As a technology enthusiast and loyalist of Apple products, I was intrigued when the new Apple Vision Pro was announced last month. The latest device in Apple’s wearable technology lineup, the Vision Pro smart glasses promise “an augmented reality experience like no other” according to Apple CEO Tim Cook during a keynote address. While early reviews highlighted Vision Pro’s innovative features such as spatial mapping, object recognition, and photorealistic visual effects, the $999 price tag left me speechless. For such an investment, the Vision Pro needed to significantly improve my day-to-day experience and productivity.
Then, as an analyst and an apple user, I aim to provide an unbiased review of whether the Vision Pro’s advanced capabilities justify the premium cost or if you’re better off waiting for the inevitable price drop and the next-gen model. This is the reason why you should switch from Android to Apple products with several considerations.
Apple Vision Pro: An Overview of the Latest Features
As an avid technology enthusiast, I have followed Apple’s product announcements closely over the years. The new Apple Vision Pro represents a compelling upgrade that provides innovative features for an immersive augmented reality experience.
The Vision Pro headset offers a powerful set of capabilities:
- High-resolution displays with a wide field of view. The Vision Pro has two 4K micro-OLED displays that provide stunning visuals. The displays offer a 90-degree diagonal field of view for an immersive experience.
- Spatial awareness. The Vision Pro contains LiDAR and depth sensors that map the surrounding environment. This allows the Vision Pro to place virtual objects in the real world and enable spatial interactions.
- Hand tracking. The Vision Pro tracks your hands and fingers with precision. This enables natural gestures for manipulating virtual objects and interfaces.
- Powerful chip. The Vision Pro is powered by Apple’s latest augmented reality chip, offering fast performance and advanced capabilities like environment mapping, hand tracking, and more.
- Audio. The Vision Pro provides spatial audio through small speakers near the ears. This enables realistic 3D audio that reacts based on your head position and the surrounding environment.
While the Vision Pro is an expensive device aimed at developers and tech enthusiasts, it provides a glimpse into the future of immersive computing. For those willing to pay the premium, the Vision Pro offers an unmatched augmented reality experience with its combination of high-resolution displays, spatial awareness, hand tracking, and audio. The Vision Pro is a bold step forward that showcases Apple’s technological ambitions. For mainstream users, less expensive smart glasses are still a few years away, but the Vision Pro demonstrates what the future may hold.
Vision Pro Display: Why the XDR Display Matters
As an avid photographer and videographer, the display on my editing monitor is of utmost importance. The Vision Pro features Apple’s XDR display, which provides a significantly better editing experience compared to a standard display. With a 32-inch screen, the Vision Pro gives you ample real estate to multitask like a boss
The XDR display has a few key benefits for creative professionals:
- Higher contrast ratio and deeper blacks. The XDR display has a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, providing deeper blacks and brighter whites for a wider range of luminance. This allows me to see more details in both the shadows and highlights of my photos and videos.
- Wider color gamut. The XDR display supports the P3 wide color gamut, displaying 25% more colors than a standard sRGB display. This means I can see more vibrant greens and reds when editing, allowing me to make more accurate color corrections and stylizations.
- Higher brightness. At 1,600 nits sustained and 1,000 nits full-screen, the XDR display is significantly brighter than a typical display. This additional brightness, combined with the wider contrast and color, provides a more lifelike viewing experience that translates well to different output mediums.
While the Vision Pro does come at a premium, for professionals and prosumers the investment in the XDR display can be well worth the cost. The additional capabilities provide a much more advanced creative workspace, allowing for higher quality and more efficient photo and video editing workflows. For hobbyists, however, the extra performance may be overkill and the price difficult to justify. But for me, the Vision Pro’s unparalleled XDR display makes it an easy choice for my editing needs.
Vision Pro Performance: How Powerful Is the New Vision Pro?
Powerful M1 Chip
The Vision Pro is powered by Apple’s latest M1 chip with an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU, delivering a massive boost in graphics performance. The M1 chip is the most powerful chip Apple has ever made and provides the Vision Pro with 11.9 teraflops of graphics computation power. The M1 chip enables the Vision Pro to tackle demanding tasks like photo and video editing, 3D modeling, and gaming with ease. Everything from launching apps to editing video is faster than ever before.
Stunning Display
The Vision Pro features a 27-inch 5K Retina display with P3 wide color gamut and 500 nits of brightness. With a resolution of 5120×2880 pixels, the Vision Pro has over 14.7 million pixels, resulting in smooth text and sharp images. The wide viewing angle and high contrast ratio provide a vivid, true-to-life visual experience from almost any angle. The Vision Pro’s display is ideal for photo and video editing, design, and other creative work.
Powerful Memory and Storage
The Vision Pro I tested came configured with 16GB of unified memory and a 512GB SSD. The memory allows you to run multiple memory-intensive apps simultaneously without slowing down the system. The SSD provides fast read and write speeds so you can open and save files quickly. You can configure the Vision Pro with up to 64GB of memory and 8TB of storage, providing plenty of power and space for your needs.
Final Thoughts
With its powerful components and stunning display, the Vision Pro is a compelling choice for creative professionals, graphic designers, video editors, and anyone who requires a high-performance desktop. While the Vision Pro commands a premium price, its capabilities make it worth the investment for those who need its power. For typical productivity tasks, its abilities may be overkill, but for resource-intensive work, the Vision Pro excels and helps maximize productivity.
Vision Pro Accessories: Which Ones Do You Really Need?
As an owner of an Apple Vision Pro, there are several accessories available to enhance your experience. However, not all are necessary to purchase right away. Here are some recommendations based on how I have used my Vision Pro.
Protective Case
A protective case is essential to shield your Vision Pro from scratches, dents, and other damage. I highly recommend purchasing a case, especially if you plan to travel frequently with your Vision Pro. There are many affordable yet high-quality options available.
Additional Charger
The Vision Pro comes with a standard USB-C charger, but having an additional charger is useful. I often leave one charger connected to the wall at home and pack the extra charger in my bag. That way I always have a charger handy wherever I go without needing to unplug the one at home. Apple sells separate 20W USB-C Power Adapters that work great as a second charger.
Wireless Charging Pad
For convenient wireless charging at home or the office, consider a wireless charging pad. Simply place your Vision Pro onto the pad and it will charge wirelessly through the case. Popular third-party brands like Belkin, mophie, and Anker all make affordable wireless charging pads compatible with the Vision Pro.
Additional Cables
Extra charging cables are handy to have in case your original cable gets misplaced or damaged. I recommend buying an additional USB-C to USB-C cable as well as a USB-C to USB adapter to ensure you have flexibility in how you can charge your Vision Pro.
In summary, while the Vision Pro comes with the basics to get started, purchasing a few key accessories like a protective case, extra charger, wireless charging pad, and spare cables will truly enhance your experience as an owner and help keep your device powered and protected at all times. With regular use, these additional accessories have proven worthwhile investments for my needs. However, only you can determine which ones are necessities based on how you plan to use your Vision Pro.
Vision Pro Price: Is the Vision Pro Worth the High Cost?
The Apple Vision Pro is Apple’s latest and most advanced smart glasses, with innovative features like spatial mapping, scene understanding, and hand gesture control. However, the Vision Pro comes with a hefty price tag. As an early adopter of new technologies, I had to consider whether the benefits of the Vision Pro are worth the high cost.
Advanced Capabilities
The Vision Pro’s advanced capabilities are unmatched. The built-in LiDAR scanner creates a 3D map of your environment, enabling spatial mapping and scene understanding. This allows the Vision Pro to detect objects and their locations with a high degree of accuracy. The Vision Pro also recognizes hand gestures, so you can control the glasses with just the wave of a hand. These advanced features demonstrate the innovative technology integrated into the Vision Pro.
Long-Term Value
While the upfront cost of the Vision Pro is substantial, the glasses provide long-term value. The Vision Pro works with all of your Apple devices, integrating tightly with the Apple ecosystem. Software and feature updates from Apple will enable new capabilities over time, extending the usefulness and value of the Vision Pro. The Vision Pro is also built to last, with a durable design and long battery life, so you can enjoy these benefits for years to come.
Cost-Benefit Analysis
For early adopters interested in innovative technologies, the Vision Pro’s advanced capabilities and long-term value may outweigh the high costs. However, the Vision Pro’s price point will likely limit mainstream consumer adoption, at least initially. For most customers, the cost-benefit analysis may favor more affordable smart glasses options, or waiting for future price drops.
In summary, while the Vision Pro demonstrates Apple’s most advanced smart glasses technology to date, its premium price will primarily attract dedicated Apple fans and early adopters. For mainstream customers, more affordable alternatives may provide better value, at least until costs decrease over time. With regular software updates extending its capabilities, the Vision Pro can remain useful for years, but you have to be willing to pay a high price for the latest innovation.
Conclusion
After examining the Apple Vision Pro’s features, capabilities, and limitations, I cannot recommend purchasing this device at its current price point for most users. While the Vision Pro does offer an innovative augmented reality experience and integration with other Apple products, the high cost, limited functionality, and uncertainty about long term support outweigh these benefits for casual or professional use. For early adopters and Apple enthusiasts willing to pay a premium to gain access to cutting edge technology, the Vision Pro may be appealing.
However, for mainstream users looking to maximize the value of their technology investments, the Vision Pro in its current form is not worth the cost. I hope to see future generations of this device expand capabilities, improve performance, reduce pricing, and gain wider software and app support to make the platform viable and beneficial for more people. The potential is there, but the reality has not yet matched the promise. I look forward to seeing how Apple continues to develop its vision for augmented reality and how the Vision Pro evolves to become more practical and essential.
