Apple Vision Pro review • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#561

Post by AndrewStephens » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 1:03 AM UTC

rodgerd wrote: post #548

AndrewStephens wrote: post #489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first iPhone was terribly limited compared to what came after it was not in any way terrible for the time. The demo Steve Jobs did was so good that a lot of people just refused to believe it was possible, only to be proven wrong when the thing went on sale. You have to put it in context with what passed for a smart phone back then. No web browser (they sort of existed but were extremely cut down and not really us…

> The first iPhone was terribly limited compared to what came after it was not in any way terrible for the time. At the time my feature phone had much better MMS, video calling, and J2ME apps. The first iPhone was a joke by comparison looked at through that lens, and detractors generally were looking at the fact it was this hobbled 2G device missing features that were common in other, cheaper phones. Oh, and the came…

You are not wrong but Apple predicted that none of those things mattered and they were proven right.

MMS worked well enough but was/is pretty limited. Video calling existed but postage stamp video at 8 frames per second was not something that anyone wanted to actually use. And don't get me started on J2ME, an ecosystem so vast that Google didn't even bother to include it in Android even though they are both based on Java. Although other phones had better cameras, none took what we would call an acceptable photos today.

What people did use all the time was the browser and only the iPhone had a decent one. That was the only thing that mattered. Heck, the iPhone wasn't even a very good _phone_ and even that didn't matter.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#562

Post by mikenew » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 1:05 AM UTC

raydev wrote: post #410

mikenew wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My launch day Apple Watch was unbelievably bad. Not even good for telling time as the raise-to-wake feature was so flaky. So by the sound of it, the Vision Pro might be starting in a better position than the watch.

My job at the time gave me a brand new Series 2 and it was annoying to interact with... when it was new. Dropped frames, missed touches, etc. There was still a little bit of lingering hope there would be "killer apps" outside notifications and exercise. But nope, nothing more interesting came, and OS updates ruined performance so badly that I happily returned it to my employer 2 years later and opted not to buy my ow…

I had the watch they launched with, which Apple pretends didn't exist as they named the next model the Series 1 and this model never got a name. The watch improved considerably in the next generations, so you can do the math back from your Series 2 to get a sense of how truly bad it was.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#563

Post by anonymouse008 » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 1:06 AM UTC

AndrewStephens wrote: post #489

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first iPhone was pretty terrible. I couldn't get my Marketing peers to take it seriously (which they came to regret). The first Watch was awful. I love my Series 8. Don't get me started on the first Mac...

The first iPhone was terribly limited compared to what came after it was not in any way terrible for the time. The demo Steve Jobs did was so good that a lot of people just refused to believe it was possible, only to be proven wrong when the thing went on sale. You have to put it in context with what passed for a smart phone back then. No web browser (they sort of existed but were extremely cut down and not really us…

We all forgot how awesome inertial scroll was. Scrolling through emails or text messages was absolutely bonkers - it actually allowed us to use the full informational capacity of the screen.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#564

Post by bozhark » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 1:09 AM UTC

electroly wrote: post #331

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder given all this... what the expectations are at Apple from a higher up/board/executive standpoint are Most of Apple offerings are good: Watch iPad Mac iPhone services Are they really expecting this to just be a hard problem initially that they get better at over time? When is the last time they launched a "so so" product?

Apple Maps falls in that category. Maps was bad when it came out but after years of effort (and a lot of money), it's pretty good now. That was no small feat given how good Google Maps already was when Apple Maps started.

Apple Maps still sucks though. Even if it’s better now, recent use is still ridiculous erroneous.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#565

Post by al_borland » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 1:10 AM UTC

zmmmmm wrote: post #276

Lots of surprises on the downside from all the reviews. Pass through much more limited in quality with motion blur, pixelation, distortions, limited color and dynamic range. The eye tracking driven input method which was seen as holy grail turns out to be annoying after a while because people don't naturally always look at what they want to click on. Personas straight up aren't ready. The lack of AR features is the b…

The biggest thing for me, from the Verge review, was the limited field of view. Apple sold it as filling the users entire field of view and it sounds like that isn’t the case. When I first saw the reality of the Microsoft HoloLens, that was my disappointment there as well… Google Glass as well. I don’t want to feel like I’m wearing an AR device, as so far, that’s what everything has looked like. Limits of the technology, sure, but until that is solved I’ll have a lot of trouble throwing money at it. I still plan to head to an Apple Store at some point to try it out for myself.

As far as viewing with other people, this doesn’t seem like an insurmountable challenge. They have the theaters, they have Personas, they have spacial audio, and other Apple devices have features for watching content together with friends. Put them all together and it seems like if several friends had Vision Pro they could feel like they were sitting in a theater room together while watching a movie. I’m not saying this will be easy, but it seems like all the building blocks are there. The Personas are probably the big weak point, especially looking at someone next to you, but with the focus on the movie, I that’s probably the least important part.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#566

Post by hackstack » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 1:11 AM UTC

hendersoon wrote: post #296

Apple failed to make a compelling argument for purchasing their device. Where's the "killer app"? The original iPhone was a better phone , and a general computing device with a web browser to boot. Is it to watch movies on a 100" screen on an airplane? The xReal weighs 75 grams and does that for four hundred dollars. It has a HDMI port too, so I can play my steam deck or switch. Where are the cool AR apps? Where is t…

Do people really watch movies on xreals? I tried the Air Pro 2 and found them borderline unusable.

Also, AR glasses being used by someone operating a motor vehicle sounds like a recipe for an entirely different kind of “killer” app.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#567

Post by Civitello » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 1:19 AM UTC

al_borland wrote: post #565

zmmmmm wrote: post #276

Lots of surprises on the downside from all the reviews. Pass through much more limited in quality with motion blur, pixelation, distortions, limited color and dynamic range. The eye tracking driven input method which was seen as holy grail turns out to be annoying after a while because people don't naturally always look at what they want to click on. Personas straight up aren't ready. The lack of AR features is the b…

The biggest thing for me, from the Verge review, was the limited field of view. Apple sold it as filling the users entire field of view and it sounds like that isn’t the case. When I first saw the reality of the Microsoft HoloLens, that was my disappointment there as well… Google Glass as well. I don’t want to feel like I’m wearing an AR device, as so far, that’s what everything has looked like. Limits of the technol…

> field of view...Limits of the technology

It really isn't though, at least not for long, as of mid 2023 there are publicly showcased compact lightweight prototypes with 240° FoV.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#568

Post by JumpCrisscross » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 1:20 AM UTC

bnolsen wrote: post #179

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What's the killer app? Movies on airplanes. I’m guessing these will become virtually ubiquitous in the front cabin within a few years.

For international flights they have may have a screen on the back of the seat in front of you. Using a tablet or small laptop works just as well without the discomfort of a headset.

> they have may have a screen on the back of the seat in front of you

They always have a screen in front of me. And I always have my laptop or iPad. There are still advantages to this, from immersiveness to privacy.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#569

Post by elzbardico » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 1:22 AM UTC

If you are already tethered to an external battery, why not move the bulk of circuitry to an external box to make this contraption lighter?

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#570

Post by propmaster » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 1:25 AM UTC

I think Apple's war to replaceable / serviceable batteries reached pathological levels: ok, for some technological limitations you have to use that unpractical umbellical-corded battery, for god sake, transform it in a feature, permitting the use of pluggable power banks, people can reuse those they have around without having to be "plugged into the wall with the 5-foot cord". Maybe they could add a little buffer battery with, let's say 5 minute autonomy, permitting "hot swap" features, hopefully user replaceable. About the weight : is that (IMHO disturbing) external-eye-reproduction feature necessary ? I find it useless and I think a screen reproducing my eyes externally consumes an important amount of energy , that for a 2 hour autonomy device could be important. About the applications, reading this article I'm sure: the object lacks of any "killer app" and friends, cooking with the visor on make me laugh : it's like you are about to solder the food pretending it's carbon steel ! In my day-to-day tech needs, I have instead space for some good AR glasses, like the old Google glasses: for example, live translation, being in a foreign country could be valuable something able to translate at command what I have in front of me, being a biker, could be valuable be able to read data from motorbike without having to move the eye from the street, same for navigator directions, etc. Other ideas? An app that suggest me places around worth to visit. I use oscilloscopes and other lab equipment, could be priceless to have the data accessible without moving the sight from the PCB, etc, etc, etc.