Ask HN: Did you try/buy the Apple Vision Pro?

[csomar]

It seems like the initial reviews (from influencers) and then the verge/reddit reviews of real people trying this diverged. Add to that, you need sometime before you can pull your final judgment.

I am wondering if some of the HNer here bought one and what their opinions are.

[KiDD]

I’m writing this post right now from the Vision Pro I find it truly amazing. You have to see it to believe it.

[SirensOfTitan]

I have no intention of even trying one, it's a more immersive screen that further detaches me from my environment. It looks incredibly impressive and Apple's engineering team should be really proud, but it's not for me. Maybe when I'm 60 and I can put on a pair of glasses or contacts instead.

Social media has a bad reputation for good reason, but people understate how much the iPhone fuels addiction. I'm worried this kind of device catches on and further degrades real-world socializing. I don't want real eye contact to become rarer because everyone is plugged into their own little worlds everywhere.

[kingkongjaffa]

see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39236548

[ActorNightly]

I was an early adopter of VR. Original Quest, followed by Htc Vive followed by Valve Index, followed by Quest 3. Spent almost as much hours gaming and using VR as I do my regular computer.

I recently tried the Vision Pro at my friends house. Graphics are definitely a lot better. Hand tracking is better than Quest 3. Weight is definitely bulkier on out of all the headsets, but thats something that you get used to - when I first started gaming in VR, my neck was super sore, but after a while, you actually end up strengthening your neck and upper back, which ironically resulted in less headaches for me during the day.

That being said, Vision pro is nothing revolutionary. You either have to be a massive Apple stan or never experienced VR to begin with to find it amazing. Its a better iteration of the current VR headsets for sure, but just like the rest, its missing the point. The biggest problem in itself is that everyone is trying to mix VR and AR into one, which is the wrong way to go.

VR is way better with external tracking, because you can do things like full body tracking. In VR chat, Ive participated in a few events where people were teaching dance or martial arts, with trackers on hip, knees and legs, and it worked out quite well. Behind the back tracking is also useful for games. Of course the issue with VR is that the entry cost (including the space to play VR) is very high, so the community is VERY tiny.

AR on the other hand needs to be a very lightweight, low profile headset with transparent displays. I use my Quest 3 with passthrough sometimes when working with my hands, however the latency/resolution/bulkiness is noticeable. Vision does this better, but not perfect.

The rest of uses of AR/VR, like making calls, browsing, e.t.c is very much a novelty. Gets old quick.

My perfect device would be a lightweight pair of glasses, with a transparent display on one eye, with a low res display, usbc to my phone. The usefullness of that would be 1000 times what Vision Pro offers.

TLDR; get the Quest 3 if you wanna try VR. Otherwise hold out for a lighter, better AR system.