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I'm still trying to understand the use case for this $3500+ device. In the introduction video, Apple touted it as "useful for watching movies on an airplane or

I'm still trying to understand the use case for this $3500+ device. In the introduction video, Apple touted it as "useful for watching movies on an airplane or some other similar environment"... but I'm not bringing a large, unwieldy and extremely expensive device like a VR headset onto a plane or packing it on a trip... and the battery doesn't even last through a whole movie, according to the newest reports. The main way they tried to sell it from the beginning just seems... like a bad selling point.

rchaud 3y ago
Considering they haven't mentioned it much at all since the initial demo, I think they are intentionally going low-key with the launch. This is way outside the price range for people who could splurge $1000+ on an iPhone, but not much more. Plus you know what you're getting with an iPhone, this thing doesn't even have any apps yet. There's also significant anxiety about inflation, mortgage rates ans rent now that there wasn't previously.
dharmab 3y ago
I'm going to evaluate one to replace most of the equipment in my home office. I currently have 3 monitors and still could benefit from another 2-3. This would also provide audio quality on par with a decent hifi which would be a nice bonus. Add up the cost of 5-6 large monitors, and the space they take up in the room, and this device has appeal.
- _xnmw 3y ago
  I was thinking the same, but from what I understand, you can only create one virtual display with a Mac. How are you planning to replace 5 monitors?
  - sashank_1509 3y ago
    Do you need a Mac though? These days I extensively use vscode.dev online, so safari is enough, which is natively supported by Vision Pro. If VisionOS has a terminal that can run vim like a Mac, that would be sufficient for a large swath of developers. Also would electron apps be natively supported in VisionPro, if so then we might even have vscode on it
  - dharmab 3y ago
    I need to demo it, but ky understanding is that the virtual display can be very large, and from there I can use multiple windows to provide what I was getting from multiple monitors
    - dharmab 3y ago
      Never mind, I watched the video they posted and they only give you a single laptop-res display. That blows.
      - _xnmw 3y ago
        There is a workaround. Apparently you can get one single laptop display but then you can use visionOS apps on the side. That is good enough for me.
        dharmab 3y ago
        Doesn't work for the software I need for work (I can Sidecar my personal devices but can't install work software on or access work intranet)
- bluescrn 3y ago
  Ever tried reading small text in VR? Imagine text that's already somewhat low-res and then been scaled and rotated a bit. Soft, blurry. The vertical and horizontal of the pixel grid are no longer vertical or horizontal if you've got the slightest bit of head tilt. Nobody's going to be replacing monitors with headsets any time soon. It might be OK to watch video or for some light gaming on a virtual screen, but it's not going to be comfortable for editing code or other text-heavy work.
  - jwells89 3y ago
    The PPI of the Vision’s screens is supposedly high enough to render a virtual 4k display without loss of detail, which should be sufficient for text but time will tell.
    - bluescrn 3y ago
      All depends on the viewing distance. It can probably simulate a 4K display with you face very close to it. Or a 1000m wide 4K display 100m away from you. But in both cases you'll have to look around a lot to see the whole thing. A realistic case for a monitor would be a viewing distance about equal to the width of the screen, so taking up only about 50 degrees of horizontal FOV, with the whole screen in your field of view. There's no way it'll be able to render every pixel of a 4K virtual screen in those conditions. I'd be surprised if it looks as good as a 1080p screen, when you consider the resampling from the pixel grid of the virtual screen to the final output on the headset screen. (I guess you could argue that rendering 2 views gives an element of supersampling, though?)
  - dharmab 3y ago
    Yes, I use a VR headset in my flight simulator and can read the small text on the glass cockpit displays.
ErneX 3y ago
You can plug it to the wall and keep using it tethered, some airlines offer this right?
jsjohnst 3y ago
> and the battery doesn't even last through a whole movie For the low low price of only $199, Apple will sell an extra battery so you can finish that movie. :P
FireBeyond 3y ago
Hopefully it has a lot of local storage. I don't see you watching 8K movies on in-flight Wifi...
foogazi 3y ago
> but I'm not bringing a large, unwieldy and extremely expensive device like a VR headset onto a plane we take laptops and phones on the plane all the time Noise cancelling and video immersion seem like a good match for a flight
- jsbisviewtiful 3y ago
  It's great how you even quoted what I said and still paid no attention to what was said. I would not categorize a laptop as large and unwieldy and most fit neatly into most travel bags. The average laptop is not $3500+ either. This headset is not going to fit nicely into most travel bags. I'm floored you used a smartphone in this comparison.

rchaud 3y ago

Considering they haven't mentioned it much at all since the initial demo, I think they are intentionally going low-key with the launch. This is way outside the price range for people who could splurge $1000+ on an iPhone, but not much more. Plus you know what you're getting with an iPhone, this thing doesn't even have any apps yet. There's also significant anxiety about inflation, mortgage rates ans rent now that there wasn't previously.

dharmab 3y ago

I'm going to evaluate one to replace most of the equipment in my home office. I currently have 3 monitors and still could benefit from another 2-3. This would also provide audio quality on par with a decent hifi which would be a nice bonus. Add up the cost of 5-6 large monitors, and the space they take up in the room, and this device has appeal.

_xnmw 3y ago
I was thinking the same, but from what I understand, you can only create one virtual display with a Mac. How are you planning to replace 5 monitors?
- sashank_1509 3y ago
  Do you need a Mac though? These days I extensively use vscode.dev online, so safari is enough, which is natively supported by Vision Pro. If VisionOS has a terminal that can run vim like a Mac, that would be sufficient for a large swath of developers. Also would electron apps be natively supported in VisionPro, if so then we might even have vscode on it
- dharmab 3y ago
  I need to demo it, but ky understanding is that the virtual display can be very large, and from there I can use multiple windows to provide what I was getting from multiple monitors
  - dharmab 3y ago
    Never mind, I watched the video they posted and they only give you a single laptop-res display. That blows.
    - _xnmw 3y ago
      There is a workaround. Apparently you can get one single laptop display but then you can use visionOS apps on the side. That is good enough for me.
      - dharmab 3y ago
        Doesn't work for the software I need for work (I can Sidecar my personal devices but can't install work software on or access work intranet)
bluescrn 3y ago
Ever tried reading small text in VR? Imagine text that's already somewhat low-res and then been scaled and rotated a bit. Soft, blurry. The vertical and horizontal of the pixel grid are no longer vertical or horizontal if you've got the slightest bit of head tilt. Nobody's going to be replacing monitors with headsets any time soon. It might be OK to watch video or for some light gaming on a virtual screen, but it's not going to be comfortable for editing code or other text-heavy work.
- jwells89 3y ago
  The PPI of the Vision’s screens is supposedly high enough to render a virtual 4k display without loss of detail, which should be sufficient for text but time will tell.
  - bluescrn 3y ago
    All depends on the viewing distance. It can probably simulate a 4K display with you face very close to it. Or a 1000m wide 4K display 100m away from you. But in both cases you'll have to look around a lot to see the whole thing. A realistic case for a monitor would be a viewing distance about equal to the width of the screen, so taking up only about 50 degrees of horizontal FOV, with the whole screen in your field of view. There's no way it'll be able to render every pixel of a 4K virtual screen in those conditions. I'd be surprised if it looks as good as a 1080p screen, when you consider the resampling from the pixel grid of the virtual screen to the final output on the headset screen. (I guess you could argue that rendering 2 views gives an element of supersampling, though?)
- dharmab 3y ago
  Yes, I use a VR headset in my flight simulator and can read the small text on the glass cockpit displays.

ErneX 3y ago

You can plug it to the wall and keep using it tethered, some airlines offer this right?

jsjohnst 3y ago

> and the battery doesn't even last through a whole movie For the low low price of only $199, Apple will sell an extra battery so you can finish that movie. :P

FireBeyond 3y ago

Hopefully it has a lot of local storage. I don't see you watching 8K movies on in-flight Wifi...

foogazi 3y ago

> but I'm not bringing a large, unwieldy and extremely expensive device like a VR headset onto a plane we take laptops and phones on the plane all the time Noise cancelling and video immersion seem like a good match for a flight

jsbisviewtiful 3y ago
It's great how you even quoted what I said and still paid no attention to what was said. I would not categorize a laptop as large and unwieldy and most fit neatly into most travel bags. The average laptop is not $3500+ either. This headset is not going to fit nicely into most travel bags. I'm floored you used a smartphone in this comparison.