Apple Vision Pro in the test: These are the biggest problems with the Apple glasses | Life & Knowledge
These glasses are like a fascinating glimpse into the future – until the present catches up with you again.
This could be the Apple Vision Pro in one sentence. The iPhone company's mega glasses are Apple's first attempt to create a mixed reality headset (German: mixed reality) to build. The company itself prefers to speak of “spatial computing”. The glasses mix the real and virtual worlds before the wearer's eyes, let apps float in space or take the user to a completely different place.
Meanwhile, there is the Apple Vision Pro also in Germany. BILD was able to test it extensively.
The glasses deliver real Apple magic
The high-resolution screens that you strap directly in front of your eyes feel like the future. Cameras record the outside world so that it feels like you can see through the glasses. And the quality is absolutely impressive.
More than ten colleagues tried out the glasses in the editorial office. More than ten times they provided the ultimate wow effect when, during the so-called immersive experiences, dinosaur in front of them in the room. Or they were attacked by a herd of elephants in Africa were surrounded.
There are cameras all over the outside of the Apple Vision Pro that capture the surroundings and also recognize the wearer’s gestures
When you open apps, they float three-dimensionally in space; you can position them freely, push them away from you or pull them towards you, and change their size. It's as if the entire room were the monitor on which you can arrange as many apps and windows as you want.
All you need is a look and a small hand gesture. The Vision Pro doesn't need any extra controllers.
Apps seem to float in space in front of you, can overlap and be arranged freely. The 3D display makes things much clearer when you look through the glasses. You also cannot see the blurred edges with your own eyes.
It is in these moments that the glasses work their magic: the VisionOS operating system feels sophisticated and polished. Operation is precise, reliable and wonderfully simple. Within minutes, you can navigate safely, arrange apps as you please and build your own virtual environment.
Entertainment is one of the Vision Pro's greatest strengths: you can, for example, bring a dinosaur into your living room…
… or beam yourself to alien planets in apps like Disney+ to watch films there
There is still a problem here
Back to the present. The Vision Pro also has some features that are not typical of Apple. One of them is the weight: the glasses are heavy. They weigh 655 grams, which you can quickly feel on your neck. To prevent the glasses from slipping, you have to strap them tightly around your head – and after a short time you end up with red marks on your face.
The weight does not come from the battery (another 355 grams). This is connected to the glasses via a cable, so you always have an attachment that you have to look after.
Nothing works without this battery: It is attached to the Apple Vision Pro via cable and lasts about two hours
When you use the glasses for the first time, you quickly feel your eyes getting tired: constantly looking at screens centimeters in front of your eyes can be exhausting and takes some getting used to. However, not every wearer reacted that way in the test. Therefore, you should definitely try the glasses out in an Apple Store before buying them.
It is above all the physical features that always remind you: The Vision Pro is the first of its kind for Apple.
Do you need that?
The Apple Vision Pro is like a super sports car. It offers pure driving pleasure and lets you marvel at the engineering skills. However, you have to make compromises for this power under the hood: It can be quite uncomfortable, so you're more likely to drive it on the weekend than in everyday life. In any case, there aren't many options for driving it in the entertainment sector yet. The immersive videos and apps are impressive, but you'll quickly try them all out.
The Vision Pro is also not suitable as a family car: there is only room for one person in the cockpit. Last but not least, with a starting price of a hefty 3999 euros, many customers are out anyway.
At its best, the Vision Pro is brilliant, inspiring great amazement and fascination with what is technically possible. It feels like a piece of the future on your nose. But to get this glimpse into the future, you have to make compromises in the present.