In a word, no. Not yet, anyway. Even if price weren’t a concern, there’s no single reason to buy one of these right out of the gate when it goes on sale next year.
The Vision Pro heralds the beginning of a new generation in personal technology, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a presentation at the company’s annual WWDC showcase. Strap it onand you’ll see virtual worlds on a high-resolution screen that sits right next to your eyes. Adjust a dial and external cameras mix in the real world around you. A screen on its outside even lets other people peer inside at your eyes to understand what you’re up to.
It makes for a cool demo. We saw a video captured in 3D of children blowing out birthday candles, used hand gestures to organize a collection of apps, and watched as a virtual butterfly tried — awkwardly — to land on a finger.
But after Apple’s launch hoopla fades, one critical question will remain: Why would you want to wear one on a regular basis? Why would you choose to pick up a Vision Pro instead of grabbing your smartphone, tablet, laptop or the TV remote?
Rivals Google, Microsoft, Meta and others have all tried — and failed — to sufficiently answer that question with their own VR and AR devices. This technology, so far, has been a solution in search of a problem. And Apple’s launch offered few new use cases for the technology that we haven’t already seen before.
Apple’s “what’s it good for” answer boils down to: This is an improved reality, not some other-world “metaverse.” Apple showed people using the device while interacting with family members, walking around an office and lying in bed looking at stars.
In fact, Apple never used the term metaverse — associated with rival Meta’s Quest headsets — and instead described its technology as “spatial computing” to emphasize its focus on complementing the world around you, rather than just taking you away into a virtual world.
That’s a smart pitch, but it presumes Apple has overcome some major hurdles, including comfort, motion sickness, and human-computer interface challenges that have made existing devices hard to enjoy for more than short bursts.
After strapping in for a bit, it became apparent Apple had tackled some of these issues elegantly: the headset didn’t feel excessively heavy or hot (though the demo took place in a conspicuously cold room). But other aspects clearly needed a lot more work. Our worst experience was with the digital avatars that represent Vision Pro users during FaceTime calls. The movement of the lips didn’t match the voice of the speaker and blinking seemed erratic, leaving an overall uneasy feeling.
What Apple says you’ll do in a Vision Pro: Work and watch
How will Apple get us to think differently about this type of technology? Its launch focused most of its attention on two use cases: work and entertainment.
The initial spotlight on work is surprising for Apple, whose core business is consumers, but perhaps reflects the reality of the device’s price, which makes it out of reach for the vast majority of families.
Inside the headset, you can surround yourself with apps, project your Mac screen, and take FaceTime calls with that little avatar of yourself. You operate apps with your hands — flick your hand to scroll up and pinch to select. You can switch apps just by moving your eyes, which internal sensors keep track of.
In Apple’s demo, we spent most of our time looking at buttons and menu items on screen, and pinching our thumbs and index fingers together to select them. To scroll through videos in an app, we pinched and dragged like we were pulling a thread. This was all a lot less awkward than it sounds, and our interactions were more-or-less error-free after a few minutes.
But what would make you choose this over your Mac? And what’s it going to be like typing on a real-world keyboard while you’re wearing a headset? (Apple didn’t let us try this.) Your view of the real world is being mediated by cameras and screens, which have to work fast enough to make the typing experience not feel laggy. Consider us cautiously optimistic on that count: the clarity of the external world was higher than other headsets like Meta’s $1000 Quest Pro.
Apple’s second big use for the Vision Pro is entertainment. It spotlighted people watching movies in a visually and sonically immersive space — a private showing in a top-end theater or even watching Star Wars in space. Perhaps the best use Apple showed for the device: Using it on an airplane to block out all the annoyances of flying.
But then more questions remain: Would you actually feel comfortable wearing this for the entire 3-hour, 14-minute running time of the movie “Titanic”? In an improvement over its rivals, Apple moved the battery pack to a separate tethered brick, so you don’t have to wear it on your face. It said the device is made out of lightweight metal, glass and cloth.
Another challenge is battery life. The Vision Pro lasts just two hours, though you can also use it plugged in.
For entertainment use, however, Apple appears to have made inroads in another issue that has held back VR technology: feeling isolated and vulnerable because you’re cut off from the world. There’s a physical dial that lets the user bring their immediate surroundings in and out of view. And when someone physically approaches you while you’re wearing the Vision Pro, they’ll materialize in front of you so you’re not taken off guard.
One of the most standout experiences of trying on the headset wasn’t actually a pillar of Apple’s launch presentation: capturing so-called spatial photos and video in 3D. It feels special in a way we’re not always used to from new gadgets.
These images and video, which you can take with a press of a button on the headset, feel firmly rooted in space — people can move into the foreground and back out of it, while immersive audio plays in the background. They offer a sense of time and place that 2D content just can’t, and it’s the closest thing we’ve seen so far to a killer app for the Vision Pro.
Yet it also highlights one more magic trick Apple must master: making wearing a face computer during these precious moments not feel awkward for everyone involved.
