Science & Tech
Harry Fletcher
Feb 06, 2024
Cheddar / VideoElephant
It has the potential to be one of the biggest technological achievements of the last decade, but the new Apple Vision Pro isn’t perfect – at least not according to users.
Last week the first customers unboxed the $3,500 augmented reality headset which has been heralded by Apple chief executive Tim Cook as “the most advanced personal electronics device ever”.
The Vision Pro comes with one display per eye, allowing users to see both the world around them and an array of apps and websites on the other.
But one complaint being levelled at the device concerns the issue users have encountered when trying to look at other devices like smartphones while wearing the device.
“Guys using Vision Pro, can you actually read messages on your phone while wearing it? Too blurry for me,” one wrote on Twitter/X.
Writing on a Reddit thread another user said looking at their phone while wearing the device was “readable but not perfect…and only after I hold the phone still for a few heartbeats to get the cameras to focus.”
"Yeah, similar for me. Sometimes it even warps and looks like it is curved,” another said.
Meanwhile, early reviews of the Apple Vision Pro have celebrated the central features, with the immersive graphics and display being praised – while also highlighting a number of issues.
One issue raised was the weight of the device, with a number of reviewers sharing the key gripe that the weight makes the headset uncomfortable over time.
Reviewer John Gruber said that it was possible to use the headset for “hours at a time without any discomfort, but fatigue does set in, from the weight alone” and that you “never forget you’re wearing it”.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Richard Howarth, Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple, said that there’s “nothing we could have done to make it lighter or smaller.” Corroborating this, Mike Rockwell, Vice President of Apple Vision Products Group, stated that the team “packed just about as much technology as you could possibly pack into that small of a form factor.”
On a different note altogether, some users were left disappointed after realising they couldn’t access virtual reality adult content using the device.
According to 404 Media, viewers of VR porn have taken to Reddit to share their frustrations after realising that content won’t be available to watch on the device.
Users can still access adult sites through the device’s web browser, virtual reality porn content cannot be accessed on the Apple Vision Pro – and some aren’t happy about it.
It’s not quite the VR porn revolution some had hoped for, with one Reddit user calling it a “$3500 chastity belt”.
It shouldn't come as a great surprise, especially given that the late Steve Jobs made it clear back in 2010 that Apple wasn't here to sell porn.
He said at the time: "We do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy [an] Android phone."
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