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00:00Hey guys, I'm Tom from TechChap, and this is the new Apple Vision Pro.
00:04This is as close as I can get. If I touch it, they will throw me out.
00:08But you can hear how excited those guys are out there. There's a lot to unpack here.
00:21Okay, I have some thoughts. It's been 24 hours now since I've seen the Apple Vision Pro headset.
00:26I'm back in my hotel room here, and I spent about an hour there yesterday trying to write this
00:31script because it's kind of like a first look, a first impressions. There's so many questions
00:35we don't know, and there's also so much to talk about. It's an entirely new product range. We
00:40haven't had one since the Apple Watch like eight years ago. It's a first generation device,
00:45so obviously there's a lot of kinks to be worked out. It's very expensive like the original
00:49iPhone was. I mean, very few people actually bought the original iPhone, and it's also very
00:52easy when you're at Apple Park and there's a big new announcement to get caught up in the Apple
00:57hype. Because the truth is, when we think about AR and VR, I think most of us kind of just roll
01:03our eyes and there's a collective groan. We just haven't seen a really good implementation of it.
01:06I think Microsoft's HoloLens was perhaps the closest to this Vision Pro headset that we've
01:12seen. That was quite a few years ago now. But I think the difference here is Apple does have a
01:15pretty good track record of not necessarily being the first out with new technologies or products,
01:20but when they do come out with it, they do it right. And you can tell they've thrown the
01:24absolute kitchen sink at this in terms of R&D and resources. I mean, there's inspiration from
01:29every product category. You've got the digital crown that we've got on the Apple Watch on the
01:33top of the headset, which adjusts the immersion and also the environment. You've got incredibly
01:38high resolution displays. We're talking 4K per eye. You've got the M2 chip powering it, which
01:44is the same architecture you'll find in the MacBooks, although no doubt this will be a lower
01:48power version. And that is along with a new R1 chip, which handles all the processing of the
01:52crazy amount of sensors. There's a whole bunch of cameras, including 3D cameras, so you can actually
01:57capture and watch back content in 3D. And then everything's spatial. I think spatial was the
02:03word of the day yesterday from the speakers built into the headset along the strap. Although you can
02:08also use your own AirPod Pros, which they probably recommend if you want noise cancelling, because
02:11you won't get that from the built-in speakers. And Apple is calling this whole thing spatial
02:15computing. They didn't mention VR or virtual reality at all. It is, of course, much more like
02:20augmented or mixed reality, because I think they want to get away from that. VR is always just
02:24putting a big box on your head, closing yourself off to the world and it being very solitary and
02:30a bit clunky and dark and horrible. The Vision Pro is all about augmented reality, so you can
02:34still see the real world. There's full, almost lagless, pass-through in colour, of course. You
02:40can still go about your day. You can talk to people, look at your phone, go to the bathroom,
02:43make a sandwich, all while having the mixed reality headset on. You might feel a bit weird
02:47doing all that, though, because it is basically like having a pair of ski goggles on your face.
02:51And you're also going to have a cable going from the headset, pulled down your back into your
02:54pocket, where the battery pack will be. And actually, this was something that was a bit
02:57confusing or perhaps they misspoke at the launch event, because it seemed like you'd have two hours
03:03of battery from the headset alone and then all-day battery when you plugged it into the battery pack.
03:08That is not the case. You'll get the two hours of battery with it connected to the battery pack,
03:12but then all-day if you have it plugged into a USB-C wall outlet or your laptop or something. So
03:17from the battery pack, you'll get two hours. You can't use it without that. I'm a bit curious if
03:21you do have a sudden disconnection, will you just instantly lose everything or can you maintain it
03:25for a couple of minutes? I'm not sure yet. That's something we'll have to try. But certainly,
03:29you're not going to have any length of time in it without the battery pack. But then we have this
03:32digital persona, because the big question going into this was, how would people actually see you,
03:37especially on FaceTime calls when you've got a headset on? You have eye tracking and all that,
03:41but you haven't got a camera inside the headset. How would they see your face? Well, the answer is
03:45digital persona. So at the beginning, during the setup process, you will scan your face with the
03:49front of the headset and the cameras on the front, and it will create a virtual digital persona of
03:54you. Not an avatar. They do not want to call it that. And then that digital version of you is what
03:59people will see if they FaceTime video call you while you've got the headset on. And then on the
04:03front of the headset, we have this OLED screen. And when you're fully immersed in your world and
04:07you can't see the outside, you know, you're in VR mode, essentially, that will display these very
04:12fancy, colorful swirls. But then when you're talking to someone or you want your face to be
04:16seen, it'll transition to this digital persona, this eyesight, as they call it. So they'll see
04:21your virtual cheeks and eyes. There's a lot of room for the uncanny valley here. But let's take
04:26a step back. What's it actually like to use? And also, who is this for? Who's going to spend $3,500
04:31on an AR headset? Firstly, the headband for the Vision Pro will come in different sizes. And also,
04:36there's an adjustment wheel at the back to make it looser or tighter. And if you wear glasses,
04:40you'll also be able to get Zeiss optical inserts for your prescription. So you can see with a full
04:44crystal clear clarity. Then you'll register your optic ID, which is like the next generation of
04:49touch ID and face ID. And this uses iris recognition. And that's how you'll be able to
04:54unlock this and also do password fills and pay for things. Then after a brief setup, you essentially
04:59have a iPad home screen pop up in front of you. I think what's going to be key to the Vision Pro
05:04success is the quality of the screens, because they're using micro OLED screens with a 4k
05:09resolution per eye. There's no mention of the refresh rate yet, but this will support HDR.
05:14This is the highest quality display on any headset. And then you can do whatever you like,
05:18bring up the photos app, Safari, you can even look at your MacBook, and then it will screen share to
05:23your headset. So potentially, you might not need an external monitor. If you've got 100 foot display
05:28of your desktop filling your whole field of view. You can also adjust the level of immersion. So how
05:33much of the real world you see versus a digital background. In terms of how you control it, you
05:37basically use your hands, your voice or your eyes, we do have eye tracking built in. So you can look
05:42at the search bar in Safari and start talking. As you look at different apps, they'll be highlighted
05:46and you can have a full screen app in front of you, you can have a few side by side, you can
05:50stack them in sort of 3d layers in the world. And they all cast shadows and have a kind of
05:54physicality to it that we don't really see with any other headset. Now bear in mind, we weren't
05:59actually able to record or capture any use of the headset. So we kind of have to rely on Apple's own
06:03very shiny and well produced marketing materials to kind of demo what this is capable of. And it
06:08does all look extremely impressive. This is a proper next generation AR device. But the question
06:14is just because it's higher quality and more seamless, and we have some nice Apple apps,
06:19are we actually going to want to use it? Is it going to end up like pretty much any other
06:23AR or VR headset where we use it for a couple of weeks, we love it, it's magical, but then it gets
06:27put over there and eventually in a cupboard, and we end up not using it. And that would be a shame
06:31if you've just spent $3,500. But certainly with Apple's hardware and software and you know, history
06:36of getting it right, there is a lot to be excited about here. Certainly it is a pro device, especially
06:41with that price tag, we're not all going to be rushing out and buying one. But it is the first
06:45generation of a whole new product line. So I think the conclusion right now is let's wait and see.
06:49But what do you think? Would you be tempted to maybe buy one of these next year? Let me know
06:52what you make of the Vision Pro in the comments below. And if you did enjoy this video, a like
06:56and subscribe would be amazing. And I'll see you next time right here on the Tech Chap.