I’ve been using Apple Vision Pro for exactly one day, here are my impressions. Is it worth buying now?

Yesterday, the same Apple “spatial computer” that has been the only talk about for the last few days finally arrived at our editorial office.

We unpacked the Apple Vision Pro, had plenty of working windows in front of our eyes, a video about dinosaurs with an immersive effect caused real children’s delight, the battery life turned out to be quite acceptable, so that we could play enough of all the redactions.

However, is this device from the future as beautiful as Western tech bloggers tell us? I spent the whole day in this helmet And below I’ll briefly tell you about my impressions. They got mixed.

Yes, I am writing about Apple Vision Pro because I just had a feeling of discomfort and even nausea after 10-15 minutes spent with this phone on my head. So keep in mind that even if you have the money to buy it, it is not a fact that you will be able to use it comfortably.

And now impressions:

What we liked about Apple Vision Pro

Looks stylish, like all Apple products.

📍In VisionOS you quickly get used to interacting with icons, opening, closing, changing the scale and dragging the desired window using your fingers, literally “pinching” the necessary elements. You can also point your finger at the virtual icons in front of you, but this is less convenient.

📍 Eye tracking works great, the exact icons I’m looking at are highlighted. There were never any mistakes.

Connecting to a MacBook is easy, provided that the helmet and laptop are on the same Wi-Fi network.

📍 The screens are really clear and bright, the eyes do not get tired or watery. even after using the helmet for a long time, because they need to constantly move and focus on interface elements.

📍 Visual features evoke admiration and you want to look at them again and again. For example, shadows on individual surfaces, from open open windows, three-dimensional videos in Apple TV+, a video about dinosaurs that literally jump out of the screen and fill the entire space… I watched it at least 5 times.

A dinosaur that literally crawls out of the screen and into your dense – my mail.

📍 The sound from the built-in speakers is quite deep and rich. If you drag from right to right and back again, the sound also seems to change position. It sounds very impressive.

📍 Open windows retain their position even if you go into another room wearing a helmet.. It’s convenient and you quickly get used to logging into the Safari browser with open sites somewhere on the ceiling.

Watch a movie by the lake on a huge screen – that’s the main reason, buy Apple Vision Pro now.

📍 Immersive environment. You spin the Digital Crown and the entire space around you is filled with any landscape of your choice, from the lunar surface to the edge of Yosemite Park. Moreover, together with the visual of nature and sounds – the whistle of the wind, the chirping of birds and the rustling of rain.

📍 Watching a movie is pure pleasure. The visual area can be stretched to the skies, as if you were sitting in the front row at IMAX. In a space with spatial sound, a tangible immersive experience is created, similar to the home theater experience.

What didn’t you like about Apple Vision Pro?

There are only two physical controls on the helmet: a button and a wheel.

❗️ There is no back gesture in VisionOS, similar to swiping with two fingers on the touchpad on a MacBook. It’s awkward and weird.

❗️ Recording videos from the helmet (what the user sees recently) is not activated in normal mode, you are warning about the lack of light in any conditions, even during the day, even in a brightly lit room. But it works without problems in Travel Mode.

This error occurs when connecting a screencast recording in normal mode.

❗️ If you enable Travel Mode and then turn it off, the image will appear slightly skewed., that is, not a level position. I don’t understand how to cure this, the driver studies the device further, slightly tilting his head to the side.

❗️ The helmet is so heavy that After a while of use, my cheeks begin to hurt, on which the Vision Pro puts noticeable pressure when using the default single Solo Knit Band. If you replace it with a complete mount with two straps, the load on your face will be slightly reduced, and you can add 20 minutes until it becomes difficult to wear the device.

If you plan to spend a lot of time wearing a helmet, we recommend this mount.

❗️ In fact, in the App Store there are practically no products and necessary applications specifically for the Vision Pro helmet.. Of the more or less popular ones, I found Zoom, an application for studying the starry sky, and a simple meditative toy. Other games are only available with an Apple Arcade subscription.

❗️ Lack of multitasking is downright frustrating. Windows cannot be rolled up, only closed completely. So you need to take time to correctly arrange them all in your field of vision, so that it is convenient to move your gaze from one window to another.

This is what the gaming space looks like for a person who has been using Apple Vision Pro for several hours.

❗️ I can’t imagine how you can work in Apple Vision Pro without connected keyboards and mice.. Even typing more or less large text with your eyes is inconvenient and time-consuming, and if you want to work in a photo or video editor, you won’t succeed at all. You can’t get by with just one pinch of a letter.

❗️ A digital avatar is a very creepy thingMoreover, after its creation, interlocutors in FaceTime will only see it if you decide to call someone through Vision Pro.

My digital avatar is terrible. It seems that the Tim Cook filter is applied by default.

❗️ There is no recycle bin or Hidden folder in GalleryAnd most importantly, the “Screen recordings” shown in the video are not always shown.

Finally, here’s a funny glitch for you: If you sit on a chair so that your feet are not under the table, then bringing the Apple Vision Pro’s feet together is perceived as pinching your fingers. So the helmet can be controlled even with your feet.

My verdict. Apple has made a unique product, but its meaning is not yet clear

They got hype and sold out on this version of the helmet.

Apple Vision Pro is beautiful for its shapes, visual features of operating systems and ways of interacting with the user. This device is truly unique, because with such simplicity and convenience, no VR helmet on today’s market can use real and virtual space at the same time.

However, for me personally the main question remains this: “Why do you need Apple Vision Pro at all?“And after several hours of use, I don’t have an answer to this question.

Poking at demos, watching a few movies, criminals using Telegram and spitting on it, going to several sites on the Internet, chopping fruits with your hand in Fruit Ninja if you have a subscription to Apple Arcade – this is all that can captivate a reliable owner of a mixed reality helmet. True, not for long.

You can click on the sensor icons, but it looks ugly.

I see some really useful implications of using this device that require visualizing a lot of dynamically changing data at the same time. For example, if you plays on the stock exchange and tracks quotes and indicesopening a dozen separate windows with traders and seeing them all at the same time will be really convenient.

Or if you want to monitor multiple cameras via a web interface. However, Apple Vision Pro really proves to be indispensable, so it sees all the broadcasts at once from several windows, simultaneously open in front of your eyes.

However, I rather liked the new product from Apple. Is it worth buying it right now? Definitely yes, if you have an extra 600 thousand rubles and you want to enjoy your favorite movies on a huge screen in the edge of the forest, while sitting in your apartment somewhere. Northern Butovo.

We recommend that everyone give it at least another year and look at the second version of this helmet. Perhaps Tim Cook and team will spend 12 months figuring out how to actually use and install a spatial computer in a variety of professions.

📸 All photos in the article: