Yesterday I tried the Apple spatial computing for the first time in my life. I have been waiting for this moment since June 2023. I had read everything that colleagues like Víctor Abarca, Angel Jiménez or Francesc Bracero told me when they tested them at WWDC23.
I’ve written several articles on the subject, been on dozens of podcast episodes about the possibilities, the past, the present and the hundreds of futures that have come to mind. I had a note written on my iCloud with almost a hundred things to look at.
I had everything planned, I have been writing for almost twenty years on the Apple world. I experienced the arrival of the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad and the Apple Watch.
None of this mattered. The first time I put them on, I was literally speechless.
APPLE’S AUGMENTED REALITY GLASSES are called VISION PRO and look like SCIENCE FICTION
Apple Vision Pro, impressions in a new reality
I understand very well people who have some reluctance with the product. For years, I would even say decades, companies have devoted more effort to video marketing than to designing a robust and stable product. For years, the threshing machines I ate them.
We’re so used to watching a dazzling video and then being disappointed that it’s normal to think of disappointment when someone tries to sell us something. The first thing I thought, and the same thing happened to the Rossellimac team who I accompany in this adventure, is that for the first time, the marketing materials fall far short of what the product can actually do. They fail.
Apple is a very passionate brand, with very passionate people within and also among its users. Yesterday, Tim Cook said on Twitter that he had seen people in the store with tears in their eyes after trying them. Th is is not a joke, I was there and witnessed it too. They weren’t exaggerating.
Trying the Apple Vision Pro for the first time makes you rethink everything you want from technology. But these questions come suddenly, with the first immersive scene
Naturalness is one of the keys to everything. Believe me, I’m holding back. Honestly, these first 24 hours have given me so much to say that I don’t know where I’ll end up with my final review. Here are some first impressions and I’ve already commented on some of them on social media: Apple Vision Pro is so far from everything else, just like the original iPhone. I think so even more.
The key is natural
(Screenshot does not show actual device resolution or quality). Navigating visionOS is amazing.
If anything has been essential to everything Apple has done over the past 30 years, it’s an extremely natural practice. You picked up the mouse and moved it. A button. The iPod with the click wheel, you just need to scroll through it with your finger. The multi-touch screen of the iPhone, iPad. The Watch, put it on and it takes care of everything.
In the full review I will explain everything in detail, but the setup process is pure science fiction. OpticID takes a few seconds Setting up and adjusting the experience consists of the focal distance between the two screens – what the device does itself – and nothing else. Suddenly, a “hello” appears floating in front of you. I wondered what Jobs would have thought of seeing it after using it in the first Macintosh as a reference word.
From there, following the retina to look at things and pinching to select them gives the feeling that we are in front of something else: the evolution of all user interfaces: in a few minutes it is already so easy to use them and to find yourself there. the way we do it with the iPhone. Only much better. It looks like real magic How it works.
The screens show reality through the viewer at a good resolution. They obviously don’t have the same sharpness as clear glass, but it makes us feel like we’re wearing glasses with shocking realism and no noticeable lag. You can move around without any problem, even in low light.
The top digital crown is the control that reality occlusion graduates, we therefore transform our environment into a mountain. To work or watch a movie. The window or 3D object we see will reflect the light it emits onto the scene. These immersive backgrounds are not just a static image in three-dimensional perspective. You can move next to them and the clouds or fog move in front of you.
In short, browsing, using them and launching applications is an absolute pleasure with Apple Vision Pro. Everything else you use will seem from another century compared to the work of having your enlarged Mac screen floating in front of you. This is exactly how I write to you now, with very good definition. Ideal for working from a hotel for example, with a large work surface.
A design that also leaves you speechless
In reality, the Apple Vision Pro is very small. It only consists of the viewfinder part because there are no more electronics (plus headphones
It’s a bit heavy – now you understand why Apple removed the battery from the device – and the Solo Knit Band (the bracelet it comes with assembled in the box) can be somewhat uncomfortable – in my opinion – for continuous use. This is why Apple has also integrated the Double loop bandwhich contains a band that further supports the visor on top of the head.
The Dual Loop Band is the most comfortable strap for everyday use. It is included in the Apple Vision Pro box.
It’s not as pretty as the Solo Knit Band, but it’s more usable day by day. Me at the moment I’ve been wearing it for over four hours. and I don’t feel any annoying weight on my face. If you look at the analyzes of colleagues in the American press, they all end up wearing the Dual Loop Band. This is just for convenience, although the other one can obviously be used without problems, as it is much more comfortable to put on or take off.
The battery is slightly smaller than an iPhone 15 Pro, and also heavier. In the case of the battery, I didn’t care. It fits easily in your pocket and doesn’t bother you at all. People were wondering why a battery of this capacity (what a high-end mobile generally has) has such a large scope. Well, the answer is because it barely heats up. Essential if we carry it in our pocket.
In the viewfinder, I didn’t notice any increase in heat, nor anything else I was worried about: that the “screen” would fog up. I wear contact lenses (for myopia and presbyopia, both) and no matter how much I tightened the strap over those 24 hours, the screen never got dirty or fogged up. Apple achieved this with the Light Seal a little thicker than what seems usual (which comes with another size in the box).
The first hours are continuous surprises
Probably the dthe first hours I tried Apple Vision Pro What I said the most was “But is it possible?” » With everything that was happening in front of me. The creation of User Persona is incredible: in a few minutes, you have an avatar hyperrealistic in front of you (never said better). I don’t understand those who criticize this feature – which is also in beta – because it is not 100% real. This will be the case, but the result proposed by Apple is crazy.
My virtual “Person”. Apple Vision Pro takes barely a minute to create.
Imitate all the gestures you make while speaking, including language, facial expressions or hands, which may also appear. The work of this sensor management of the new R1 chip combined with the power of the M2 is unprecedented for a first generation product.
Working with the Mac on a desktop without limits, the ability to watch movies on a gigantic screen while you “float” in an unreal room or on a mountain. Alicia Keys sings in front of you, or in balance between two mountains. The space photos we can all take with the iPhone 15 Pro Max…the uses and possibilities are so numerous that it’s overwhelming for the first few hours. I’ll detail which ones I used the most in my full review.
There is so much to say about this device, it’s like we’re entering a new world: I haven’t explored it in depth yet but possibilities and technology This is something I’ve never seen before. No matter how prepared you think you are.
Very soon in the in-depth review of Apple Vision Pro we will see all the details and daily use
Yesterday, I read in first reactions from buyers, with a feeling similar to what we are beginning to experience. I stand by Casey Neistat’s comment, I think it defines very well what those of us who have been able to try them already feel:
“The Apple Vision Pro is the most impressive piece of technology I’ve ever touched. “I’m not sure what I expected, but it’s like someone from the future went back in time and built the future using only what was available today.”
In Applesfera I will continue to publish everything I discover, culminating very soon in a detailed analysis, and I will also be very attentive to everything that the developers start to offer now that it’s on the market. It’s only just beginning. But what a start.
In Pommesfera | The Apple Vision Pro show starts before you even use it: we haven’t remembered something like this since the launch of the original iPhone
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