it actually seems pretty cool, but what’s holding me back in that it’s an iPad. From what I’ve seen it’s a consumption device, not really a creation device. Apps still need to be coded on a Mac, and I don’t see a way you can connect the Vision Pro to the Mac, which IMHO would unleash a new another level.
Imagine being able to use your development tool of choice and instead of having a 27" screen, you could use the entire wall to see your code, then turn your head and interact with a live “preview” device.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how well it gets adopted by the wealthy before we can see if Apple will continue to develop it, or treat it like another iPad device.
The device is impressive. A marvellous piece of high tech.
First ideas to use (I am a single) … I have a small flat and no TV. This device would be a nice alternative for a TV. Also it would be interesting if it is usable with a PlayStation 5
Don’t get me wrong, this is a step into the future. I strongly believe that one day we will be able to use our Macs and spread the windows out across a large space, but I am concerned.
The iPad could have been a MacBook replacement (and for some it is) but it felt like “business” decisions were made to gimp it’s productivity so that Apple could sell you a MacBook and an iPad. I’m worried that they’ll continue this trend with their goggles, instead of embracing it and what it might possibly be able to do to.
From what I saw, it seemed that you could use it as a TV, however I don’t know if it could work with the PS5 for playing games in a VR way. I suspect you’ll need the Sony goggles for that, which are only ~$500 instead of $3,400 (before tax). Seems like you can already use the Sony Goggles for watching TV content as if it were a large screen TV in front of you.
Yeah I just had a conversation with my wife about this and her take on it is that no matter how you spin it, it’s a fairly heavy / hot thing on your face, < 2 hours battery life so you’re tethered, and there’s no way around the fact that you look like a dork.
When these things cost like $100 and are practically indistinguishable from an ordinary pair of glasses, that’ll be one thing, and then there’s still the open question of whether living in such a hyper-digitized world is that good of an idea. Maybe if it’s ad-free and highly configurable. But I’m not going to be standing in line for this sort of thing anytime soon unless I need to develop software for it or that works acceptably with it. Less is definitely more when it comes to AR.
Still too early to tell if this will change the world or not. The price tag will keep it out of consumers hands but for a developer with a bee in their bonnet it might just be that spark that invents the best VR app that’s a world beater.
During the pandemic and when my daughter was living with us we bought the HTC Vive. Fun to play with. Games like Beat Saber and Half Life Alex were our go-to games. There was a Star Wars ‘preview’ that was fun for like 10 minutes (and then was done). We tried a bunch of different games and none stuck and as soon as we completed Half Life we used it less and less. There were some half-hearted attempts at getting museums and other interesting places to create 3D content but it fizzled out. Maybe Apple can convince more institutions to do so.
The Vive was very heavy with very bulky cords. Required a hefty PC to drive the graphics. Was hot - OMG we’d be drenched in sweat after an hour using it (granted games like Beat Saber caused you to move a lot). The controllers were okay but not great. If anyone can engineer something better I suspect it will be Apple.
So, I believe the price WILL come down. I also believe that this is not the final form factor. I also believe they need to come up with educational and business use-cases for it to take off. But I remember people saying similar things about the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. So it’s WAY too early to tell.
Sure, and the iPhone, et. al., got a lot cheaper and gained a lot more functionality and battery life and other refinements. I was hyperbolizing a bit to say it would need to be under $100, but I think that if they somehow make this into eyeglasses that are 50% heavier and cost twice as much as normal glasses … such that a person who doesn’t need prescription lenses can just have zero correction but otherwise just look like they are wearing normal glasses, give or take … then it’s a whole different ball game than some thing clamped onto your face bombarding you with heat and god knows how much electromagnetic fields and such, that isn’t practical to use for any length of time without tethering or the aggravation of recharging. If there’s one or more killer apps, then people will put up with more cost or discomfort to use it, and if it becomes a fad it will seem less dorky to be seen poking at thin air with this thing on your face, then it will not have to get all the way to fitting in a slightly oversized eyeglass stem to find a decent market.
This is just way too far from any of that and it will NOT be trivial to move the needle. But I’m sure they’ll move it, it’s just a question of if it’s far enough, and how soon they do it.
See, I disagree somewhat on this. We’re looking at 3D headsets and what they can do today - and they are, to be generous, an interesting if somewhat (very?) limited, use case and form factor.
All it takes is a killer game, business app, something social that makes it take off. What this will be, if it comes at all, is anyones guess.
My boss shared this with us last week and as someone who lives in an RV and space is always at a premium I’d buy this in a heartbeat if it worked with my Mac and windows laptop. Spacetop: Own Your Space - YouTube I would think with Apple Silicon this wouldn’t be hard.
That by itself will create buzz and cause people with more money than sense to be early adopters, but for it to really be a sustainable phenomenon it would require that it also be affordable, not too weird, not to heavy, not too hot, etc.
Spacetop looks pretty interesting … they have gotten around some of the issues by making it an integrated system. If that total system meets your needs and is usable for long periods then you’re good to go. At this point though there’s no way to figure out what you’re buying. They are soliciting early adopters / testers who want it so bad they’ll buy essentially sight-unseen. It probably has to be a Windows laptop or maybe Linux to support some sort of desktop suites such that you could at least in theory achieve the multi-desktop effects they are showing in the visualization. Whether you or I could actually use it productively … hard to say.
I gotta say though how bad do I really want something like this. It’s cool and all, but my 14" MacBook pro’s built-in screen is perfectly fine, though just limited enough that I plug into a 27" monitor in my office, that’s only “nice to have” especially for all-day work sessions, but not a “must have”. Even in the 14" form factor I can have 10 desktops to swipe between if I wish. I get by with 2 though – one local, one RDP.
You are right though, some certain je ne sais quois of killer app(s) and usability could come sooner than we think. I just don’t think a $3500 dedicated headpiece is it.
Definitely too pricey for average folks. BUT, if they could get it down into the $1500-2000 range that’s into the Vive range (tho it has been a few years since I’ve priced VR headsets). Apple doesn’t sell inexpensive hardware so I doubt it would ever be the cheapest headset on the market.
In the customer area the biggest driver for VR so far has been porn (though no one is talking about it). It will be interesting to see how Apple will deal with this. I am quite convinced that they won’t promote this area nor will they offer special Apple services, but will they even forbid that market segment? I’m sure they analyzed how to deal with this user experience and how to have the right marketing answers.
For the rest: let’s wait for release 3.1 ;-). In Germany we will anyways need some time to adapt our laws to forbid usage in cars, on e-bikes, e-scooters, etc.
True, but since Apple is always so concerned about not being put in a dirty corner, I find it interesting how they plan to deal with that. You must have an answer if in 5 years it would be called: what was the name of the diving goggles from Apple that revolutionized the porn world?
Will they ban certain sites in the browser on the Vision Pro? Unlikely … Perhaps they will show to the outside world with different colored LEDs what the user is currently watching
Well it is an AR headset with some minimal VR capabilities, not the inverse. Apple can say that what you put on a virtual monitor is no more their business than what you put on a conventional one, I suppose.
