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