The Apple Vision Pro is a truly amazing AR/VR headset that delivers futuristic eye- and hand-tracking interface along with breathtaking 3D video and truly impressive AR apps - It’s also a magical way to extend your Mac.
Here’s Tom's Guide's pros and cons review.
Here’s Tom's Guide's pros and cons review.
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00:00I've tried hundreds of tech gadgets over the last 20 plus years and I can honestly
00:03say there's nothing quite like the Apple Vision Pro.
00:06It's an ambitious, albeit expensive, mixed reality headset that looks to propel us all
00:10into a future of spatial computing.
00:12The eye and hand tracking interface is amazing, the 3D videos blow away your local theater,
00:17and the spatial video will put you in the middle of your memories.
00:20There's also some great AR apps and games that are truly immersive.
00:24But is this thing worth $3,500?
00:27There's a lot to go over, so let's discuss my overall Apple Vision Pro pros and cons.
00:34The entry-level $3,500 Apple Vision Pro kit comes with the headset itself, a polishing
00:39cloth, the basic light seal cushion, and a second thicker light seal cushion.
00:44And then, optionally, you have the Zeiss optical inserts, which you can use if you wear glasses
00:50or readers, and they attach magnetically to the design, so you can actually hear it snap.
00:55There are two bands that come included with the Vision Pro.
00:57The Solo Knit band is stretchy and makes it really easy to take the Vision Pro on and
01:01off, and you can quickly tighten and loosen the fit with the built-in knob.
01:06The Dual Loop band provides more stability.
01:08I find this one better for longer Vision Pro sessions, as there's more support for what's
01:12a pretty weighty headset.
01:15For people who wear reading glasses like myself, the inserts cost $99 and prescription lenses
01:19cost $149.
01:21AppleCare Plus will run you an additional $499, which gives you two years of unlimited
01:25repairs and damage protection.
01:26That's a lot of money.
01:27Then, when you tack on accessories like the $199 case, you're running up a bigger tab
01:31than you might initially plan for.
01:34So, what can you actually do with the Vision Pro?
01:37For starters, it's a multitasking champ, thanks to the built-in M.2 chip that runs
01:41the Vision OS.
01:42I launch Safari in the center of my space, then I turn to my left and ask Siri to launch
01:46Slack and that app appeared, then I turn to the right of Safari and open Apple Music so
01:51I can have that playing in the background.
01:53At any time, you can pull up the Control Center by simply looking up and clicking on
01:58the floating downward-facing arrow.
02:00One of the options in Control Center is the ability to connect with your Mac, but you
02:04can also bring your Mac desktop into the Vision Pro just by looking at it.
02:08You don't get multiple desktop views, but you do get a crystal clear 4K display that
02:13renders text crisply, and you can make that canvas massive.
02:18Your keyboard and mouse still work as they normally would, with no latency.
02:22You can even use your keyboard in Vision Pro apps if you want.
02:25Yes, only Apple could do this, and I can see myself taking the Vision Pro on business trips
02:29and using it back at the hotel for, let's say, editing photos or videos, or just sitting
02:33back and watching a movie.
02:36Starting up front, there are two micro-LED displays that give you 23 million pixels,
02:41which is the equivalent of more than 4K per eye.
02:44And on the right-hand side, you have the digital crown, which will look familiar for Apple
02:48Watch owners.
02:49What you can do with this is not only control the volume, but also how immersive the environments
02:54are.
02:55So if you go all the way to the right, you'll close out the world around you, and if you
02:58go all the way to the left, you'll see a live view of whatever's in front of you.
03:02On the left-hand side, there's another button, and this one is for capturing content.
03:05Just press this button to capture spatial video and photos, and you can also double-press
03:09this to accept payments within the Apple App Store.
03:15The Vision Pro weighs 1.3 to 1.4 pounds depending on the light seal and the headband configuration,
03:20which is heavier than the 11-inch iPad Pro on your head.
03:24For context, the MediQuest 3 weighs 1.1 pounds, and the MediQuest Pro, 1.6 pounds.
03:29So the Vision Pro falls somewhere in between.
03:32I wore Vision Pro on and off for several hours, and I didn't find it uncomfortable to wear,
03:36but I did feel like taking periodic breaks because of the heft.
03:39I also got some light marks on my cheeks.
03:42There's no controllers to deal with with the Apple Vision Pro.
03:45You just use your eyes to look at the element you want to select, and then you tap your
03:49thumb and index finger together to click.
03:53The Apple Vision Pro's Vision OS starts with your real-world view as the baseline,
03:58bringing digital content into your environment instead of taking it over.
04:02The video pass-through is very lifelike, thanks to the R1 chip that's fast enough to stream
04:07images to the Vision Pro's micro-OLED displays within 12 milliseconds.
04:13That's eight times faster than you can blink.
04:15As you stare around the home screen view and move your eyes from icon to icon, they light
04:20up ready to be selected.
04:22The eye tracking is so good, it's also used to authenticate you via Optic ID, which measures
04:26your pupils as a security biometric.
04:28So think Face ID for your eyes.
04:31When it works, it works well, but a couple of times during my testing, it didn't work,
04:34and sometimes you need to re-enter your PIN code via a floating keyboard to enable Optic ID.
04:44Hand gestures for the Vision Pro let you scroll from left to right and up and down
04:47by pinching your fingers together and then dragging in the direction that you want.
04:52Zooming in on a photo or webpage is as easy as pinching your fingers together with both
04:57hands and then spreading them apart.
04:59It's very intuitive.
05:01Think of environments on the Apple Vision Pro as 3D desktops on steroids.
05:08There are several options available, ranging from Yosemite and Halicola to the moon.
05:13I tried Mount Hood and was floored by the level of realism, with detailed sand and rocks
05:18beneath my feet, rippling water in front of me, and a towering mountain in the background.
05:23Turning the digital crown clockwise for more or counterclockwise for less, I tuned just
05:28how removed from my actual environment I want it to be.
05:32The Apple Vision Pro lets you type on a floating keyboard to enter text, but it's not very satisfying.
05:38For one, there's no tactile feedback, even though you can hear it clicks as you type.
05:42And you can't type very quickly.
05:44It's more of a peck-peck-peck scenario.
05:46I do like that you can enter text with your voice.
05:48For example, if you're in Safari and you just stare at the microphone icon in the address
05:51bar and speak tomsguy.com, it will automatically take you to that website.
05:56It's kind of magical.
05:57Also, keep in mind that you can easily pair a Bluetooth keyboard to the Apple Vision Pro
06:01for easier and faster text input.
06:05With the Apple Vision Pro, you don't need a home theater like this in order to have
06:09an immersive experience.
06:10In fact, with this headset, you could take a hundred-foot screen wherever you'd go to
06:14watch 3D movies.
06:16The Apple Vision Pro on day one is already a first-class entertainment device, and it
06:20will make even the biggest skeptic a believer in 3D movies.
06:24There are hundreds of 3D titles available on Apple TV+.
06:27I was personally blown away when I saw the Mario Brothers movie.
06:30So not only did I get a 3D vision in front of me in terms of the action, but because
06:35of the environments that you can put up behind it, it was like I was floating in the clouds
06:39as I was watching the movie.
06:40I almost felt like I'd get into the action myself.
06:42So even watching a simple nature video on YouTube can become larger than life because
06:47you can supersize the player within Safari and then place it on a wall in front of you,
06:52and it's even bigger than the screen that's in this room.
06:56If you want to take entertainment to the next level, there's immersive video.
06:59I'm not someone who watches a lot of adventure videos, but I was blown away when I was able
07:03to see a woman walk across a tightrope attached to two mountains.
07:07And if you look down, you will feel a little bit scared because you see the height that
07:12she's doing this from.
07:14And I also got up close and personal with Alicia Keys in the rehearsal studio, and as
07:17I looked around, I could see the instruments.
07:19We have our backup singers and musicians on the right-hand side, so it's almost like
07:23you're sort of eavesdropping on the rehearsal process.
07:26As I was listening to Alicia Keys in the immersive video, it reminded me of the fact that you
07:30don't need to use headphones because you have these audio pods built in to the left and
07:35right-hand side, and they deliver really great audio quality in terms of the clarity, but
07:41also surprisingly good low-end.
07:43If you want truly the best audio experience, you'll want to pair the Apple Vision Pro with
07:46a pair of AirPods, especially the USB-C model, because that's lossless audio.
07:53But how about entertainment via your own content?
07:55I took a spatial video of my three dogs at home in our sunroom, and each pup looked incredibly
07:59lifelike as they got closest to the camera, and it was like I could reach out and pet
08:03them.
08:04You'll get the best results if your subjects are moving and you stay fairly still, as I
08:07lost that immersive effect when I turned my head to follow them around.
08:11But of course, wearing this headset in public is going to make you look geeky.
08:15The good news is that you can use your iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max because with the most recent
08:19updates, you can now capture spatial videos directly through your iPhone.
08:24The Vision Pro also brings panoramic photos to life in a new way by wrapping them around
08:29you, so it's as if you're standing in the center of the frame.
08:32For example, I took an amazing panorama of the Manhattan skyline from the balcony of
08:36a Bronx apartment, and I was completely immersed in the photo from the Coca-Cola truck on the
08:40left side of the frame to the bridge in the center and the tall skyscrapers peeking through
08:44the cloudy background.
08:45The Apple Vision Pro can run over a million compatible iPhone and iPad apps at launch,
08:49which is nice, but I was more interested in testing the truly native Vision Pro apps.
08:53The most impressive Vision Pro app I tried is DJ, which puts you right in front of a
08:58mixer and turntables.
08:59I had no idea what I was doing, but I was still blown away with the realism of the table
09:03itself, and the fact that I could interact with all the buttons, sliders, and needles
09:07as if they were there.
09:08I also played What the Golf, where you can place the virtual course anywhere in the room
09:14and start putting.
09:15It's very noteworthy what apps are not here at launch for the Vision Pro, such as Netflix
09:19and YouTube.
09:20There's not even iPad-compatible apps right now.
09:23When asked about snubbing the Vision Pro, Netflix's CEO said that they're in discussions
09:26with Apple, but right now the device is so subscale, it's not particularly relevant.
09:31Yikes.
09:32Apple doesn't want people to be closed off from the rest of the world while using the
09:35Vision Pro, so they've developed a few technologies to keep you at least somewhat connected.
09:41The first innovation is EyeSight.
09:43EyeSight allows others to see a digital version of your eyes when they try to engage you while
09:47you're wearing Vision Pro.
09:49If someone comes up to talk to you, they'll break into your view and they'll see your
09:53eyes.
09:54It's a subtle effect, and a bit creepy-looking, but still effective.
09:57Still, there's no substitute for, you know, briefly taking off the headset.
10:02Let's talk about digital persona, because it is one of the most unique features, and
10:08honestly creepiest features, about the Apple Vision Pro.
10:11But the idea is that when you're in a FaceTime call, or Zoom, or other apps that support
10:16it, you can use a digital avatar of yourself in those calls.
10:21And it'll mimic your expressions, your smiles, your smirks, and even your blinks, because
10:25of the eye tracking.
10:26And actually, it kind of reminds me of NBA players in NBA 2K, where you have that Uncanny
10:31Valley experience, where it looks like that person, but once they start talking and moving,
10:36you know that it's not real.
10:41Beyond all the controls and cool features, I did encounter some bugs at times with the
10:44Vision Pro.
10:45For example, during one session, the headset refused to open the Photos app I was staring
10:49at and clicking on.
10:50Taking the headset off and putting it back on fixed the problem.
10:53On another occasion, Siri refused to open some apps, like Slack and Apple Music, while
10:58opening others.
10:59It wasn't a consistent issue, but it was still annoying.
11:03Let's talk about the elephant in the room, and that is the fact that the Apple Vision
11:06Pro needs to be attached to this portable battery at all times.
11:11That's how it gets power.
11:12There's no battery in the headset itself.
11:13It's partially because of how much power this thing requires.
11:16It's 12.4 ounces, which is heavier than the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
11:20So when you're not using the battery when you're standing up, you could just put it
11:23in your back pocket like this, for example.
11:25And while the cord is long enough, most of the time, if you're really immersed in a game
11:29or other experience, and you move quickly, you could accidentally tug the battery off
11:34the table or couch onto the floor.
11:37Depending on how you connect everything, the wire can get tangled like this, and it's already
11:42not super long.
11:43I haven't had any issues where it's gotten snagged on something, but I've also been very
11:46conscious of the fact that it's there.
11:48The Apple Vision Pro's battery is rated for two hours of general use and 2.5 hours of
11:52video playback.
11:53In my testing, on and off over two hours, the Vision Pro was down to about 60%, and
11:58then down to 40% after another couple of hours.
12:01If you want to use the Vision Pro continuously, you can always just plug in the battery using
12:05the included USB-C power adapter.
12:12When I think about the Apple Vision Pro, there's a few words that come to mind.
12:15One is unmatched.
12:17The other is just wow and fully immersive.
12:20And that's because I really do feel like the Vision Pro pushes the boundaries in terms
12:25of what we would think of an AR and VR device in one.
12:29Sure, it's easy to scoff at because of its price, and I definitely can't afford one at
12:33$3,500.
12:35But now that I've been wearing this review unit and testing all of its features, I would
12:38argue that it's the most innovative Apple product since the original iPhone.
12:43Do I think that most people are going to buy one?
12:45No.
12:46But I do think that it really sets the stage for the next era of computing.
12:50That said, some may want to wait for the rumored lower-cost version on the horizon.
12:55But there's no timetable for that.
12:57My bottom line in the Vision Pro that we have right here, right now, is that it's definitely
13:01revolutionary.
13:02But it's a revolution in progress.
13:04For more on the Apple Vision Pro, check out my very in-depth review on tomsguide.com,
13:09and be sure to follow us at Tom's Guide across all of our social channels for more content
13:13around this headset.
13:14For Tom's Guide, this is Mark Spoonhauer.