Apple has taken down its online store and Apple Vision Pro goes up for preorder this morning with availability in Apple Stores on February 2. But unlike a new iPhone, Apple Watch, or even a MacBook, $3,499 (to start) is a lot of money for a device that you have not seen or tried out, and the hands-on coverage has been limited and very controlled by Apple. If you’re on the fence about Vision Pro, you need more convincing. Here are five reasons why you should make the investment.
Spatial video will touch your heart
The Vision Pro, along with the iPhone 15 Pro, can record spatial videos, which is a fancy term for 3D home videos. If you watch a spatial video on an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or any other device, it appears as a regular 2D video. But when you watch it using the Vision Pro, you get a fully immersive 3D experience. You feel like you’re in the video and reliving the moment.
That immersion can let you not only re-experience the memory and emotions of the moment you’ve recorded but also introduce new thoughts and feelings to your current place in time. Apple recently held Vision Pro spatial video demos with select media members, and they reported profound experiences while watching their personal videos.
Spatial video will make you feel like you’re back in the moment.
Apple
If documenting your personal moments is important to you, and you value the emotional experience of the videos you record, you’ll want to shoot spatial videos and watch them on a Vision Pro. It could be the device’s killer app.
You’ll have a 100-foot immersive home theater
A lot of people have stopped going to the movies because it’s hard to beat the comfort of home. But the experience isn’t the same–the immersive experience you get at a theater is hard to replicate at home unless you have the money and space to invest in extremely high-end equipment.
The Vision Pro can offer that theater experience. Movies feel like they’re playing on a 100-foot-wide screen, and spatial audio furthers the immersive feeling. And with the high resolution of the Vision Pro (4K on each eye), you won’t be distracted by jaggy image quality.
But it’s not just movies. Apple is working on a partnership with the NBA so you can watch games on Vision Pro–it looks like you’re courtside at your favorite team’s arena, Disney is working on Vision Pro content, too–imagine what it would be like to visit the Jedi Grand Temple. You can watch 3D movies and the spatial videos you make. You can view photos and fully immerse yourself in panoramic shots. And you can even play video games in Apple Arcade.
Apple Vision Pro is a home theater you can take with you.
Apple
There’s a bonus, too: the Vision Pro is a lot easier to pack and carry than your huge TV. You can bring it with you on trips and watch while on a flight, train, or boat. Don’t settle for the janky displays on a plane or the small screen of your iPhone. Go big without having to lug around a big screen.
FaceTime is futuristic
FaceTime calls on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac are fun, but on the Vision Pro, the fun level is dialed up several notches. People on calls with you are displayed as tiles in your room, and spatial audio is used to give them positioning. You can use SharePlay to share apps and collaborate with co-workers, or you can even watch movies together.
Apple has also developed unique avatars called Personas, which Apple describes as an “authentic spatial representation of an Apple Vision Pro user that enables others on a call to see their facial expressions and hand movements — all in real time.” Apple is launching Personas in beta so there may be some hiccups, but you’ll still be able to be among the first to jump on board with the hyper-realistic memoji train.
It delivers a new way to work
As someone who has spent a whole career working on a computer at a desk, I look for different ways to do my job. I usually work on a Mac, but I’ll switch to an iPad, iPhone, or even a Windows PC (gasp!) just to mix things up. I even switch between my home and work office, a few local coffee shops, and the nearby public library. It breaks up my routine and it’s invigorating.
Using a Vision Pro could get you out of the routine rut and shed new light on the work you do. For example, you will literally see photos with a unique perspective, but you might have a new figurative view, too, as you edit in the Photos app. Or the new way to work on a Keynote presentation could spur innovative ideas. There’s no Finder; instead, your room becomes the desktop.
FaceTime goes to the next level with Apple Vision Pro.
Apple
Granted, it’s not proper for many tasks–it’s probably not suited for writing a lengthy document and for spreadsheet jockeys, for example. But it could be a welcome platform for a lot of other tasks. After all, Apple isn’t calling it spatial computing for nothing.
It’s not a device—it’s a next-gen platform
Add all of these reasons up and you’ve got a device that’s bigger than pretty hardware. Today’s operating systems—macOS, iOS, and iPadOS—are great, but they can just feel too familiar at times. After all, macOS has been around for decades, and iOS has been around for almost 17 years. Of course, they’re still functional and yes, they do get better with each release, but the basic concept for each user interface never changes.
Spatial computing is a whole new way to do things, and it might be what you need to invigorate your computing experience. Sure, the general concept of the Vision Pro isn’t new, but as Apple is known for doing, it takes the concept beyond what’s imaginable. It’s a whole new world. You don’t want to miss out.
Learn more about the new headset in our Apple Vision Pro superguide.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor
Roman has covered technology since the early 1990s. His career started at MacUser, and he's worked for MacAddict, Mac|Life, and TechTV.