Apple Vision Pro impressions after 30 minutes of use: extraordinary tech, heavier than expected, visionOS is a breakthrough, incredible for sports, and more

I got to spend about 30 minutes Monday afternoon using a Vision Pro and VisionOS at Apple Park, in a temporary “field house” …

Daring Fireball 2023-06-08 John Gruber

Context & Ripple Effects

Early hands-ons converged on the headset’s unusually polished interaction model, with a prior report calling its eye tracking and gesture control a leap forward for XR interaction. This account adds a concrete use case—sports viewing—while identifying weight as a practical constraint.

The story matters because it separates the promise of visionOS from the physical burden of wearing the hardware. Subsequent coverage of the SDK’s travel and guest features shows Apple was building for use beyond a single, fixed demo setting.

First-order effects

Apple gains early validation that visionOS’s gaze-and-hand interface can make immersive media, particularly sports, immediately compelling.
The report puts comfort alongside software as a near-term product issue: a headset can impress in a short session while its weight limits how broadly that experience translates to longer use.

Second-order effects

Developers and media partners have a clearer incentive to prioritize immersive sports and video experiences, where the display and interface appear most differentiated, rather than treating the device chiefly as a general-purpose computer.
XR rivals face a sharper comparison on input quality, while Apple’s own product planning must balance richer capability against the ergonomics needed for repeated use.

Third-order effects

If strong spatial interfaces continue to be paired with uncomfortable hardware, XR could first establish itself around high-value, seated entertainment rather than all-day personal computing.
The emerging divide is between software that makes spatial computing intuitive and hardware constraints that determine adoption; later hands-ons similarly praised tracking while noting weight and difficult text input in a longer-use assessment.

The trend: This is an early signal of XR shifting from controller-led demos toward natural spatial interfaces, with comfort and sustained-use utility becoming the decisive adoption tests.

Discussion

@raywong.bsky.social Ray Wong on bluesky
So... I got to use the Apple Vision Pro for 30 minutes today... and it was absolutely fucking incredible!!! — The eye and hand-tracking is perfect. Accurate and precise and responsive. No lag. — Passthrough blows Quest Pro away — https://www.inverse.com/...
@mattihaapoja Matti Haapoja on x
I just tried Apple Vision Pro and it's gonna completely change filmmaking, storytelling and content creation. I've never experienced that sort of presence, feeling like I'm there in the scene.
@mattihaapoja Matti Haapoja on x
And editing in Final Cut Pro in AR will be available for launch 👀 editing with eyes and gestures. We freaking finally get to edit minority report styles.
@pogue David Pogue on x
Dear @Apple: Your press release for the Apple Vision Pro uses the term “user” 104 times. Why would you choose such a distancing, dead, disrespectful term for the people who use your products? Only two industries refer to their customers as “users.” Here's my suggested edit. [imag…
@danielraffel Daniel Raffel on x
The most exciting thing to me about Vision Pro is the lack of competition to explore exciting new ideas from Google or Meta. They just won't be able to justify touching this platform for awhile. Big markets like ads, search, video, social will be up for grabs imho.
@owasow Omar Wasow on x
What will Apple Vision Pro actually be used for? Sports. “Baseball and basketball scenes were shot by Apple using custom camera rigs... It looks real. It was incredible. I would genuinely consider buying a Vision Pro just for sporting events like this.” https://daringfireball.net…
@charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x
As @stuartmiles suggests, need someone who was at the basketball game to find a pic of the basket end at that moment which Apple used in its demo. Because the camera kit - not a headset! - will be there in open view. https://twitter.com/...
@durreadan01 Adan on x
Before you completely rule out Vision Pro being a hit in the future, consider this: - iPhone: best-selling smartphone in the world - iPod: best-selling MP3 player in the world - Apple Watch: best-selling smartwatch in the world - MacBook: best-selling laptop in the world (MBA)...…
@random_walker Arvind Narayanan on x
People who've tried Apple's headset are saying it's so good at video passthrough that you often forget you're wearing it. Given the obvious addictive potential, there will be people who never take this thing off. When answering the door. In public. When driving. At a funeral.
@mattihaapoja Matti Haapoja on x
I would pay sooooo much more money than $3499 to be able to relive important moments and experiences later in life. Absolutely mind blown.
@pogue David Pogue on x
Today, a select few (hundred) journalists and techies got 30-minute tryouts with the Apple Vision Pro. It's mind-blowing tech, it really is—but the pros and cons probably aren't what you imagine. Here's what I experienced! https://medium.com/... [image]
@cixliv @cixliv on x
The reason Apple announced the headset with “23 Million Pixels” instead of “4K” TV and monitor “4K” is 8.3 million pixels (3840 x 2160) *larger number only horizontal* This thing is 23 million. Almost 3 times a normal 4K TV. More than 4K vertical and horizontal. WOW!! https://twi…
@sadlyitsbradley Brad Lynch on x
Something tells me that Apple Vision Pro is still a VR headset 🤔 [video]
@mattihaapoja Matti Haapoja on x
They showed me places around the world that I had been to and it felt like I was reliving memories. One of them was being under water with a scuba diver who's feeding sharks and I've done that and it felt soooo real being there again.
@neilcybart Neil Cybart on x
There is one very difficult thing about selling Apple Vision Pro (and everything associated with it): Traditional presentations/videos/photos don't do a good job of explaining the product.
@sadlyitsbradley Brad Lynch on x
@daniel_carvalho I'm poking fun at the many vr users who were fooled by the Apple marketing that there is no vr in apples HMD
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
In other words, it looks like Meta is doing low definition VR and Apple is doing high definition AR. But either way, it's so interesting that Apple launched a VR headset and the one thing they didn't really demo was any actual VR
@joannastern Joanna Stern on x
I think this is why, as I said in my video and column, Spatial photos and video was the coolest part of the demo for me. https://www.youtube.com/...
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
It seems to me that Apple made the exact opposite set of compromises to Meta. The limitations of compute power mean Meta gives you a 360 3D world at low visual quality - Apple gives you super high quality but mostly in 2D.
@sadlyitsbradley Brad Lynch on x
The Unity VR game keynote talks not only about hand tracking but also the possibility for “tracked controllers” [video]
@benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x
Sell-side estimates of Apple Vision Pro year-one sales are all over the place. It's clear who has supply chain contacts and who doesn't.
@bradneuberg Brad Neuberg on x
Okay, here's my next day thoughts on the Apple Vision Pro: - It's more expensive, clunkier, and heavier then I would have liked. - I'd hoped Apple had figured out weight and thinness a bit more. - I was hoping for an MR gen 3 headset, but in some ways this is an Apple gen 0... ht…
@durreadan01 Adan on x
I forgot. - iPad: best-selling tablet in the world
@rsgnl Joe Rossignol on x
Vision Pro is insanely cool and I want it just to nerd out with it, but it is around $5200 after tax in Canadian dollars. That's incredibly steep — especially knowing a second-gen model will come. I've never been against buying one, it's just too expensive for fun.
@alexlindsay @alexlindsay on x
For those saying Apple's Vision Pro is expensive. My parents bought me an Apple IIe in 1982, with a green lit monitor for $2000. The equivalent cost today is $6300. A lot of people are going to buy the headset. Not everyone, but it will be a $Billion business out of the gate.
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
Almost everything in Apple's demos is either stereoscopic video or 2D planes floating over stereoscopic video. They aren't rendering a high-quality 3D world at 23 million pixels. How much is that computing constraint?
@joannastern Joanna Stern on x
Look, I have no idea if Spaital photos and videos are going to become a thing but I'll say this... Ever since I had my Vision Pro demo and have gotten videos of my kids on this trip, I've been thinking it would be really cool to see this in 3-D. Do I want my wife to have to wear …
@jw @jw on x
for weeks I've been saying Meta whiffed a golden opportunity with VR and live sports, and this is confirmation Zuck had Dana White shut down events for him... why there's not a permanent Quest Cam on the UFC octogon is beyond maddening https://twitter.com/...
@wholemarsblog @wholemarsblog on x
Apple Vision's $3,500 price tag is kind of genius. What's the best way to make people want something useless? Tell them they can't have it. By the time they drop the price to $1,000 people will be able to convince themselves it's a “good deal”.
@cher0x801 Cher Scarlett on x
Whoever makes something in between these two extremes wins tbh [image]
@firt Maximiliano Firtman on x
All iPhone and iPad apps from the store will be available at the Vision Pro App Store by default. visionOS runs iOS and iPadOS apps without changes, but recompilation is recommended for a more adapted UI. Developers can opt out of the new platform. [image]
@joannastern Joanna Stern on x
And, of course, ecosystem support for a new photo and video format is so Apple. “And we call it... 3DHEIC! We think you're going to love it.”
@parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on x
visionOS seems like a much more complete package compared to iPhone OS 1.0 and watchOS 1.0, another clear sign parts of this thing have been ready for awhile despite us still having to wait quite a bit longer
@rsgnl Joe Rossignol on x
This image URL includes both visionOS and xrOS lol: https://developer.apple.com/ ... @nicolapps let me know about this.
@counternotions Kontra on x
Ex-Apple guy now working for a direct Apple competitor on Vision Pro: “I think it's extraordinarily telling that no Apple exec posed for photos wearing the thing.” Because playing an inappropriate mannequin would otherwise guarantee product success? [Picture of Sergey Brin wearin…
@asvanevik Alex Svanevik on x
Cynics should read this post on the Apple Vision Pro: https://daringfireball.net/...
@jamesppinkerton James P. Pinkerton on x
“An Apple rep. took my eyeglasses and placed them on a machine that could read my prescription. By the time I got to the demo room, a customized set of lenses were waiting for me inside the Vision Pro.” Would seem to have implications for the lens biz. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@heaney555 David Heaney on x
Too many people still don't get that Apple Vision Pro is fully capable of doing VR, not just AR. https://twitter.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
Since I tried the Vision Pro, I've been thinking about the first time I used an iPhone with a Retina display, and how every other phone felt blurry after that. The Vision is that same feeling for headsets. https://www.theverge.com/...
@raywongy Ray Wong on x
Gonna be thinking about my 30 minutes with the Apple Vision Pro for a loooong time. And then dreaming about it until it comes out. It's legit sickkkkk! Who can I pay to try it again?! ha My thoughts on the Apple Vision Pro on @inverse https://www.inverse.com/... #WWDC23
@dsobeski @dsobeski on x
The best conparison to the VisionPro is the original iPod. At the time, Sina, Tony, Avi, Jonny and Steve talked about the drawer of media players they had and how the software on windows and Mac was terrible and the hardware design was pitiful. Right now I have a drawer of VR... …
@linusekenstam Linus on x
Some Early Apps Spotted on Vision Pro App Store. ✦ Microsoft Word ✦ Game Room (classic games) ✦ JigSpace ✦ Blackbox ✦ Rec Room ✦ Complete HeartX ✦ Simply Piano ✦ Zoom ✦ Super Fruit Ninja ✦ Stages What things do you want on the Vision App Store? [image]
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
I thought Apple perfectly marketing the Vision Pro, going with the future of the computer angle rather than as a complementary media and productivity device. But their continued approach to justifying prices by comparing to unrelated products is completely outrageous. The... http…
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
I wonder how many people at Apple have had the experience of using the vision pro in VR mode, powered by one of the new Mac Pros. That's actually the ideal that everybody's driving towards.

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