This year at WWDC I was finally able to go hands-on with the Apple Vision Pro, and it’s safe to say it was one of the most mind-bending tech experiences I’ve ever had. It was all I could think about for at least 30 minutes after my demo – I honestly kept chuckling quietly as my mind worked to comprehend how insane Apple’s virtual headset is.
When I first put on the Vision Pro, I was greeted by a dark screen with a few glyphs and instructions to help my eyes focus. Then, after two more setup steps, boom, you’re back in the real world, but now there’s a grid of icons floating in front of you. It’s a smart entry to the system and reminds me of the welcoming feel of a well-designed home – a small entryway leading to a grand reveal.
After taking in the floating grid, my eyes were drawn to the device’s flaws, at least when compared to regular human vision. The slight chromatic aberration at the far edges of the display, the pass-through applying typical Apple photo smoothing to people’s skin, and some light leaking from around my face all shocked me for a few seconds. I’d heard so much about the magic of the Vision Pro, so it was weird to see actual hardware limitations. However, within a few minutes (and for the rest of my 40-minute demonstration), I never noticed those things again. Once I started using the software, there was no turning back.
For most of my time, I found myself looking forward and moving my head to glance around. I didn’t do this on purpose; moving around that way just made sense. Because of this, I stopped noticing the slight aberrations since I rarely looked at the extreme edges of the display and instead just focused on what was in my main field of view. This focus on looking ahead also made the light leak less noticeable, and over time, I just got used to the camera as well.
These are such small things tech issues in a Gen-1 product that I have no fear that Apple will improve them over time, and honestly, it doesn’t matter that much since the current hardware and software are already exceptional.
There have only been two other times in my life when tech has tricked my brain. Once, when playing Flight Simulator in VR, I saw the sun pan across my plane’s dashboard, and I swear I could feel the heat on the back of my neck. The next time I was tricked by tech was during a Project Starline demo at Google I/O. Starline was so realistic and immersive that when the person leading the demo tried to make me take a ball from his hand, I reached out and grabbed for it only to get a fistful of air.
What I got excited about
The first thing that blew me away was the Apple immersive environment I was in. For years, I’ve thought my dream job would be to shoot the drone footage for the Apple TV screensavers, but I’m starting to think that making the Vision Pro Immersive Environments might be even more fun.
The space I demoed was a mountain top in Haleakala National Park at sunset, and it looked incredible. The light coming through the clouds was stunning, and the detail of the rocks at my feet looked perfect. I was only able to test out one environment, but if they’re all as detailed as the mountain I saw, I can’t wait to look around them.
The other thing that’s impossible to really explain without trying the headset yourself is the scale it provides. Blowing up a window to its maximum size is insane. Again, as someone who was late to testing out the headset, I’d heard all about the scale of it, but I never considered it to be as exciting as it was. I got to play an iPad racing game on a giant screen, and it was just cool. It wasn’t’ fully immersive like VR games, but the giant window meant that my whole field of view was taken up by one screen. Which at the end of the day, felt extremely immersive once I started focusing on the race.
Beyond that, I also got to make a slideshow in Keynote, which was a good way to learn the various controls and gestures of the headset. However, when I finished laying out my slide I was able to go into a mode meant to practice your presentation in. Once I clicked that button, I was no longer able to see my real environment, and instead, the headset transported me to a stage so I could feel what it might be like to present. Then, to make it even cooler, when I looked over my back shoulder, my presentation was towering over me, just like it would be at a real event. This was a pretty menial task, but the feeling of immersion it created was extraordinary.
The final thing that blew me away was Apple’s new Immersive videos. There are various events, sports, animals or music venues filmed with a special camera that allows Vision Pro wearers to look around the environment. This is a skill VR headsets have had for years, but Apple showed me a small snippet of an Alicia Keys studio session, and it was breathtaking. Suddenly, this superstar was singing right in front of my eyes, and the Vision Pro speakers’ sound made me feel like I was right there with her. I’m not even joking, but as soon as I picked my jaw off the floor, I cranked the volume, and it didn’t disappoint.
Coming to Canada soon
While I left my initial demo giddy and excited, I do wonder what using the device daily will be like? Will it be heavy? Will it be fun to use if none of my friends have one? Is it really a better movie experience than the projector I have at home?
The device is in a pre-release stage in Canada right now and will remain in that holding pattern until it goes up for pre-orders on Friday, June 28th at 5am PT/8am ET. The Vision Pro will then become available on July 12th. In the box, buyers can expect both the Dual Loop Band and the Solo Band, a personalized light seal with two cushions, a cover for the headset, a polishing cloth, the battery, a USB-C charging cable and a USB-C power adapter.
The 256GB option starts at $4,999. The 512GB option starts at $5,299, and the top-end 1TB model is $5,599. You can shop for the Vision Pro here.
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