Apr 27, 2024Wes DavisThe Apple Vision Pros eBay prices are making me sadPhoto by Vjeran Pavic / The VergeI paid a lot of money for the privilege of getting an Apple Vision Pro brand-new in February. All-in, with optical inserts and taxes, I financed a little over $3,900 for the 256GB version of the headset. A day or so ago, I made a mistake that Im sure many early adopters are familiar with: I looked up how much its been selling for on eBay.On Wednesday, a 1TB Vision Pro, complete with all the included gear, Apples fluffy $200 travel case, $500 AppleCare Plus, and claimed to have been worn maybe about an hour sold for $3,200 after 21 bids. The listed shipping estimate was $20.30. Brand new, that combination is $5,007.03 on Apples site for me. Another eBay listing, this one with my headsets configuration (but sans optical inserts) went for just $2,600 again with most, if not all, of the included accessories. Several other 256GB and 512GB models sold for around that amount this week.Read Article >Mar 31, 2024Wes DavisThe Vision Pro bathes your eyeballs in infrared light.You can see that in this Slow Mo Guys YouTube Short showing the flashing of the invisible-to-the-human-eye IR illuminators of Apples face computer, both on the front and around the lenses edges.At 1,000fps, the Guys show the Vision Pros very fancy micro-OLED displays alternating between images and black frames, with a ring of IR lights popping on during the dark moments to help track where your eyes are looking.Mar 30, 2024Wes DavisIs the MLBs Vision Pro app ready for the big leagues?Jason Snell of Six Colors details his experience with the MLBs visionOS app now that the season is underway. Of the Gameday feature that puts a 3D-animated baseball field in your space during a game, he writes:I couldnt find support for Gameday when I first used the app, though later when playing back an archived stream, I did find Gameday availablefrom within the video playback, so you cant use it for a game youre not watching on the app. And its immersive, so you cant put it up and then do something else, which is also probably a mistake.Ah, the early days of the Vision Pros app ecosystem.MLB for visionOS strikes out on Opening Day[Six Colors]Mar 27, 2024Wes DavisThe Vision Pro is getting some new Apple Arcade games.Altos Odyssey: The Lost City, Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, and Spire Blast will each get Vision Pro spatial apps tomorrow, Apple shared in a release emailed to The Verge.Also, rhythm game Synth Riders aka the only game Ive been coming back to besides bullet hell shooter Void-X has been updated with Game Center leaderboards and a pass-the-headset Party Mode.Altos Odyssey running on the Vision Pro. Image: AppleMar 27, 2024Quentyn KennemerThe Apple Vision Pro is $150 off... if youre feeling lucky.Woot is selling the mixed reality headset with a one-year Apple warranty for $3,299 ($200 off), the first discount weve seen.But theres a catch: they all ship with a 21W light seal and small-sized headbands. Buying a seal separately from Apple costs $200 and the headbands are $99 apiece, so you might pay more than the retail price if you arent happy with the fit.Update March 27th, 4:41PM ET: Adjusted pricing and added more specific sizing details, courtesy of Woot.(NEW) Apple Vision Pro - 256GB[Woot]Mar 24, 2024Wes DavisWhere in the world will the Vision Pro launch this year?Apple CEO Tim Cook told press at the China Development Forum in Beijing that China will get it this year, according to Reuters this morning, citing a Chinese state media Weibo post.MacRumors notes that this is the first time an Apple executive has confirmed where the Vision Pro will launch outside the US this year. Rumors have also suggested Apple will prioritize UK and Canadian launches.Apple Vision Pro to hit mainland China this year, state media says[Reuters]Mar 16, 2024Wes DavisYou can now browse Vision Pro apps on the web.Its essentially the same thing youd see if you were browsing the store in the Vision Pro itself a few curated lists of native apps here, some recommended iPad apps there.But at least theres a way to casually cruise those sweet spatial apps without popping the headset on now.Vision Pro Apps and Games - App Store[AppStore]Mar 9, 2024Richard LawlerMark Zuckerberg has more to say about the Vision Pro and how much worse it is than his Quest headsets.Once Apple released the Vision Pro, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded with a video saying his companys Quest 3 headset is the better product, period.Now hes back with more takes, posting this on Threads in response to a post that said, Apple is selling pretty much the device Meta wants to reach in 3-5 years.I dont think were saying the devices are the same. Were saying Quest is better. If our devices weigh as much as theirs in 3-5 years, or have the motion blur theirs has, or the lack of precision inputs, etc, then that means well have regressed significantly.Yes, their resolution is higher, but they paid for that with many other product tradeoffs that make their device worse in most ways. Thats not what we aspire to.Mark Zuckerberg (@zuck) on Threads[Threads]Mar 7, 2024Victoria SongIs my Persona better?Theres a new Vision Pro update out, and visionOS 1.1 supposedly improves everybodys favorite feature, Personas. But I think its still the stuff of nightmares. I FaceTimed my friend, and according to her: I still look too sleepy, my mouth moves more, and my eyes are better but not quite right.It looks more like you, but its still not you. What do yall think?1/3My first personaMar 4, 2024Amrita KhalidApples visionOSupdate that could make Persona avatars better-looking is almost here.The visionOS 1.1 release candidate thats now available to developers includes some upgrades to the Personas avatars, such as improved rendering of eyes, mouth representation, and hair and makeup appearance.MacRumors points out that this release also has updates for the virtual keyboard, Mac Virtual Display, mobile device management, and more. With the iOS 17.4 update close to a public launch, Apple also put out release candidates for tvOS, macOS, watchOS, and Xcode.Apple Seeds visionOS 1.1 Release Candidate[MacRumors]Mar 3, 2024Wes DavisApparently Foxtrot is still going?As a nerd kid, this was one of my favorite newspaper comic strips. But I havent looked at the funny pages in many years, and had assumed this one had long since expired.Imagine my surprise, then, when I saw a Foxtrot strip referencing Apples recently-launched Vision Pro.Feb 28, 2024Wes DavisWhats the Vision Pro like after a month?Joanna Stern writes in The Wall Street Journal that Apples face computer isnt so great for work, but serves well as an escape from day-to-day life. You know, like a VR headset.Still, even if the Vision Pro isnt always magic, she finds it handy for focusing on a single task, like writing a column.One Month With Apple Vision Pro: In the Air, on a Train andin a Drawer[WSJ]Feb 26, 2024Wes DavisThis is why we cant have nice [360-degree YouTube videos on the Vision Pro].Its about codecs and resolution. 4K-and-up videos only use either YouTubes VP9 codec or the royalty-free AV1. Christian Selig, developer of the Juno YouTube app, writes that 360 video of the former cant work because it requires Apples blessing. And the Vision Pros M2 chip has no AV1 hardware decoder, so thats out, too.Why not 1080p, he asks? Because it looks like doo-doo.Trials and tribulations of 360 video in Juno[christianselig.com]Feb 24, 2024Wes DavisIts a party in the AVP.The San Francisco Standard documents some parties where attendees are encouraged to shake their butts while wearing the Vision Pro (from pictures, it seems like most didnt go along with the ask).Before you dismiss the idea, consider this: If you dont have a kid or a dog, I gotta go; my Vision Pro died could be a great excuse to leave a party early.Feb 23, 2024Victoria SongVision Pro owners are reporting a mysterious crack in the front glassNo one seems to know what causes it. Photo by @inphenite / RedditVision Pro owners are posting near-identical reports of a crack appearing on the front glass of their headsets. None of them seem to know how it happened, either.The issue was first spotted by AppleInsider, and so far, there have been five separate Redditors who have posted about it in the r/VisionPro subreddit. Engadget also reported that the same happened with its review unit. What makes it curious is that all of the uploaded pictures appear to show vertical hairline cracks in the same exact area above the nose bridge. All the affected Redditors say they didnt do anything obvious to cause the cracks, like dropping the device or storing it improperly. Reddit user @dornbirn claims that they polished the front glass, placed the soft cover on, packed it away in the case, and woke up to see the crack the next morning. Most of the other affected Redditors also noted they either stored their Vision Pros in cases or placed the soft cover on.Read Article >Feb 21, 2024Victoria SongComfort isnt just a Vision Pro problem its a wearable oneAs I sit here writing this in the Apple Vision Pro, Im acutely aware of how the light seal presses against my forehead and cheekbones. It was relatively comfy when I slipped it on an hour ago. But now, every so often, I push up on the bridge as if Im a cartoon nerd saying, um, well, actually just to give my face a break. This is despite the fact that Ive done the scan to figure out my perfect light seal fit (33W, in case youre wondering). So no, Im not surprised that many Apple fans who returned their Vision Pros cited comfort as a major issue.But this isnt exclusively a Vision Pro problem. Its a wearable problem.Read Article >Feb 20, 2024Quentyn KennemerThis video comparing Apple Vision Pro hand tracking to the Meta Quest 3 is mesmerizing.Holonautic co-founder and developer Dennys Kuhnert says he is both disappointed and impressed by the Vision Pros performance and showed off this comparison of the two headsets with a real-time visualization tool.As he wrote in another post, The quality and accuracy is fantastic but the lag with passthrough hands feels currently higher than on Quest 3. Could be explained by AVPs very low passthrough latency... ~11ms vs ~35ms for Q3.Feb 20, 2024Emma RothA stand for the Vision Pro.Apple doesnt sell a stand for the Vision Pro, so developer Christian Selig took it upon himself to create one just like the unofficial YouTube app he made for the headset, too.This stand allows the headset to hang vertically, making it take up a bit less space on your desk as opposed to some other storage options out there. Selig has uploaded all the design files onto MakerWorld, so you can 3D print the stand for yourself.Feb 18, 2024Wes DavisWhat its like to make an app for the Vision Pro.In this interview for the Voices of VR podcast, Apollo developer Christian Selig shares his experience creating Juno, an unofficial YouTube player he created for the Vision Pro in only a weeks time.Despite the small number of people who own the headset, he says hes earned enough from it to buy multiple Vision Pros.Feb 17, 2024Wes DavisMy Vision Pro has no idea when Im talking.I keep a pretty bushy mustache, and it seems to prevent the headsets downward-facing cameras from seeing and translating what my mouth is doing to my Personas real-time expressions during a Vision Pro FaceTime call. Apparently, Im not alone.In fairness, Persona is still a beta feature. Maybe visionOS 1.1 will save my friends from this horror show.Feb 16, 2024Richard LawlerVision Pro decision time.While many people are excitedly entering Apples spatial computing future, some Vision Pro early adopters have already packed the devices up and sent them back for a refund. Reasons weve heard include eye fatigue, few useful apps available so far, and a lack of window / workspace persistence.If you bought one on day one, the return window is closing now, so let us know if youre deciding to keep your headset and why.Feb 16, 2024Adi RobertsonWhy does Apple make it so hard to share the Vision Pro?Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The VergeShortly before The Verge published its review of the Apple Vision Pro, I put it on to sit for some photos. The review unit had been fitted for our editor-in-chief Nilay Patel, but Id worn it a few times as a guest and had a surprisingly good experience. That afternoon, though, I foolishly decided to skip the typical guest setup, which involves about a minute of calibration for the Vision Pros eye-tracking cameras. I put the thing on, and it didnt work at all.The Vision Pros cameras, I quickly realized, were expecting somebody elses eyes. The cursor darted around wildly or refused to move. It wasnt an unexpected outcome, but it drove home an inconvenient fact: not only would I need to go through the setup again, Id need to do it every time I wanted to use the headset.Read Article >Feb 14, 2024Victoria SongApple fans are starting to return their Vision ProsIt doesnt help that theres no real killer app yet. Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The VergeFor some Apple Vision Pro buyers, the honeymoon is already over.Its no coincidence that theres been an uptick on social media of Vision Pro owners saying theyre returning their $3,500 headsets in the past few days. Apple allows you to return any product within 14 days of purchase and for the first wave of Vision Pro buyers, were right about at that point.Read Article >Feb 14, 2024Alex HeathAfter trying the Vision Pro, Mark Zuckerberg says Quest 3 is the better product, periodMark Zuckerberg wearing the Quest 3 headset. Image: MetaNow that it can be strapped to our faces and worn in strange places, opinions about Apples Vision Pro are flying left and right.Entering the chat is Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has more at stake than perhaps anyone on earth if Apple does to headsets what the iPhone did to smartphones. In a video posted to his Instagram account on Tuesday, Zuckerberg gives his official verdict on the Vision Pro versus his companys latest Quest 3 headset: I dont just think that Quest is the better value, I think Quest is the better product, period.Read Article >Feb 13, 2024Wes DavisThe Vision Pro has Thunderbolt and Lightning (very, very frightening).If you get the USB-C-having developer strap for the Apple Vision Pro, you get more than the swole Lightning-esque connectors the headset already has, according to 9to5Mac. Developers report that all of the pieces are detectable for a Thunderbolt connection; its just that Apple is limiting it to the 480Mbps max of USB 2.0.The Apple Vision Pro Developer Strap is Thunderbolt capable, not USB 2.0 only[9to5Mac]