The Vision Pro AR/VR headset is Apple’s hottest new product and it’s making headlines. While you’re busy being fascinated by everything it does, you may have overlooked some of its limitations.
Here, we will discuss all these limitations in detail to help you get a more nuanced perspective on the device.
1. Vision Pro is too expensive
The $3,499 price tag of Apple’s Vision Pro AR/VR headset is exorbitant enough to give anyone anxiety. It’s so expensive that you could buy four iPhone 14 units and still have some money left over.
Of course, making such a technologically advanced product comes with a lot of upfront costs, requires years of research, and has premium hardware built into it.
However, such a high price immediately makes the product inaccessible to the most interested buyers, which means that only wealthy Apple fans will be able to try it. For context, Meta Quest 3 starts at just $499, making it much more affordable for those looking to experience virtual and augmented reality.
2. The Vision Pro’s two-hour battery life is concerning
Apple Vision Pro offers just two hours of use when not plugged into a power source. It’s not even enough to watch a full movie on Disney+ or last a flight.
Of course, we understand that the device is a first-generation product and will get better over time, but that’s not something you want to put up with when you’re paying more than three thousand dollars and an extra monthly subscription to enjoy different Apple services.
3. Taking space photos and videos is discontinued
One of the features of Apple Vision Pro is taking spatial photos and videos. Just like you take photos and videos on your iPhone and view them later in the gallery, you can take 3D photos and videos on the Vision Pro headset and later view them in augmented reality.
The idea might sound exciting until you realize that its real-world application is horrific. Imagine having fun with your family or friends, and to capture this beautiful moment, you take out this giant headset and click a button to start recording what’s happening.
Instantly, the obvious prominence of the headphones will be so distracting that everyone around you will interrupt what they’re doing and the moment will be ruined. Your friends and family won’t get your feedback the way they would if you weren’t wearing headphones.
If instead the product looked like a normal pair of glasses, capturing a space photo or video would have looked much more natural, and your loved ones probably wouldn’t mind. But as it stands, the Apple Vision Pro seems too out of place to do such a thing.
4. Vision Pro lacks haptic feedback
It’s certainly impressive that Vision Pro is controlled not by a controller but with your eyes, hands and voice, allowing you to perform system navigation, item selection and dictation.
The technology that goes in to create such a smooth experience is certainly commendable. However, this idea has one fatal flaw: there’s no tactile feedback.
This means that when you select an item on the screen or ‘tap’ a button or ‘swipe’ a switch in augmented reality, there is no haptic feedback to give you an immediate sense that the action has been performed and that your input is been registered by the device. Your only clue is the UI.
You might think it doesn’t really matter, but when you’re gaming or working in augmented reality, haptic feedback is much more reliable as it’s more visceral and instantly noticeable.
5. Vision Pro feels very isolating
Apple has tried to mitigate the antisocial vibes that headphones usually give by adding an OLED screen on the front casing that shows your eyes to the other person when you’re in augmented reality, making the headphones appear to be transparent.
When you’re in virtual reality, it shows a colorful gradient animation, indicating to other people that you can’t see them and that you’re engaged in an activity. The problem with this is that, despite these efforts, it looks very strange from the outside, as headphones usually do.
Imagine that someone wearing the headset switches from virtual reality to augmented reality and you can suddenly see their eyes after initially only seeing the gradient colors. If you are unaware of how headphones work, you might assume that the user can see you looking at them all this time and is just staring behind the veil of the headphones.
In the same way that wearing earphones can give a “don’t talk to me” vibe, wearing a headset in public or even at home can give a similar vibe, making people more antisocial.
Apple’s Vision Pro AR/VR headset isn’t flawless
Being a first generation product, the Apple Vision Pro has some obvious flaws. The $3,499 price tag, short battery life, lack of haptic feedback, and isolating design make it clear that the product isn’t meant for the mass market.
That said, if you’re in the US, it’s a good idea to visit an Apple Store and try it out for yourself when it hits shelves in early 2024 to see if you like how it works.
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