Editor: Editorial Department
【New Zhiyuan Guide】At 10 o'clock last night,AppleVision ProThe warranty seal was officially lifted,Foreign media bloggers have released evaluations,Netizens have the first impression after reading:It's so expensive!
Vision Pro has sold 200,000 units today!
So, how will this device, which Apple hopes to "build a new era of space computers", use?
At 10 o'clock last night, the seal was officially lifted. The media and big Vs have released evaluations, and fruit fans and VR enthusiasts excitedly set off an overnight carnival!
Get ready, a wave of assessments is coming!
Space computers have taken the first steps, but they are fraught with problems
Foreign media The Verge's evaluation of Vision Pro is: At first, I thought it was magic, and then I found out that it was not.
Many problems have been criticized, such as the face is very heavy, the user's nose needs to be very strong, otherwise it will slide down, the huge "power bank" looks like 12,000 mAh, but in fact it is only more than 3,000 mAh, the virtual avatar is heavy, and the virtual eyes and real faces will produce errors, the effect is very funny, or very scary.
"The Apple Vision Pro is the best consumer headset ever, but that's exactly where the problem lies. 」
Too long not to see the version:
merit
- The display is a marvel of technology, with the best video perspective experience yet
- Gesture and eye tracking technology has taken a leap forward
- Works seamlessly with Apple's ecosystem
- It's fun to fill the entire space with windows
shortcoming
- Expensive, too expensive
- Video perspective may be blurry at times
- Gesture and eye tracking performance is inconsistent
- Digital avatars are not natural enough and may even have some "uncanny valley effect" (but some people think it's great)
Do you think it's "weird" to use Vision Pro for calls?
For the 30-minute long video released by The Verge, netizens also responded enthusiastically:
"Do you really want a computer that is always staring at your hand?" made me laugh like crazy.
"Compared to the Quest 3, the narrower field of view is a huge mistake. 」
The most pertinent way to say about this headset is "It's the best headset I've ever seen, but it's not perfect."
Interestingly, some people planted grass after watching the video, and some people pulled weeds completely.
"After reading it, there is an 85% chance that you will buy it. 」
"The video is really well done, and I pulled the weeds after watching it. 」
Soul torture with Vision Pro
In fact, the concept of headsets appeared more than ten years ago, and it is not new.
In 2013, there was the first Oculus Rift. Subsequently, the first Oculus evolved into Meta's Quest series, followed by the $500 Quest 3 that is now being launched.
Apple's innovation lies in combining many ideas to turn the headset into a computer.
They want to make the Vision Pro a complete device that will sit alongside the Mac and iPad in Apple's ecosystem.
However, Apple also had to make a lot of trade-offs for the sake of this vision.
One of the most fatal problems is that implementing all of these technologies in a single headset means that it will be heavy on the face, so Apple has to use an external battery pack, among other trade-offs.
The following is the soul torture of The Verge reporter to Vision Pro users -
Would you rather use a computer that will ruin your hairstyle every time you use it? Would you be willing to let it ruin your makeup?
What you shoot on your computer may be limited by Disney, are you willing?
Would you rather use a computer where you can't share content with others? Should your most luxurious TV have an HDMI input? Your computer doesn't work well in a dim environment, would you like it?
Your computer is always monitoring your hand movements, would you like to?
hardware
Apple doesn't want us to call it a VR headset, but a "space computer", and there is some truth to it.
In many places, it does look like it's not a VR headset.
Compared to a lot of silly-looking plastic VR headsets, the Vision Pro is amazing.
It's made of magnesium and carbon fibre and has an aluminium shell, as if it's a natural extension of Apple's familiar design language.
EyeSight features are a bit of a
However, there are also bugs in the hardware design, such as the EyeSight feature that Apple is proud of.
Notice that what appears in front of your eyes is a digital eyeball, not a real eyeball
In the opinion of The Verge reporter, this feature is better than not existing.
Because the OLED resolution is very low, the lens panel is dim, and the cover glass is strongly reflective, it is difficult for your glasses to be seen under normal lighting.
Most of the time, when someone looks at your glasses, they'll see a low-resolution, ghostly image. So, you can't wear it to make real eye contact with others.
Of course, there are a lot of surprises to be found in the Vision Pro.
The cameras, sensors, lidar scanner, and infrared floodlights on the device allow it to work in low light.
The heat dissipation is also well done. The M2 processor, Apple's R1 space processor, and a pair of fans allow the device to dissipate heat quickly.
For users who wear glasses, ZEISS lenses can be customized. It feels good to use the Vision Pro with contact lenses.
The weight of more than 600 g was all pressed on the face
However, the Vision Pro is really too heavy!
The weight of the headset alone is between 600 and 650g, so to speak, it is an iPad to wear on your face.
The scary thing is that its weight is completely front-mounted. A large 722g headset like the Quest Pro will have a well-crafted headband to balance the weight.
But the Vision Pro doesn't! All the weight is on your face. After a while, you will feel this "unbearable weight".
Although, this is already the result of Apple's compromise - in order to reduce weight, Apple deliberately made the battery into an external "silver brick weighing 353g".
The battery can last for two and a half hours. And once the battery is disconnected, the power supply is completely cut off.
Display: Cook wanted to do AR, but he didn't
Displays are the main reason why Vision Pros are so expensive – they're at the heart of the Vision Pro experience and what makes all experiences so magical.
Both displays are micro MicroOLEDs with a total pixel count of 23 million pixels and a size of just 7.5 microns, which is the size of a red blood cell. This is a major leap forward in technology.
However, when it comes to the display, Apple also has trade-offs.
Apple's biggest goal is actually optical AR – light is delivered directly to your eyes through glasses, and digital information is layered on top of what you see.
Cook has always believed that AR is the technology that has the potential to truly change humanity.
The problem, however, is that the technology to build a truly optical AR display that would replace everyday computers has yet to emerge.
The Magic Leap 2 is smaller and cheaper, but it has a worse field of view and image quality that most people can't accept.
As a result, Apple decided to create a headset with real-time video pass-through – and that's the result of the decisive trade-off for the Vision Pro.
To put it bluntly, this is a VR headset disguised as an AR headset.
Video pass-through on the Vision Pro is very effective. When you put it on, a bunch of visionOS windows float around.
Doing this in real-time at high resolution on a computer that fits the human eye is an amazing engineering achievement.
According to Apple, there is only a 12ms delay between what the camera sees and what is on the display. Counting up, there's not even a second's delay: before you finish watching the last frame, the next frame is ready.
The WSJ reporter even put on the Vision Pro to cook a meal, and there was no noticeable delay between what was seen on the screen and what actually happened while chopping vegetables
Arguably, this is by far the best video pass-through among consumer devices.
The problem is that the camera is still a camera and the monitor is still a monitor.
Both cameras and monitors have limitations in color reproduction, which the Vision Pro cannot overcome.
Motion blur is noticeable when you move your head, and there are some odd straight warpings. As noise reduction begins, low light can also cause a loss of clarity in video pass-through.
For example, in this medium-light room, the system tries to balance the brightness of everything, so the Vision Pro can only show 49% of the colors that the eye actually sees.
Also, the Vision Pro doesn't have a large field of view, so you'll have large black bezels around what you're seeing.
There is a bit of distortion and vignetting around the edges of the lens, as well as green and pink fringing. These all make the field of view smaller.
Perspective simulation
Screenshots
Gesture tracking and eye tracking
Gesture tracking and eye tracking systems are something that Apple is very proud of, and it looks more advanced than other consumer-grade systems.
The first few times you use it, you'll be pleasantly surprised and feel like a superpower.
You don't need to hold your hands up in the air, the Vision Pro's external camera works just by seeing your hands. You can put your hand on the couch, on your lap, on the table, and it can track it all.
However, after a few more uses, you'll find that if you want to see what you control, you're going to have a lot of effort.
Usually we use a computer, and we don't need to look at an object when we manipulate it.
And on the Vision Pro, this is completely impossible.
You have to look at that thing to click on it, which causes you to constantly take your attention off what you're doing and look at the button you need to press next.
The reporter had only just played a small game and felt crazy: it was difficult to move the chess pieces, because he kept looking away from the chess pieces.
While visionOS is also designed for eye tracking systems, there are a number of problems: many of the controls are too small and too close together to quickly navigate the system.
When you click on something you want, you have to look at it. The quickest way to do this is to look away and try again.
Keep in mind that your eyes and hands don't directly control the Vision Pro: the camera observes them and converts them into input, which in many cases is not perfect.
For example, when using the on-screen keyboard, you have to stare at each letter and pinch your finger to select the keys, which is too time-consuming.
Its only use may be to enter a Wi-Fi password. If it takes longer, you might as well dictate or connect a Bluetooth keyboard so you can control your input directly.
Not only is it maddening to use, but the system constantly observes your hand input, so it records a lot of unexpected inputs.
Let's say you're doing something else and the system unexpectedly scrolls and clicks on something. This forces you to take down the Vision Pro.
All in all, it's really the best gesture and eye tracking system ever, but the magic doesn't work after a while.
If Apple really wants to make a space computer, the input system still has a long way to go.
Finally, the reporter said: As the main computing tool, the loneliness that Vision Pro gives people is particularly abrupt.
"I don't want to work in Vision Pro. My work needs to be done collaboratively with people, and I prefer to be with them, in this real world. 」
The experience after one week of intensive use: the future of computing and entertainment
In addition, a CNBC reporter also gave a vivid in-depth experience.
When they first saw Apple show off the Vision Pro, many users must have had questions in their minds.
After all, virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality and other complex reality concepts have been explored by major companies for several years.
But the three highlights of the Vision Pro make the price of $3500 seem to be a little "approachable":
- The most top-notch display;
- Perspective can realistically restore the world around us;
- The best headset processor in the world.
The Vision Pro's display effectively solves the "screen window" effect, which is common with low-cost headsets like the Meta Quest 3, where you can see sharp pixels in the headset.
On the Vision Pro, it's easy to read text on the web or in a book.
It even allows users to watch regular movies and 3D movies on a screen that is larger and clearer than any TV in the home.
While the Quest 3 and other headsets also have see-through capabilities, Apple's technical performance is significantly superior.
The Vision Pro's sharper picture allows users to comfortably view their surroundings in full color with virtually no lag, but it's still impossible to read what's on your phone.
Users can simply rotate the tiny digital knob, just like an Apple Watch or AirPods Max, to adjust the volume or fully immerse themselves in a 3D scene.
The virtual travel feature really allows users to work or watch a movie in Hawaii, by the lake, on the white sand beach without leaving their homes.
In a comfortable and tranquil environment, the clouds move slowly in the sky, making the user feel like they are in the middle of the situation.
Once you're familiar with the operation of the Vision Pro, navigating the headset is very simple.
Just like when the iPhone was born, Apple introduced a multi-touch display that revolutionized the way mobile phones used to interact with phones that relied primarily on stylus, touchpads, or keyboard operations.
Without the need for a controller, the headset tracks the user's eye movements through sensors (and even automatically authenticates when you shop online or in the App Store).
Apple offers a quick setup process that first adapts the device to your eyes, then lets the user follow a series of points to move their gaze and pinch their fingers together to calibrate as they operate.
For users who wear glasses, Apple also offers lenses that can be inserted into the device.
The precision is impressive. Users can simply look at the target and tap with their thumb and forefinger to select a button or app.
For example, there is a white bar at the bottom of each app that the user can resize by simply dragging it or by looking at the corner of the app and dragging it diagonally.
And by holding your index finger and thumb together and pulling it up or down, you can swipe a photo or scroll a web page.
Similarly, zoom can be performed by pulling the index finger and thumb of both hands outward or inward.
There's no need to wave your hands in front of you, as the headset's external camera detects finger movements on the user's legs, making it very lightweight.
Users can run more than a dozen applications simultaneously in a virtual space, although it's not really necessary to run so many at the same time, because they simply can't see it.
Users can set up a browser window directly in front of them, put a music player next to it, and put a virtual TV screen on the top.
And the layout of this virtual world is entirely up to you.
Users can open email and browser at the same time to keep Feishu active, place a Word document next to it, and put a calendar on the other side.
Users can even display text messages on the ceiling whenever they want.
Screenshots show that the app appears to be somewhat skewed. But in reality, in the headset, they all look perfectly aligned
This offers a whole new way of multitasking.
During the experience of the Vision Pro, I did not experience any operational delays.
This is thanks to the way Apple's content is rendered.
Vision Pro only renders the area of the screen that the user is focusing on, leaving the rest of the area blurry.
That's why the edge parts of some screenshots look a little blurry.
But inside the headset, everything is very clear. This technique is called "foveated rendering" and can greatly improve the efficiency of the processor.
Vision Pro的观看体验也好的离谱。
Users can stream four matches at the same time, with the main match displayed in the middle and the other matches fixed on both sides. The experience was simply incredible.
Apple also provided several specially recorded pieces of its own content, with a level of clarity that makes users feel as if they are there.
There is a slightly creepier scene of a lady walking on a rope between cliffs.
If you're afraid of heights, then maybe your realism will make you completely unbearable.
These clips illustrate the types of content that third parties can record and publish to headsets in the future.
It is conceivable that in the future, users will be able to experience a live viewing of a game.
The FaceTime experience is fantastic. You can clearly see the video feed of the person you're talking to on the screen in front of you. But what they see isn't the real you, but a 3D-rendered image called a digital persona.
Creating a "digital avatar" is as easy as selecting the appropriate option in the settings menu, then taking off the headset and following the instructions from the external display.
You'll be guided through a series of facial expressions, such as looking up, down, left, right, smiling, grinning, and closing your eyes, and in just a few seconds, a 3D avatar will be born.
Compared to other headsets, the appearance of this avatar is closer to that of a real person and does not look cartoonish.
When communicating with other people using digital avatars via FaceTime, the conversation is more natural, unlike two funny avatars chatting there.
Even in pajamas, you can participate in formal meetings in formal attire with a digital avatar.
In addition, the built-in speakers perform well, with loud sound and support for spatial sound.
This means that if the user turns their head away from the movie directly in front of them, the sound remains in its original position, as if the user were actually watching TV.
The sound quality of the music and the movie is excellent, with full surround sound effects.
However, other people can still hear the sound from the headset, so it's best to use AirPods in public.
Users can use the Vision Pro or the latest iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max external cameras to capture "stereoscopic photos".
This camera can create a 3D version of a photo or video.
For example, users can record their 4-month-old daughter eating and their dog's ninth birthday and relive these special moments in the future.
Finally, the build quality of this headset is very high. Apple uses top-of-the-line glass, screen, and metal materials to make it look high-end and comfortable to wear.
It can be said that this in-depth experience really shows the existing advantages of Vision Pro very comprehensively.
Twenty-five thousand, is it worth buying?