Apple Vision Pro

[Jonj1611]

Thought it looked great but the price tag, my god, I know its Apple but $3500!

[Saracen999]

Well yeah, Apple. Also, "Pro". If they really mean that, in that it's for genuinely "professional" use, i.e. architectural walkthroughs, etc, then, if it's good enough, maybe. For the vast majority of gamers it's an utter non-starter but there'll be a few, probably, even then.

Me? Nope. Not at that or any other price. VR just doesn't float my boat.

[AGTDenton]

This is literally a Black Mirror episode!

[Rob_B]

Three, and a half, grand... Jesus christ I knew its be a lot but come on!

[Jonj1611]

Reminds me of the Microsoft Hololens, still remember being blown away by the Minecraft demo. Could imagine getting one and then I saw the price. Which was $3000. Bearing in mind this was 2015

[Saracen999]

Reminds me of the Microsoft Hololens, still remember being blown away by the Minecraft demo. Could imagine getting one and then I saw the price. Which was $3000. Bearing in mind this was 2015....

MS kinda had an excuse. That was much more of an emergent tech then, at least. Other than 'Apple being Apple', I wonder what excuse they can have now?

Besides, I seem to remember Linus and Luke talking about this in last week's WAN show, and what I think I remember (it's VR so I sort-of tuned out a bit) was it's typical first-gen Apple - expensive, and will probably get quietly short-supported in a year or two when, having thoroughly 'beta-teasted' it via public release, they come out with the first proper model. I think he called it effectively a Dev kit (without half the features), but at something resembling consumer pricing.

TL / DR - Ignore this one and if you really want Apple, wait for the next one.

[Ttaskmaster]

It's Apple, so presumably it won't even work on my gaming PC... or not without installing a whole bunch of Apple software that will utterly stuff up my PC and take over with popups that insistent I Apple-fy as much of my system as possible?

[Jonj1611]

From what I can gather it uses its own OS called Vision OS and everything is onboard the headset :

"Chipset

A spatial computer as sophisticated as the Apple Vision Pro requires copious computational power. Combined with the need for no lag, this can get tricky. However, Apple has thought ahead and changed the MR game. The Apple Vision Pro is powered by an intricate combination of the M2 Chip and a brand-new R1 chip.

m2 and r1 chip apple vision pro
The M2 chip handles the computational tasks while intelligently keeping the headset cool and comfortable. The second part is where the R1 takes over. The new R1 chip has been specifically designed for the sole task of sensor processing. The chip processes input from the headset’s 12 cameras, five sensors, and six microphones. The R1 chip’s capability gives a numbingly low latency of 12 ms while streaming new images to the display. Apple claims this is 8x faster than the blink of an eye.

This is powered by an external high-performance battery that can give up to two hours of use on a single charge. While plugged in, however, the Apple Vision Pro can last all day."

So from the looks of it no it won't interface with a PC at this time, not entirely sure this model ever will

[Saracen999]

Just watched the LTT overview of this and the new Macbook Pro. Ignoring the latter, the Vision Pro does have a degree of hardware that, as Linus puts it, "if" it lives up to the claims, is impressive as hell and goes a long way to explaining the price. Also, of course, buying Apple is a bit like buying Aston Martin - you know you aren't buying something built down to a price and the faint of heart (or wallet) should look elsewhere.

But if it really can do whole room LIDAR and Truedepth scanning, in what amounts to real-time, as well as track everything from eye movement to body movements then, and does microphones, high-end sound, and is a single-person monitor replacement, then I guess I understand the price point. It's still aimed at the Aston Martin end of the market, but it does explain the price. We can't all afford an Aston, either.

I would (in theory, see note below) absolutely insist on trying this thing out before parting with anywhere near that sort of money for a headset. Why? Ever bought a pair of pretty expensive headphones only to find out that while they sound damn fine, the nature of how the weight sits on your head gives you a headache, rendering them (to you) unusable, no matter how good they sound? No, me neither, but I came extremely close a few years ago, saved only by a substantial and entirely unpressurised pre-purchase in-store demo experience. It was a LONG time ago, but the lesson it taught me stuck.


Linus video



Note - I say "in theory" because this is not a product category that interests me one bit, so the "theory" remark refers to assuming I was contemplating buying, which I'm not. At any price. They could be $350 instead of $3500, and I still don't want them.

[AGTDenton]

It's Apple, so presumably it won't even work on my gaming PC... or not without installing a whole bunch of Apple software that will utterly stuff up my PC and take over with popups that insistent I Apple-fy as much of my system as possible?

At first I thought this was going to work with the PS5, as during one of their marketing reels they show someone using the PS5 controller, however, they were highlighting that any Bluetooth controller can connect to the Vision.

[MrJim]

A few of my thoughts:

It does seem like a technology 'tour de force' from Apple, but as others have said...that price! For ordinary consumers, I can't see them selling in truckloads, but then again, I never thought we'd have £2k GPUs, so what do I know?! Apple does have its 'fan-bois' of course, but the company has had plenty of product flops in the past. For businesses though, the high cost is really a non-issue compared to the cost of other computer hardware, so maybe that will be its niche?

Being a first-gen product, no doubt future iterations of the Vision Pro will address some of the current limitations of the present hardware. The 2 hour battery life is pretty dire right now, but will improve in time.

As I understand it, there is no third-party software available at launch, but again, just like the first-gen iPhone, an App Store will be available at some point once developers catch-up.

All in all it does like quite a polished product, but also one that's not quite ready for the masses. Halve the cost, and by the time the 'Vision Pro 3' is released, I might be interested!

[Ttaskmaster]

At first I thought this was going to work with the PS5, as during one of their marketing reels they show someone using the PS5 controller, however, they were highlighting that any Bluetooth controller can connect to the Vision.

I understand the latest PS5 one is likely to work on PC (and pretty much anything else) if they only sort the drivers out for it... and that they're working on those drivers right now.
I've used this one over at a friends house and it was rather impressive. I also believe it sells for very reasonable money too...

[[GSV]Trig]

But you look like a moron wearing it...
I backed a company called Normglasses about 5 years ago now, they haven't released a product though so I had a refund a while back, problem is they keep changing the design and features rather than getting an actual product in people's hands, but if someone like Apple did something similar, their weight and R&D budget would be a lot better than this OTT skiing goggles attempt..

[DanceswithUnix]

At first I thought this was going to work with the PS5, as during one of their marketing reels they show someone using the PS5 controller, however, they were highlighting that any Bluetooth controller can connect to the Vision.

I gather it doesn't come with any controllers, it just uses hand movements. That makes existing games a tricky port.

It isn't aimed for gaming, and I can watch Netflix etc on my Quest 2 just fine. I'm struggling to see a killer app, though I'm sure the porn industry will like the built in 3D video capability. Perhaps that's why the control system keeps your hands free?

... I'll get me coat.


Edit: Actually, this might work well for AR meetings if they can do it well and that might justify the corporate friendly price tag.

[AGTDenton]

I understand the latest PS5 one is likely to work on PC (and pretty much anything else) if they only sort the drivers out for it... and that they're working on those drivers right now.
I've used this one over at a friends house and it was rather impressive. I also believe it sells for very reasonable money too...

Yeah for £55 my friend had to buy a new replacement, it is a very nice controller at a very reasonable price.
Preferred over the current xBox standard controller in terms of shape but is also a sensible price.

I didn't realise there were any issues connecting the PS5 controller though, Steam recognises it as a PS5 controller rather than something generic
https://www.pcgamer.com/ps5-dualsense-controller-on-pc/

I think you can also connect a Switch Pro controller to Steam

[Ttaskmaster]

Yeah for £55 my friend had to buy a new replacement, it is a very nice controller at a very reasonable price.

No, I meant the PS5 VR headset was awesome... and likely coming to PC for a reasonable price!!