On Tuesday local time, a number of foreign media announced the first round of reviews of Apple’s first mixed reality headset, Vision Pro. Many reviewers have spoken highly of the cutting-edge technology displayed by VisionPro, including its stunning display, groundbreaking "penetrating" experience, and excellent manual and eye-tracking capabilities. However, along with these advantages, there are still some areas for improvement, such as the high price, lack of coordination between manual and eye tracking, and the tendency to make users feel lonely during use.
TheVerge: VisionPro is amazing enough but it’s not easy to succeed
There is no doubt that Vision Pro is an amazing product, the kind of first-generation device that only Apple can create. Whether it is the stunning display effect or the so-called "passthrough" technology, it demonstrates Apple's excellent technical reserves and resource integration capabilities. The entire ecosystem works so seamlessly that everyone almost forgets about its external battery. VisionPro exists not only because of its technological advancement, but also because Apple has always been determined to solve the most difficult problems.
VisionPro integrates many well-thought-out innovative ideas. However, Apple may have inadvertently revealed a shocking truth: Some of these core ideas may not ultimately work. With the current level of technology, these ideas may never become mainstream. Additionally, while hand and eye control systems excel in Vision Pro, it feels like mouse, keyboard, and touchscreen will still dominate in the next few years.
The richness of technology contained in VisionPro is truly breathtaking. However, as with any technology product, it doesn't perform consistently. When it works perfectly, the experience is almost magical and unbelievable. But when it breaks down, the frustration is compounded.
From another perspective, VisionPro may not be just a simple AR glasses simulator or development kit. On the contrary, it may be a "dream factory" set up by Apple to guide people to think and develop real AR glasses. Apple is using VisionPro to inspire people's creativity to imagine digital experiences that can be shared with others. In this framework, Apple's current Vision Pro is more like a prelude, allowing people to start thinking about these possibilities, while investing more resources into the hardware they really want to build.
When you wear VisionPro for the first time, a series of questions will come to your mind: do you mind having your hair messed up, makeup ruined, showing what you see to others, the inconvenience of using it in a darkroom, and the constraint of having your hands constantly focused on, etc.
These issues involve many trade-offs, the biggest of which is that the experience of using VisionPro is so lonely. Despite all its advanced technology, you can't share the experience with others. For a traditional VR headset, this is acceptable, but as the main computing device in the future, it seems a bit outdated. We may not want to complete the work in VisionPro, but prefer to work with others, communicate and share with them. Although VisionPro is interesting, it still has a long way to go before it can be a success.
CNET: An exciting, yet to be improved future
We've been dreaming about the future of VR and AR headsets for years: Oculus, MagicLeap, HoloLens, and many others come to mind. However, the experience of wearing VisionPro in the past week gave CNET reporter Scott Stein unprecedented complex feelings. VisionPro said this was the most challenging product he has ever reviewed.
Some of VisionPro's features are stunning, while other parts feel underdeveloped. Its price is staggering ($3,499+, currently only available in the United States), but every detail is full of futuristic elements. Apple's Vision Pro marked the beginning of an ecosystem that was finally on track, with hardware reaching a truly remarkable level of audio-visual quality and input systems being reinvented. It's an exciting time, and Vision Pro is perhaps the most impactful product since the Oculus Rift.
Apple's big bet on an immersive future is also a big step into new devices that will be tightly integrated with the software we already use on smartphones, tablets and computers. VisionPro runs the new operating system VisionOS, but at its core it is still an iOS device with mixed reality VR capabilities. It has unique advantages and design challenges, while also adding a series of new features and ideas.
This headset is the best wearable display Stern has ever experienced. However, given its price and the scarcity of VisionOS apps at launch, he wouldn't easily recommend it to friends or family. But if you are in the immersive game industry and have the corresponding purchasing power, then the situation is naturally different. For everyone else, Stern recommends getting into an Apple store to get a free trial, experience its features first-hand, and then wait and see.
With the addition of competitors like Samsung and Google, and the trend toward smaller, glasses-like devices, there will be more changes to come. At present, we still mainly use devices such as laptops, mobile phones, and iPads, but future versions of VisionPro will gradually replace them.
CNBC: This is the future of computing and entertainment
Apple's long-awaited headset will go on sale in the United States on Friday for $3,500, making it its first major new product since the smartwatch debuted in April 2015. After nearly a week of experience, although it still has some shortcomings, for technology reporter Todd Haselton (Todd Haselton), this is undoubtedly the most exciting new product he has tried in recent years.
According to analysts' predictions, VisionPro may not bring significant revenue to Apple in the short term. UBS predicts that Apple’s headset shipments this year will reach about 400,000 units, with revenue of approximately US$1.4 billion, which is just a drop in the bucket of Apple’s huge revenue. However, if Apple can launch a more affordable version in the future, millions of people will use this product.
Vision Pro provides consumers with a new experience that Apple calls "spatial computing." It makes you feel like you are in a digital world, surrounded by various applications. Whether you are working, entertaining, watching movies or surfing the Internet, VisionPro can meet your needs. With an excellent display and M2 processor, VisionPro has the consistent excellent performance of Apple devices. In addition, there is a dedicated app store offering a rich variety of apps for VisionPro.
Although we have only touched the tip of the iceberg of VisionPro's functions, it is enough to make people amazed. This is not just a new way of computing, but a new way of experiencing the world. Being in it feels like you are in the future.
"Wall Street Journal": It feels like being in a science fiction world
Apple’s first mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro, has all the hallmarks of an original product: it’s bulky, not light, has short battery life, has a scarcity of quality apps, and may even have a lot of bugs.
However, many of VisionPro's features make Wall Street Journal digital reviewer Joanna Stern feel like she's in a science fiction world. In this home office, there are endless applications, such as several virtual timers on the stove. People can even watch holographic images of children petting alpacas. Among the many mixed reality headsets he has tried, Stern believes that Vision Pro is undoubtedly the best, even surpassing its main competitors, the more affordable MetaQuest Pro and Quest3.
However, VisionPro has not yet entered the ultimate form we are looking for. Companies understand that what we really want is not this rudimentary form of virtual experience. And they are working to transform virtual experiences into devices that are lighter and closer to ordinary glasses. Until that happens, the products they introduce can only temporarily disrupt our perceptions.
For now, it's the face computer that undoubtedly best embodies Apple's vision for the future. However, it also shocked everyone we met on FaceTime.