Apple Vision Pro…. Anybody buying?

Have there been prototypes or ideas out there to use different gestures to cycle through screens, cut/paste? It seems that there is an opportunity to use new methods and layouts that aren't available on a desktop/tablet.
 
Roller said:
That's correct based on my testing.

Getting the AVP and a Mac to work together is very much a work-in-progress. You can display the entire Mac desktop one space at a time in a window on the AVP and interact with it using the Mac's pointing device(s). Apple says the Mac's cursor can move beyond the confines of its display and control AVP apps, but I haven't been able to get it to work.

As things stand, I just see this as a way to use Mac apps that aren't compatible with the AVP and cut-and-paste between the two platforms. It's not very efficient, though. At some point, it would be great to have apps running on the Mac but displayed in their own individual windows on the AVP. I don't know if that's technically feasible, but it's something that will be needed if the AVP is to succeed for productivity.

One more point I forgot to mention yesterday: Some people are reporting glare inside the AVP. It's hard to describe, but it appears as lighter patches in various places, and it's more obvious when viewing content in a dark background. I'm convinced the cause is internal reflections within the headset. It's annoying at times, but hardly a show-stopper for me.
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Just to change things up from politics, I thought I'd update y'all on my AVP.

In short, I love it. visionOS 2.x is what the initial version of the headset should have had. I use it nearly every day for watching movies and TV shows, as well as listening to music. Apple's rollout of immersive content has been slow, but what's there is generally excellent. More apps are available each month too. One of my favorites is FLY, which lets you soar over landscapes using Google's dataset. You move the flying platform by leaning and increase or decrease your height by moving your arm up and down. Everything looks cartoonish at low altitude, but it's quite realistic as you get higher. Here's a shot of Apple Park in Cupertino:

Apple Park.jpeg


Much has been written about use cases for the AVP, and it's been criticized as an expensive content-consumption device, which it is. But there are some settings where the AVP offers an experience not available with phones, tablets, or computers, such as on an airplane. I've flown with the AVP almost ten times, and I'll never travel without it again. I'm a bit of a nervous flyer, and watching a massive virtual screen while relaxing in an immersive environment like a beach in Bora Bora is a wonderful distraction.

I also use my AVP for work. For example, I'd rather read scientific papers on it than on a monitor. I hadn't explored using the AVP with my Mac until the other day, and I'm sorry I waited so long. It's gotten better. I can connect to my Mac and interact with its virtual display on the AVP using my mouse and keyboard while using AVP apps. The virtual screen is crystal clear, and this has become my new setup. (I'm typing this in macOS Safari.) The keyboard is easily visible, even with the environment turned up.

With visionOS 2.2 and macOS 15.2, the virtual display can be much larger – wide or ultrawide – greatly increasing the screen available for Mac apps. I haven't tried them yet because I don't want to install 15.2 beta on my main machine, but it should be released in December.

The AVP is an excellent adjunct for photography too. You can view spatial images and videos captured with a newer iPhone, and you can convert old ones to spatial. The effect is surprisingly good when the subject is distinguishable from the background. But the device really shines looking at panoramas, which fill your field-of-view and give a compelling sense of "being there." I'm making it a point to take more of these now.

So, yeah, I'm happier with my purchase every day. I hear you can pick up a used AVP for around $2k.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
 
Thanks for the review! It's nice to hear impressions a year later. As a VR enthusiast, I'm really rooting for Apple to do well in this field. It's still not the headset for me, but if their VR does well, my VR does well. Competition is a great thing.
 
MEJHarrison said:
Thanks for the review! It's nice to hear impressions a year later. As a VR enthusiast, I'm really rooting for Apple to do well in this field. It's still not the headset for me, but if their VR does well, my VR does well. Competition is a great thing.
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Agreed. I wrote it in part as a discretion from the political stuff, which has me more frightened than I've ever been in my life.
 
Roller said:
Agreed. I wrote it in part as a discretion from the political stuff, which has me more frightened than I've ever been in my life.
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I remain very interested in this device, especially the ultra-wide virtual display combined with the ability to distribute a heap of my own research-related apps around me in space. It remains unavailable in New Zealand but I’m making a short trip to Australia in January where it is available…a purchase is likely.

I’ve very much appreciated your accounts of your experience - super valuable for me!

I hear you about the political stuff :(. I can seriously see it being a welcome escape from the world before long, even here…
 
Yoused said:
You know, it is kinda odd. In the 80s, the SE was the better grade, a step above Mac Plus. The SE 30 was even better than the SE. Still not quite as good as the Mac II, but not the low-end model.
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SE can commonly be two things in products that I've seen around; Special Edition, and Student Edition. By the former definition especially, it really can go either way
 
ArgoDuck said:
I remain very interested in this device, especially the ultra-wide virtual display combined with the ability to distribute a heap of my own research-related apps around me in space. It remains unavailable in New Zealand but I’m making a short trip to Australia in January where it is available…a purchase is likely.

I’ve very much appreciated your accounts of your experience - super valuable for me!

I hear you about the political stuff :(. I can seriously see it being a welcome escape from the world before long, even here…
Click to expand...
I was so rattled I didn't even notice I typed "discretion" instead of "distraction," LOL.

I should have the release versions of visionOS 2.2 and macOS 15.2 installed in a few weeks and will report on the wide and ultra-wide displays.

I'm surprised the AVP still isn't available in New Zealand. So since you'll be traveling to Australia to get one, you'll want to carefully think of options in advance:
  1. Storage: I got the 512 GB version, which has worked well for me. I'm currently using only 126.58 GB, and a good part of that is for downloaded media that I watch when I'm not on a fast network. I think 256 GB would be pushing it, though.
  2. Lenses: This is tough because it depends on your visual acuity, corrections, and so on. I was sure I'd need custom Zeiss lenses or inserts, but it turned out I didn't, probably because I have lens implants. When you go in to the Apple Store, spend a lot of time discussing this with the salespeople. Also check if you can order lenses when you're back home.
  3. Light shield and cushion: Another biggie. All I can say is try a lot of them in the store. The combination Apple's software said I needed wasn't right for me.
  4. Comfort: There are many opinions on this, but only you can tell what will be best for you. Personally, I find Apple's dual loop works well. Since starting to use the AVP for extended periods (up to 4-5 hours in a row) this week, I haven't felt any discomfort, though I take short breaks every hour or so.
  5. Compatibility: Some people never get used to the AVP and experience symptoms like nausea, especially during motion sequences. Take enough time to ensure you're not one of them.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
 
Roller said:
Just to change things up from politics, I thought I'd update y'all on my AVP.

In short, I love it. visionOS 2.x is what the initial version of the headset should have had. I use it nearly every day for watching movies and TV shows, as well as listening to music. Apple's rollout of immersive content has been slow, but what's there is generally excellent. More apps are available each month too. One of my favorites is FLY, which lets you soar over landscapes using Google's dataset. You move the flying platform by leaning and increase or decrease your height by moving your arm up and down. Everything looks cartoonish at low altitude, but it's quite realistic as you get higher. Here's a shot of Apple Park in Cupertino:

View attachment 32605

Much has been written about use cases for the AVP, and it's been criticized as an expensive content-consumption device, which it is. But there are some settings where the AVP offers an experience not available with phones, tablets, or computers, such as on an airplane. I've flown with the AVP almost ten times, and I'll never travel without it again. I'm a bit of a nervous flyer, and watching a massive virtual screen while relaxing in an immersive environment like a beach in Bora Bora is a wonderful distraction.

I also use my AVP for work. For example, I'd rather read scientific papers on it than on a monitor. I hadn't explored using the AVP with my Mac until the other day, and I'm sorry I waited so long. It's gotten better. I can connect to my Mac and interact with its virtual display on the AVP using my mouse and keyboard while using AVP apps. The virtual screen is crystal clear, and this has become my new setup. (I'm typing this in macOS Safari.) The keyboard is easily visible, even with the environment turned up.

With visionOS 2.2 and macOS 15.2, the virtual display can be much larger – wide or ultrawide – greatly increasing the screen available for Mac apps. I haven't tried them yet because I don't want to install 15.2 beta on my main machine, but it should be released in December.

The AVP is an excellent adjunct for photography too. You can view spatial images and videos captured with a newer iPhone, and you can convert old ones to spatial. The effect is surprisingly good when the subject is distinguishable from the background. But the device really shines looking at panoramas, which fill your field-of-view and give a compelling sense of "being there." I'm making it a point to take more of these now.

So, yeah, I'm happier with my purchase every day. I hear you can pick up a used AVP for around $2k.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Click to expand...

This has been a really great real world write up. I’m actually really interested in the Vision Pro. My hesitation in all honesty was that they were using the M2 chip instead of the newer M3 when they launched it. Not that it would make a huge difference for my needs.
I gotta say, I took another demo of the latest vision os update in the Apple Store and lots of small / nice changes to the UI.
I can see it being really great for managing multiple monitors or even for video editing and photo editing applications.
 
Roller said:
…

I should have the release versions of visionOS 2.2 and macOS 15.2 installed in a few weeks and will report on the wide and ultra-wide displays.

I'm surprised the AVP still isn't available in New Zealand. So since you'll be traveling to Australia to get one, you'll want to carefully think of options in advance:
  1. Storage: I got the 512 GB version, which has worked well for me. I'm currently using only 126.58 GB, and a good part of that is for downloaded media that I watch when I'm not on a fast network. I think 256 GB would be pushing it, though.
  2. Lenses: This is tough because it depends on your visual acuity, corrections, and so on. I was sure I'd need custom Zeiss lenses or inserts, but it turned out I didn't, probably because I have lens implants. When you go in to the Apple Store, spend a lot of time discussing this with the salespeople. Also check if you can order lenses when you're back home.
  3. Light shield and cushion: Another biggie. All I can say is try a lot of them in the store. The combination Apple's software said I needed wasn't right for me.
  4. Comfort: There are many opinions on this, but only you can tell what will be best for you. Personally, I find Apple's dual loop works well. Since starting to use the AVP for extended periods (up to 4-5 hours in a row) this week, I haven't felt any discomfort, though I take short breaks every hour or so.
  5. Compatibility: Some people never get used to the AVP and experience symptoms like nausea, especially during motion sequences. Take enough time to ensure you're not one of them.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Click to expand...
This is gold…thank you! 🙏

I look forward to your updates and I’ll certainly follow up if I have any questions 😊
 
tomO2013 said:
This has been a really great real world write up. I’m actually really interested in the Vision Pro. My hesitation in all honesty was that they were using the M2 chip instead of the newer M3 when they launched it. Not that it would make a huge difference for my needs.
I gotta say, I took another demo of the latest vision os update in the Apple Store and lots of small / nice changes to the UI.
I can see it being really great for managing multiple monitors or even for video editing and photo editing applications.
Click to expand...
Glad you found it helpful! Rumor has it that the next version will have an M5 chip, but who knows when that will happen? The AVP has come in for a lot of criticism since it was released, but in its current OS iteration it's excellent, and I expect it to improve further.
 
Five months later, I'm loving my AVP more than ever. I use it just about every day for work and "content consumption." (I put the term in quotes because simply watching video isn't considered worthwhile by the people who like to quip about how few AVPs have been sold over at The Other Place.) The wide virtual display is a great way to keep multiple windows open on my Mac, and I now try to remember to shoot panoramas on my iPhone just to view them on my AVP.

While I'd like to see even more immersive films from Apple, some of their recent offerings have been astounding. Notably, the one done at a Metallica concert shows the potential for sports and entertainment events better than anything I've seen. I'm not a Metallica fan, but I enjoyed every minute of it. The one about diving with sharks was enough to get my wife to take off the AVP, and offerings from other sources are also appearing at a faster pace. Professional rigs like Blackmagic's URSA Cine and even affordable consumer/prosumer cameras will only expand what's available.

visionOS still isn't where it needs to be, but 2.4 was a welcome upgrade, and 2.5 is in beta. I expect even more from 3.0 when it's previewed at the WWDC in about two months. I don't know anything about Apple's plans other than what's been speculated, but it's good to see continued effort from them. I have no regrets, and my AVP is now completely paid off. :)
 
Roller said:
Five months later, I'm loving my AVP more than ever. I use it just about every day for work and "content consumption." (I put the term in quotes because simply watching video isn't considered worthwhile by the people who like to quip about how few AVPs have been sold over at The Other Place.) The wide virtual display is a great way to keep multiple windows open on my Mac, and I now try to remember to shoot panoramas on my iPhone just to view them on my AVP.

While I'd like to see even more immersive films from Apple, some of their recent offerings have been astounding. Notably, the one done at a Metallica concert shows the potential for sports and entertainment events better than anything I've seen. I'm not a Metallica fan, but I enjoyed every minute of it. The one about diving with sharks was enough to get my wife to take off the AVP, and offerings from other sources are also appearing at a faster pace. Professional rigs like Blackmagic's URSA Cine and even affordable consumer/prosumer cameras will only expand what's available.

visionOS still isn't where it needs to be, but 2.4 was a welcome upgrade, and 2.5 is in beta. I expect even more from 3.0 when it's previewed at the WWDC in about two months. I don't know anything about Apple's plans other than what's been speculated, but it's good to see continued effort from them. I have no regrets, and my AVP is now completely paid off. :)
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Great impartial update here. I had considered it for entertainment as well, does it have to be formatted a certain way or can you watch any movie from any source? Say just TV or Netflix?
 
Eric said:
Great impartial update here. I had considered it for entertainment as well, does it have to be formatted a certain way or can you watch any movie from any source? Say just TV or Netflix?
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Availability depends on the provider. For example, Netflix doesn’t have an AVP client, though there was a workaround app. (“Was” just because I haven’t used it in awhile.) There’s also no native app for YouTube TV, but again, there are ways to do it.

Amazon’s Prime Video iPad app works well. (Just finished S3 of Reacher on it.) And content providers like Disney have full-blown apps, complete with immersive environments. Of course, Apple does too. Watching Severance on the AVP seemed so right.

There are few movies that aren’t available from one provider or another. A big plus is that the AVP works for 3D films, since each eye has its own screen.

IMAX has a player, and the experience is excellent. Unfortunately, the offerings are limited because of copyright and similar restrictions.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
 
Yoused said:
Looks like the current Vision Pro is being mothballed for now. Apple is likely to release a Lite model, to get the OS moving forward. The Pro may be back, eventually.
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Cmaier said:
I don’t think this is true. Apple just released this today:

www.macrumors.com

Apple Releases New Immersive Video App for Mac and Vision Pro

Apple today released a new app for managing an immersive video library on a Mac. Apple Immersive Videos are 3D videos recorded in 8K resolution,...
www.macrumors.com www.macrumors.com
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If it’s true it might because V2 of the Pro model is right around the corner:

www.notebookcheck.net

Apple Vision Pro 2 allegedly in production, no signs of a more affordable AR/VR headset

The Apple Vision Pro 2 could arrive within this year, which means a cheaper alternative is not happening any time soon. A new report claims that components for the Vision Pro 2 have already entered mass production.
www.notebookcheck.net www.notebookcheck.net
 
dada_dave said:
If it’s true it might because V2 of the Pro model is right around the corner:

www.notebookcheck.net

Apple Vision Pro 2 allegedly in production, no signs of a more affordable AR/VR headset

The Apple Vision Pro 2 could arrive within this year, which means a cheaper alternative is not happening any time soon. A new report claims that components for the Vision Pro 2 have already entered mass production.
www.notebookcheck.net www.notebookcheck.net
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that makes more sense to me. Even at half the price, these won’t suddenly be selling like hot-cakes. Just keep refining them until they hit on an indispensable use case and the technology allows for a perfect form factor.
 

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