors came to market with AR/VR products that are absolutely amazing considering their cost. Apple had to keep pivoting and adding new features so that their device would "Think Different" than the rest. It needed a unique brain and more capability, but the problem is that the market had already settled on what was expected from VR, and the market was pretty much right. You want to play some silly games, like Beat Saber, and maybe watch some 3D content and watch some movies filmed specifically in 3D. You want to be up and moving around a bit, not wearing a headset on a couch someplace where a flat real-world screen would suffice.
Apple came late to the party, and had to make the most of the scraps.
Now, that's not to say that there won't be cool apps down the road for the Vision Pro. But the market is so small with how expensive these dang things are, it's hard to envision companies making a huge push to support the device. By the end of the year, I'd expect an install base of about 500k - 1 million. That's very small when you consider the uniqueness of the hardware. Devices like the Quest benefit from the fact that they don't use proprietary video or spatial tech. Games that are developed for the Quest mostly work on other VR devices with minimal effort, like the HTC Vive. The Vision Pro has created a moat around itself, but that moat won't protect it. It's going to mean that the Vision Pro starves for content out on an island by itself. It reminds me a lot of what happened with the Nintendo 64 when they decided to use cartridges instead of CDs or DVDs. Which is a friendly reminder that even if you build it, and build it well, they won't necessarily come.
With all that said, here's a brief bullet-point summary of my experience with the device:
- It's heavy. Way too heavy. And not very comfortable for more than 15 minutes.
- It's bulky, yet seems very fragile. I can't imagine what would happen to this thing if you dropped it or tripped on the cord while wearing it and hit the floor.
- It has a ridiculous charging cable and battery pack, which none of its competitors have.
- It has terrible battery life.
- It has no great proprietary content.
- It doesn't do standard AR/VR experiences well due to Apple not supporting common web standards out of the box (maybe this will be fixed down the road?)
- The Persona tech (where Apple makes a 3D version of you) is really creepy, and you won't want to use it.
- Seeing people's eyes on the front of the device is creepy, and nobody will want to look at you that way.
- It's got an amazing screen, and a cool (if somewhat limited) input method.
- The build quality feels great, but it's awkward to hold and very easy to drop if you don't pick it up in just the right way. This makes it a disaster for sharing with others or letting your kids have a quick spin.
- It's way too freaking expensive.
So there you have it.
The Apple Vision Pro kinda sucks.
