Hands on first impressions from WWDC 2023

Nearly 10 years have passed since then, apple Apple unveiled its final flagship product, the Apple Watch.

The company is now working on a completely different kind of wearable, a mixed reality headset called Vision Pro, which the company announced at its annual global developer conference on Monday.

I had to take one for a test drive.

Apple gave some WWDC attendees a controlled demo of Vision Pro, showing them how to interact with apps and other content in 3D space, and how to train an internal camera to track their eyes. Many features, such as Siri voice control and a camera that can capture 3D images and videos of him, we weren’t able to try. Apple says the Vision Pro won’t be available until early 2024, so the company will have to work out a few more issues before it can bring the full experience to the public.

Still, my demo gave me an idea of ​​where Apple stands in the burgeoning headset space.

But before that I had to do something about my glasses. The Vision Pro isn’t big enough to fit if you’re wearing glasses. The solution: a system of snap-in prescription lenses. An Apple representative picked up my glasses and placed them in a machine that could read my prescription. A customized set of lenses was waiting for me inside the Vision Pro when I arrived at the demo room. (Don’t worry if you’re using contacts.)

Then it’s time to dive in.

The headset was comfortable, with a cushioned fabric lining around my face and a headband that held me securely on my head. However, like all other headsets I’ve tested, it started to feel a bit heavy and uncomfortable by the end of the 30-minute demo.

When I first turned on the device, the external camera sent the outside world to the crisp display inside. It was almost shockingly clear.in the meantime meta‘s most advanced headset, the Quest Pro displays blurry, pixelated images of the outside world. Apple Vision feels like you’re looking through the glass instead of the screen.

Now let’s take a closer look at what you can do with Apple Vision. Press the dial at the top right of your device (Apple calls it the Digital Crown, like the dial on the Apple Watch) to bring up a menu of app icons. Similar to pressing the home button on an old iPhone. I had all the standard Apple apps you’d expect: Photos, iMessage, Apple TV, Safari, and more.

To select an app (or anything else you want to “click” on), look at it and make a pinch gesture with your thumb and forefinger to select it. The camera inside Apple Vision tracks your eyes and knows what you’re looking at. An external camera tracks hand movements. Meta’s headset has a similar feature, but if it works, it doesn’t work as well as the Apple Vision. (Meta includes a wireless controller with the headset for better control.)

As you open apps in sequence, windows appear in front of you and surround them as needed, much like you’re working with multiple screens on your desktop computer. Your apps look as sharp as they do on your iPhone or MacBook. This is important. I’ve never had a headset with such sharp visuals before.

I went through some demos like browsing an image library of photos. Among them was a panorama demo that made you feel like you were inside the scene. Apple TV is another important app. Place your virtual movie screen anywhere in the room. I saw a 3D clip of him in his latest movie, Avatar, and it was just as sharp as watching it on his 4K TV at home.

You can also rotate the Digital Crown clockwise to turn the headset into full virtual reality and immerse yourself in an immersive environment like a starry sky in the wilderness. I especially liked it when watching movies. I felt like I was sitting in his own IMAX theater.

But VR isn’t a complete escape from the real world. If someone is in the same room and looks at you for a few seconds, the headset will slowly fade that person into view within the immersive environment.

Another demo worth mentioning is FaceTime.

An Apple employee wearing her Vision Pro in another room called me and she appeared in a floating window in front of me. But it wasn’t her actual face, but a realistic-looking avatar that Apple calls a “persona.” Apple’s demo didn’t allow the Vision Pro to scan your face and create your own persona, but the one I’m talking to looked like hers enough that I started off with the usual I thought it was a video chat. This is very different from Mark Zuckerberg’s cartoonish “metaverse selfies” that made headlines last year.

While most of the Apple Vision’s focus is visual, I’m equally impressed with the audio. Vision Pro has two speakers that sit close to your temples and provide a surround sound effect. If you’ve used the AirPods spatial audio feature, you know what I mean. However, in AR and VR, the effect was more pronounced, and the feeling of realism and immersion was higher than visuals alone. And even though the sound wasn’t coming into my ears directly, other people in the room couldn’t hear it. (Of course, you can also pair AirPods with Vision Pro.)

Lastly is the price. His WWDC crowd on Tuesday — filled with some big Apple fans — I hear moans When the $3,500 price tag appeared on the screen. But as someone who’s tried nearly every mainstream headset so far, the Vision Pro feels like his $3,500 machine. Much more advanced than its next closest competitor, Meta’s Quest Pro.

That is the state of this technology today. A mediocre to terrible experience for hundreds of dollars, or a premium and visually pleasing experience for thousands of dollars.

This alone shows that the Vision Pro and other similar devices have a long way to go beyond niche offerings.