Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 562 posts

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#11

Post by trafficante »

It’s quite obvious that this will effectively duplicate 1440p monitors since the much lower resolution Quest Pro is (mostly) able to do so with 1080p. Hopefully it can do even better than 1440p, but honestly that might be “good enough” when comboed with multiple virtual displays. Multiple effectively-1080p virtual displays don’t really cut it on the QP, but it’s annoyingly close.

My bigger concern is comfort. Ski mask style HMDs went the way of the dinosaur for a good reason: they’re nightmarishly awful to use for extended periods of time. I did see an image of an attachable side-to-side head strap, which implies Apple is aware of the problem but prioritized aesthetics.

Also for anyone interested in FoV: this guy on Twitter mentioned that it’s similar to the Quest Pro [1]. Lower than I’d like for that price, especially with an enclosed face gasket.

1. https://twitter.com/benz145/status/1665894522658910213?s=20

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#12

Post by GeekyBear »

trafficante wrote: post #11

It’s quite obvious that this will effectively duplicate 1440p monitors since the much lower resolution Quest Pro is (mostly) able to do so with 1080p. Hopefully it can do even better than 1440p, but honestly that might be “good enough” when comboed with multiple virtual displays. Multiple effectively-1080p virtual displays don’t really cut it on the QP, but it’s annoyingly close. My bigger concern is comfort. Ski mas…

> It’s quite obvious that this will effectively duplicate 1440p monitors since the much lower resolution Quest Pro is (mostly) able to do so with 1080p.

It doesn't sound like prior efforts work well for that use case at all.

> The resolution means that text is actually readable. Apple’s positioning of this as a full on computing device only makes sense if you can actually read text in it. All of the previous iterations of ‘virtual desktop’ setups have relied on panels and lenses that present too blurry a view to reliably read fine text at length. In many cases it literally hurt to do so. Not with the Apple Vision Pro – text is super crisp and legible at all sizes and at far ‘distances’ within your space.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/06/05/first-impressions-yes-appl...

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#13

Post by threeseed »

andrewstuart wrote: post #5

At USD$3500, who is it for? And who will develop software for something with such a small user base?

It is targeted at developers and companies who want to build apps. But there will of course be a huge contingent of early adopters.

The reason it is priced at $3500 is because Apple does not have the supply chain to build more of these things. There is simply no point pricing this at $300 and being perpetually Out of Stock which would devalue their brand for no benefit. Hence the Pro tag and release at WWDC.

Eventually there will be a non-Pro version that everyone can buy.

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#14

Post by celeritascelery »

MacsHeadroom wrote: post #9
orbital-decay wrote: post #4

I'm sure it's good enough with that resolution and other high tech stuff. But can you work in it for extended periods of time? I never wear wristwatches or smart watches unless I have to (hiking, running etc) because I dislike any trinkets that touch the skin 24/7, regardless of the material. This thing is almost like a diving mask, just not airtight. How about wearing it several hours straight?

I regularly wear my Quest for 9-10 hours a day. It's plenty comfortable with the right equipment. I forget I'm wearing it after a while.

Why so long? Are you using it for work?

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#15

Post by threeseed »

orbital-decay wrote: post #4

I'm sure it's good enough with that resolution and other high tech stuff. But can you work in it for extended periods of time? I never wear wristwatches or smart watches unless I have to (hiking, running etc) because I dislike any trinkets that touch the skin 24/7, regardless of the material. This thing is almost like a diving mask, just not airtight. How about wearing it several hours straight?

People ski and snowboard for multiple days at a time. And the mask is typically not the limiting factor.

And most people can wear glasses, wedding rings and watches all day without issue.

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#16

Post by threeseed »

thatsso1999 wrote: post #2

This is the first actual hands-on demo I’ve seen, and apparently it’s actually really good. Really want to try out the auto 3d-scanning tech.

I assume it is derived from their RoomPlan research:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/RoomPlan

https://machinelearning.apple.com/research/roomplan

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#17

Post by MacsHeadroom »

celeritascelery wrote: post #14
MacsHeadroom wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I regularly wear my Quest for 9-10 hours a day. It's plenty comfortable with the right equipment. I forget I'm wearing it after a while.

Why so long? Are you using it for work?

VRChat

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#18

Post by poulsbohemian »

MacsHeadroom wrote: post #7
andrewstuart wrote: post #5

At USD$3500, who is it for? And who will develop software for something with such a small user base?

> At USD$3500, who is it for? Everyone. It's a laptop replacement. Realistically this "Pro" version is for early adopters. There will surely be a regular/SE/Lite version in a couple of years for the price of a MacBook Air. > And who will develop software for something with such a small user base? Everyone will, if they're smart. Being first to market on a new platform is huge, even if it will take a few years to have…

>Everyone. It's a laptop replacement.

Respectfully, even the iPad hasn't fully evolved into a laptop replacement, so why should we think this device will fit all the multitude of use cases that necessitate the computing power represented by a laptop / desktop device?

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#19

Post by [deleted] »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #18
MacsHeadroom wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At USD$3500, who is it for? Everyone. It's a laptop replacement. Realistically this "Pro" version is for early adopters. There will surely be a regular/SE/Lite version in a couple of years for the price of a MacBook Air. > And who will develop software for something with such a small user base? Everyone will, if they're smart. Being first to market on a new platform is huge, even if it will take a few years to have…

>Everyone. It's a laptop replacement. Respectfully, even the iPad hasn't fully evolved into a laptop replacement, so why should we think this device will fit all the multitude of use cases that necessitate the computing power represented by a laptop / desktop device?

[deleted]

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#20

Post by trafficante »

GeekyBear wrote: post #12
trafficante wrote: post #11

It’s quite obvious that this will effectively duplicate 1440p monitors since the much lower resolution Quest Pro is (mostly) able to do so with 1080p. Hopefully it can do even better than 1440p, but honestly that might be “good enough” when comboed with multiple virtual displays. Multiple effectively-1080p virtual displays don’t really cut it on the QP, but it’s annoyingly close. My bigger concern is comfort. Ski mas…

> It’s quite obvious that this will effectively duplicate 1440p monitors since the much lower resolution Quest Pro is (mostly) able to do so with 1080p. It doesn't sound like prior efforts work well for that use case at all. > The resolution means that text is actually readable. Apple’s positioning of this as a full on computing device only makes sense if you can actually read text in it. All of the previous iteratio…

> It doesn't sound like prior efforts work well for that use case at all.

Fwiw, this is essentially correct for all consumer grade HMDs prior to the end of 2022. Fresnel lenses meant you could only achieve (relative) text clarity inside a small sweet spot.

Pancake optics made this more of a question of panel resolution due to their nearly edge-to-edge clarity. The problem is that the two currently available pancake lens devices are the Pico 4 and the Quest Pro: neither of which have quite enough underlying pixels to make the “working in headset” dream viable.

I absolutely DON’T recommend the Quest Pro as a replacement monitor for that very reason. It CAN reasonably approximate a 1080p monitor, but not at a visual distance most people would be comfortable with using for extended times. Similar experience to using a large TV as a monitor (though not quite THAT bad). When you’re that up close and personal with your virtual display, adding extra desktops doesn’t really help much.

“Vision Pro” has pancake optics and a very dense display panel so the “sitting in front of a TV” thing shouldn’t be an issue. I’m very excited to try one out.

Post reply on HN