Apple Vision Pro First Impressions

I was among the first in the world to try Apple’s new Vision Pro headset — and as a longtime tech editor, I can tell you it’s going to change the way you take (and view) your travel snaps forever.

Apple calls the $3,500 gadget a “spatial computing device,” and some early reviewers have called it “an iPad for your face.” It’s essentially a headset that works both as a virtual reality device, immersing you totally into a virtual world, and an augmented reality headset that can overlay digital information on your view of the real world. This lets you see apps, videos, and photos floating in the room in front of you.

Keep scrolling to order and learn everything you need to know about the new Apple Vision Pro, from design to setup to sound quality, from Travel + Leisure’s resident tech expert.

Apple Vision Pro

How does the Apple Vision Pro work?

I’ve been reviewing tech for 25 years, and putting on the Vision Pro for the first time is a real “wow” moment (I’m also British, so my actual response was a little swearier). After a simple setup, you see the real world around you fade in, before the home menu of the Vision Pro appears in front of you, floating in the room. 

Turning a small dial (the same digital crown that’s on your Apple Watch, in fact) lets you tune in and out of the outside world. Tapping the crown also always brings you to your home screen. Navigating around Vision Pro is done by looking at what you want to do, and tapping two fingers together to select. It sounds weird at first, but I was genuinely taken aback by how quickly it felt perfectly natural to navigate around the Vision Pro. Unlike most other headsets, you don’t need to hold your hands out and make large, wild gestures. Sitting down, resting your hands on your lap, you’re still able to easily get around in the spatial world. You can arrange multiple windows with different apps around you, or opt to take up the screen with just one video window. 

During my 30 minutes with the Vision Pro, I was walked through a series of demos and apps. The quality of the screen is outstanding, and far, far better than any other headset I’ve tried, while audio also appears from exactly where you’d expect. For an even better effect, with added noise canceling, you can also use Apple’s AirPod Pros.

The future of travel photography

For T+L readers, the most impressive feature right now is spatial video and photo, a new 3D format that can be captured using either the Vision Pro itself or an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max. I was able to see a collection of videos Apple had taken, as well as some spatial video of my dog I’d taken that morning using my own iPhone 15 Pro Max. They appear in 3D, and you really feel as though you’re looking in on a real scene in front of you — it’s wild. The thing that hit me most was the emotional attachment you feel — I instantly wished I’d been able to capture key memories in this format for years.

The good news is that if you have the latest iPhone Pro or Pro Max, you can start capturing them today. And if you have an older device, the Vision Pro also does a great job of wrapping panoramic pictures around you — not quite as good as spatial video, but still amazing — and you probably already have a bunch of them on your phone.

Apple Vision Pro

What can you do with the Apple Vision Pro other than watch videos?

While I would happily spend hours watching spatial videos of my dog, as this is the first device of its kind, there aren’t yet a huge number of dedicated Vision Pro apps. Apple has neatly dealt with this in two ways. First, The Vision Pro lets you run any existing iPad app in a window in your virtual world, and they’ll work in exactly the same way they do on an iPad.

Second, you can use your Macbook. This is an amazing party trick, as once connected, you can type on your Macbook keyboard as normal. However, instead of the small screen (which is blank in the real world so people can’t see what you’re doing) you see a window in the virtual room you can enlarge to give yourself a massive virtual workspace. Sadly, I wasn’t able to try this in person, but it’s a feature I suspect will be extremely popular. There is also a virtual on-screen keyboard, but it’s not great, although there is also the option to use Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant to dictate your words.

Can you wear it for long periods of time?

One of the first things that surprised me was the weight of the device — it’s not heavy, but it’s also not light. It comes with two straps, one single strap designed for casual use, and a dual strap that goes over the top of your head as well. I found after about 15 minutes, the single strap began feeling a little uncomfortable so switched to the dual strap – which felt great, as more of the weight of the headset is supported.

Would you use it on a plane?

A scene from Apple’s launch video for the Vision Pro showed someone wearing it to watch movies on a plane. This went slightly viral for unintended reasons, and I will admit I judged it pretty harshly, thinking there was no way I would choose to look that ridiculous. But much as I hate myself for saying this, I think the amazing experience of getting to watch a movie in what’s effectively your own personal theater might actually be worth it on a long flight. While Vision Pro won’t become a common sight on planes, I fully expect a couple of enterprising airlines to loan them to first-class passengers.

Verdict

Overall, my time with the Vision Pro was fantastic, and I can’t wait to use it again. But would I buy one today? Probably not (mainly because I chose journalism as a career so, at $3,500, the price is prohibitive). This is more a glimpse of the future of computing than actually being the future of computing. The technology really needs to shrink to become a pair of glasses or something similar for that to happen, and that requires some pretty monumental technological leaps. It feels a little like the first iPad, where you aren’t wholly sure how it will fit into your daily life, or how app developers will use it, and the next 6-12 months are going to be exciting as people work this out.

But one thing is certain — spatial computing really is a whole new world for computing, and feels like the future of technology. While the Vision Pro is out of reach for most people, the next version (or the one after that) will bring this to everyone. So start capturing your photos and videos in spatial format now — trust me, in a few years’ time, you’ll be so happy you did. And if you need any more convincing, remember Apple is running free demos of Vision Pro in its stores. Once you see a spatial video in person, there’s no going back.

How to take spatial video

You’ll need an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max to capture spatial videos. Capturing spatial videos is really simple, but capturing great ones does take some time. Apple says for best results, three things are key: Keep your iPhone steady and level; frame your subjects 3 to 8 feet from the camera; and use lighting that is even and bright.

From there, follow three simple steps to record video: first, tap the gray headset button with a slash through it and tap the Record button or press either volume button to start recording. Second, tap the Record button or press either volume button to stop recording. Finally, tap the yellow headset button to turn off spatial video recording.

At the time of publishing, the price started at $3,500. 

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