Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Could Vision Pro replace your daily computer?
- Thread starter 1800AirTAG
- Start date
-
- Tags
- apple vision pro
- Sort by reaction score
$3.5K is the 'pro' device... that leaves open a market segment beneath it, but expect it to never fall beneath the price of the MacBook Air.... Prices that get spread out over a period of time more than a year... you will pay for one way or another. Any consumer device that I cannot pay for right away and does not allow you to make money from it... should not be bought (with the exception of maybe a lower end phone as it is for the most part a necessity).
Meta Quest 2 is sold at a loss, so you have to ask yourself - what is the end game - where is the profit expected to come from... every indication that since Facebook's business model is to sell advertising... that is what they expect to make money from... selling you.
If you’re restricted to only App Store apps, not it can’t. Maybe for most things I can use it, but every once in a while I need to use my MacBook to run an app.
No. Not as long as it is a device that disconnects you from the world around you. Even with the AR aspect and Apple’s claims, I see this as a solitary device that puts you in your own world. The cast majority of people really do not want that at all.
But how exactly does it disconnect you if you see the world and everyone sees you (including your eyes)? It’s the same functional disconnectedness as wearing a scuba mask. It’s silly looking, sure, but that doesn’t mean you’re disconnected.
Yes and no, it does allow for a certain amount of knowing what is going on around you and allow you to engage if you take the effort, but your focus is on what is on the device... This actually reminds me of the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto and even though it does not physically cut you off from the waterfront - in effect it does for most people because it is a big wall with a tunnel going under it into the darkness and out to the other side... I worked right along the north side of it and I very rarely went down to the waterfront because it was in effect a barrier (and most other places where I grew up as a kid on the waterfront - it would always be a place to go). Although working on a computer in front of a screen itself is a barrier even if people can come up behind or side of you... When I worked, my focus was on what I was doing - and if someone came up to ask me something and lean on/over the divider... and if they did not say anything I would not see them because I was focused. All screens and devices that take your focus are a barrier - especially if you don't interact even while doing 'communal' entertainment. That is why if I don't have a scheduled call or I am not on call... I rarely bring my iPhone with me... and if I do - I never look at it (i.e. bring it for maps). Setting boundaries and limits I find is best.
I don’t think the expressway wall is the right analogy because that wall is there whether anyone likes it or not. But people have the choice of where they want to put a screen (whether physical or virtual).
I think you’re getting into a different issue than what I was replying to. OP was saying the AVP disconnects people. You’re more saying screens in general disconnect people. I agree of course they take away your attention, but that’s just true of anything you’re concentrating on—that’s simply a necessity to get anything done. You can’t socialize with people and read a book or write a paper at the same time.
The real issue is people choosing to disconnect themselves more than they need to. But that’s on people.
There is also an issue of certain devices that disconnect you by design, such as headphones, VR headsets, and tanning beds. For these, isolation (not just attention) to some degree is a necessity for the purposes they serve. So because of that, they need to be used with discretion.
And then there are devices that are neutral—like a hammer, book, or computer. They require your attention to use them of course, but they don’t isolate you in any other way, ie. blocking your senses or blocking others from sensing you.
The AVP is by default in the neutral category. But it can be in the isolating device category, depending entirely on how the user chooses to use it. But it seems that just because it can, people assume that it will somehow force you into using it in that isolating way. I believe that’s just an assumption, because that’s not at all the case as far as I’ve seen.
Both seeing in and out are virtualized. No matter how good it is, your brain will know that and so will the other person in the room. The device will create a psychological barrier. In fact, I find the freeway example spot on. It does not actually physically prevent anyone from going to the waterfront, yet it has been shown in many cities that freeways divide a town.
No. I don't see any advantages to what I do compared to using a Mac, but several disadvantages as you mention. It is also more bulky to carry around.
I see it more as an iPad couch surfing replacement, and that won't happen at that price. Of course, if it gets killer apps that are amazing, my opinion can change, but I don't see that as being likely. So for now, it will be used for immersive movies, gaming, and likely some kind of Geocities/Metaverse/2nd Life mashup which may or may not turn into useless social media.
There are micro expressions that won't be translated to screen - something that subconciously we pick up on... that is what creates the uncanny valley feel. In Thailand (the land of smiles) -- westerners fail to take into account that Thais have a happy smile, sad smile, angry smile, confused smile, etc... the differentiator for the most part I think are related to micro expressions in and around the eyes.
When things look real, your brain quickly forgets and assumes it is. That’s why people get sick from video games and gory movies.
Yes the expressway isolates, but the analogy doesn’t work because it always visually divides, no one has a choice on that. And the choice to go under it is preemptively influenced by that loss of line of sight, so the division is inherent.
The AVP does none of that. From the beginning there is no loss of line or sight. It gives you complete choice.
The better analogy would be if the expressway was by default transparent, but you could choose to make it opaque when you want.
Isn’t that an assumption? Could be true, but how can we say that so certainly already?
Not really, top federal law enforcement interrogators are trained and rely on it. Mental health professionals are aware of it and the reactions to it - and there have been studies of non-verbal communication that include research into it... and personally, I have been able to start to read the more obvious ones living in SE Asia and Japan. Americans sometimes sort of ignore it (not as important being more direct verbally etc.).
I think @subjonas was saying you are assuming that the VP's front screen isn't good enough to show these micro expressions. I tend to think they probably won't show micro expressions, but we won't know for sure until the VP are in actual use.
For a lot of cases, yes. But Apple needs to go all the way for visionOS.
My iPad Pro has an M1 chip in and it's severely underutilized. I just can't replicate the same workflows on my iPad as I do on my Mac.
Even writing an essay on the iPad can get tiresome (switching between PDFs, copying and pasting text from a PDF, switching to the browser to check for citations, downloading files on Safari etc all take so much longer because of the UI/UX).
If Apple addresses these issues on visionOS whereby the workflow is much smoother, then I definitely could see the Vision Pro replacing my iPad at the very least.
My iPad Pro has an M1 chip in and it's severely underutilized. I just can't replicate the same workflows on my iPad as I do on my Mac.
Even writing an essay on the iPad can get tiresome (switching between PDFs, copying and pasting text from a PDF, switching to the browser to check for citations, downloading files on Safari etc all take so much longer because of the UI/UX).
If Apple addresses these issues on visionOS whereby the workflow is much smoother, then I definitely could see the Vision Pro replacing my iPad at the very least.
After watching the keynote and then in the following days seeing the reactions of nearly all of those who actually demoed the Vision Pro, I believe that the VisionPro platform could well represent the beginning of a paradigm shift in personal computing. While other companies have been doing headsets for years, it looks like Apple's AR/MR product has a real chance of gaining traction and defining the market.
Maybe not in version 1, but at some point I anticipate being able to replace my Mac desktop with a VP. I don't own a laptop, but believe that the VP could fill that niche as well. A key requirement for my doing so would be having available the productivity apps that I use on my Mac, such as MS Word and Excel.
At 1:56 in the WWDC keynote, Susan Prescott says that MS Word, Excel, and Teams make "full use of the expansive canvas and sharp text rendering of Vision Pro." Whether that means that VP will use an iPadOS or similar version of the MS apps, or it will run them through a Mac, is not clear. I'm interested in seeing how this unfolds.
Maybe not in version 1, but at some point I anticipate being able to replace my Mac desktop with a VP. I don't own a laptop, but believe that the VP could fill that niche as well. A key requirement for my doing so would be having available the productivity apps that I use on my Mac, such as MS Word and Excel.
At 1:56 in the WWDC keynote, Susan Prescott says that MS Word, Excel, and Teams make "full use of the expansive canvas and sharp text rendering of Vision Pro." Whether that means that VP will use an iPadOS or similar version of the MS apps, or it will run them through a Mac, is not clear. I'm interested in seeing how this unfolds.
I look at it as a compliment in the current form factor. Down the road if they can get it into a glasses form factor, I could see it replacing every device. Right now, it will be something I use for basically the length of the battery outside of movie watching. I cannot see myself using it for 8 hours a day at any point and time.
In my opinion, this kind of workflow is where Vision Pro has the potential to excel. Even on a standard desktop monitor, multiple PDFs plus Safari plus Word makes switching among them a choir. There's no way to keep them all visible at once. With the VP, you could open each PDF and Safari tab in separate windows and position them so they are visible and legible, which should make switching among them and copying and pasting from them to Word much smoother than on iPads and even desktops.
I doubt it could replace my computers in its present form. Looking forward to a much smaller and more powerful implementation of the device… it still wouldn’t replace my computers because I don’t have any desire to wear tech on my face, especially if it wraps around my head.
Seems like a perfect example of a first world problem. After all, MacOS is an extremely refined interface that is capable of satisfying just about any requirement in a 2D space. Switching between windows and work spaces isn’t difficult or time consuming. A 3D replacement for this highly sophisticated existing system seems redundant and largely unnecessary while representing a set of design challenges that would test even Apple and take decades to match what we already have, let alone exceed it in any significant way.
Last edited:
Seeing as the Vision Pro ain't gonna have sideloading, of course not lmao
Also an excellent point. If anyone thinks this platform will be open in any sense they’re delusional.
These even look great - that said I haven't read all of it, or studied them. But at first glance 👍
But be certain that Apple will get a lot of competition.
ztedevices.com
But be certain that Apple will get a lot of competition.
Default website title - ZTE
When the consumer model arrives I will get it, but it ain't replacing my Mac or gaming PC. The headset doesn't have the battery life to support that, and my Mac and PC do things the Vision Pro won't do, such as games and AI.
You have a much higher view of MacOS than I do! I would never think it is capable of satisfying "just about any requirements" -- there're so many things people need or want from their computers I don't even know about.
As far as managing multiple windows, I find that once I have more than 3-4 windows open on a single monitor, I start having problems finding the one I want. Sure, finding it is a matter of seconds, but it interrupts the workflow and my thought process, so I often find the window I was looking for, then have to pause to reorient myself to remember why I was looking for that window in the first place.
Is this a first world problem? Maybe so. But isn't most of the things we use computers for first world problems? And if you are concerned about Apple spending effort on what you think is a redundant and unnecessary system, sorry that ship has sailed -- they've already devoted considerable effort and resources into this.
To me, this isn't redundant or unnecessary, it's a system I wish I'd had when I was writing research papers in college and grad school. I never found a 2D computing system that was better than handwritten notes on note cards, or sticking post-it-notes all over a book. 3D computing might finally make that process digital.