Pros and Cons of Apple’s Vision Pro:
Pros:
– Incredible fidelity and impressive technology
– Feels like a glimpse of the future
Cons:
– The entire ecosystem is very expensive
– Limited number and utility of apps
– Heavy and unbalanced
– Poor app management
Our Verdict:
At times, using Apple Vision Pro feels like using an early prototype version of what everyone will have in the future. But it is in equal measure frustrating, limiting, and outside of watching 2D or 3D videos, there isn’t much you can do with it that you can’t do faster with the Apple devices you already own. Even early adopters can wait for some big software updates and a more mature app library, but most should wait for the next version or the one after that.
Price When Reviewed: Not available in the UK. Apple’s Vision Pro spatial computer, a VR headset with pass-through video, hand tracking, and eye tracking, is not just another VR headset. It’s not just an expensive Meta Quest 3 with higher-quality displays. It is those things, but it’s not just those things. There are moments when you really do feel, in your gut, that you’re doing things that are going to be the way it is at some point in the future. After a week of using Apple Vision Pro every day, one thought keeps passing through my head. “This is going to be great…one day.” But that’s the rub. That greatness of this product feels like it is always just off in the distance somewhere.
Incredible but Limiting Hardware:
Apple’s micro‑OLED displays have incredible fidelity, color depth, and dynamic range. There’s no “screen door effect” and with the right lighting, you can get a bit of lens glare but it’s less pronounced than with most other headsets. Apple pulls a lot of tricks behind the scenes to make this work, like foveated rendering. The tracking is kind of like magic–just look at something and it immediately highlights. Pinch, even with your hand relaxed down low, and you’ll select it. The view of the outside world is the best I’ve ever seen but still not good enough.
Early, Often Clunky Software:
Third-party apps are mostly iPad apps, with fewer than a thousand visionOS-specific apps. They feel rushed, buggy, often just a floating window that resembles an iPad app, and feature “spatial” features that are gimmicky.
Overall, Apple’s Vision Pro shows promise, but its limitations and high price tag make it difficult to recommend for most users.
