Apple Vision Pro Review Part 1: Hardware

[Disclaimer: Reader's Digest From Before the Blog]

Sorry for doing this so late, but here’s my Apple Vision Pro review part one (part two is coming soon)! Note: I haven’t bought the Vision Pro or experienced a demo of one, so this review series will be based on Engadget’s review. First, if you’re asking, you shouldn’t at all burn that $3,500 pocket bonfire, at least not before a lighter, less expensive headset comes out years from now (by then, it would probably be changing the world). The Vision Pro (at least for now) is just for developers, social media influencers who want bragging rights, and rich, unbelievably fanatic fans of Apple devices, but it is fascinating to watch Apple riding on an all-new computing bandwagon without knowing where the wagon’s going to end up. Many people have big worries about where tech is taking us, provoked by the new headset, though, like Engadget writer Devindra Hardawar, saying that the Vision Pro is “the ideal device for escaping the troubles of the world”.

Speaking of buying the Vision Pro, buying and setting up the Vision Pro hasn’t changed since hands-on demos arrived last year. Scan your face on the Apple Store app (or go to a physical Apple Store and have an employee help you with that), give them your eye prescription for $149 prescription lenses if you need glasses (Hardawar did that online and uploaded his eye prescription easily), select your storage option, and (unless you want to have accessories like an overpriced travel case) go. It might be better to do a demo of the Vision Pro first so you know what you’re bonfiring $3,500 for, though, and the Vision Pro box is already filled to the brim with accessories (a cover for the outward-facing Vision Pro screen, another Light Seal Cushion (unfortunately not customized to your face), a USB-C charger and 5ft (1.5m) cable, and a polishing cloth which otherwise sells for $19 (GIMME A BREAK!!!!!!). Also, the Vision Pro looks part stylish, part dorky when it’s on your face (especially with the poor-quality EyeSight feature).

Let me back up. What is the Vision Pro at all? It’s (despite Apple’s despise to even whisper the word ‘VR’ or its expanded version ‘virtual reality’) a virtual reality headset. The Vision merely displays a video feed of the real world to its two screens (one 4K micro-OLED for each eye), which has its faults (fuzzy dark scenes, warped feed when you move around, and muted colors). It doesn’t project windows and other stuff onto lenses like Magic Leap’s and Microsoft’s headsets; it displays a video feed of your surroundings (the process is called ‘passthrough’ by headset fans). The fact that your entire surroundings now are presented digitally with digital windows on top increases the sense of immersion, however, and it’s far easier to do passthrough than project digital overlays on lenses (ideally, we wouldn’t have to have this, though).

The design of the Vision Pro is very different from other headsets, with polished, curvy metal resembling the Apple Watch and old iPhones, smooth, bulbous plastic and designer fabrics instead of plastic, which makes it look better, just like you’d expect from Apple. The band comes in two different forms: a Solo Knit Band for looks and a luxurious feel "like a long-lost Lululemon accessory", and a dual loop band (somehow absent from Apple’s advertising images) with an overhead strap for more comfortable long tryouts. But then you get to the external battery pack (which connects to the Vision Pro via a 5 ft (1.5 m) cable), which is against everything Apple goes for (especially in $3,500 devices), with even the Meta Quest having an integrated battery (although Apple did make it look nicer than regular USB battery packs because of its white metal finish). It is annoying to have to manage a cable, but when you sit down (which is anyway what the Vision Pro’s meant for), it’s fine.

The compromise might be understandable when put right next to all the Vision Pro’s tech, though. With an M2 chip with a 10-core GPU and 16GB of RAM sitting right next to the new R1 chip that processes all the camera and sensor data, it’s nothing if not fast. Speaking of the cameras and sensors, there are a staggering 12 cameras (6 to track the world around you and make a video feed out of it, 4 eye-tracking cameras for EyeSight and your Persona, and 2 hi-res main lenses), plus the ambient light sensor, flicker sensor, TrueDepth 3D camera, LiDAR scanner, and inertial measurement units (there are 4 of ‘em) to track how your body and head are moving 3D-wise. Can you believe it? Anyway, while the chips are powerful, the storage isn’t, at merely 256GB in the regular, not-upgraded package (although a $200 storage upgrade nets you an acceptable 512GB of storage, with an additional $200 netting you the max of 1TB). Maybe the compromise is because of the awesome displays (one for each eye): the displays are micro-OLED (a technology so new that the only other product with it is a single TV), producing 4K+ HDR display quality at 3,386 PPI for 23 million pixels altogether and refresh rates of 100Hz and 24 and 30fps. The micro-OLED panels have so much power that black scenes look spooky.

Onto sound, the Spatial Audio-capable Audio Pods are good for general computing, unplanned bouts of nostalgia, and YouTube binge sessions, with depth and nuance of the quality of an actual speaker that moves around based on where the window playing audio is (accompanied by patented audio ray tracing). Bass isn’t good, though, so headphones/earbuds (specifically only AirPods and Beats for now) are better if you want to hear especially that (and also in general because the Audio Pods are a good distance away from your ears, which makes the sound very leaky). Generally, to Devindra Hardawar, “it’s clear after just a few minutes that the company has thought deeply about how sound works throughout visionOS.” There’s also a 6-mic array for making your voice clear in work meetings, Siri shout competitions, and Dictation usage.

By Leo