The Vision Pro is a commitment device
My best approximation of “horizontal computing,” thanks to DALL•E
Ten weeks ago, I got an Apple Vision Pro on launch day. After a weekend immersed in it, I shared my first impressions. In short: I loved it.
It’s hard to express what it feels like as a lifelong Apple and technology fan to hope so hard for a specific experience and then have it come true precisely. The teams at Apple that have worked on the Vision Pro for years managed to accomplish what in my experience is one of the most difficult things to create in software: a sense of place. Now, it‘s a place I long to be.
Since then, I’ve had plenty of transcendent moments with the Vision Pro, and some downer ones, too. I still use it most days—typically for about 90 minutes first thing in the morning—but not as religiously as in the beginning. I’m interested in the full arc of technology, not just the shining start, so I wanted to pause to capture a snapshot of what it’s like to be a Vision Pro user now, two and a half months in.
The headlines:
If you’re not using Mac Virtual Display, you’re missing out on the main productivity use case—this accounts for at least 80% of my usage.
The Vision Pro makes computing-while-lying-down a much better experience. But it comes at a cost.
It really is great for cinematic experiences. But for everyday viewing, I’ve been surprised at how strong my phone’s gravitational pull is.
I want more apps!
Deep focus with Mac Virtual Display
I’ve always loved time alone on my computer. With the Vision Pro, I can be more alone, on more computer.
It‘s really as simple as that. Focused creativity on a computer happens to be one of the most magnetic experiences in my life, and the Vision Pro takes that experience to another level. The vast majority of my time inside the Vision Pro is spent with a single giant Mac Virtual Display rectangle straight ahead mirroring my M3 MacBook Air, a soothing nature Environment dialed all the way up, a mini window from Apple Music to my right playing minimal electronic music, and assorted windows off to the left outside my field of view.
In talking with others about their own Vision Pro usage, I’ve been surprised by how many people have skipped Mac Virtual Display entirely. Does it seem like it will be too many steps to set up? Or like it couldn’t possibly be that much better? Or like a device as expensive as the Vision Pro should stand on its own? At any rate: if you got a Vision Pro and you’ve been disappointed by how few practical use cases you’ve found, just know that I would be, too, if not for Mac Virtual Display. It’s the killer app, for now.
My one request for Mac Virtual Display: I desperately want the audio from my laptop to come through the Vision Pro speakers. Right now, the audio still comes from my laptop, and it’s always jarring. This discussion on Reddit mirrors my train of thought / makes me feel less alone. One Redditor theorized “It’s possibly a priority of video over audio latency. I’m hoping that this becomes more optimized through future OSX and VOS updates.” Same here.
Horizontal computing
I think some people scratch the itch of “elevating focused creativity at a computer” with elaborate home office setups—giant monitors, mechanical keyboards, ergonomic chairs, nice speakers arranged just so around their workspace. The whole nine yards. But as I shared in my reflections on Vision Pro Eve, that’s never been me due to my un/fortunate habit of “horizontal computing”:
I’ve sustained the college-era habit of computing-while-lying-down on a couch or a bed—head propped up on an armrest or pillows, laptop propped up on bent knees. This habit is so ingrained that I actually find it hard to write more than 100 words at a time at a desk…it’s oddly not coded as “focus mode” for me.
The positive aspects of horizontal computing on the Vision Pro have been even better than I hoped—I find it cozy and serene to be able to pile up pillows, lean back, don the headset, and “go under” to a plane of unbroken focus. What’s new ten weeks in is that I’m more in touch with the downsides now that I’m less overwhelmed by the awe of novelty. Most acutely, computing-while-lying-down solves one problem—saving me the pain of keeping my head straight while balancing a heavy device through neck micro-movements—but creates another: because of my angle, the entire weight of the device rests on my cheeks, leaving giant red marks under my eyes that can take up to an hour to fade after I remove the device. This means I need to protect an hour buffer between using the Vision Pro and attending any in-person meetings, and I’m even slightly self-conscious about the under-eye red marks on Zooms. Occasionally, when I resurface, I find my eyes twitching in a way that seems bad. And once, half my face went numb, which was not a fun moment.
Still, I’m convinced that horizontal computing is the way to go with the Vision Pro. When I browse through the Vision Pro subreddit, there’s a clear pattern: the people for whom the Vision Pro has stuck are the ones who use it while lying down, or at least leaning back. I’ve tried using it while sitting up straight at the office and the neck micro-movements get to me after just a few minutes. So if that’s where you’re stuck, give yourself a break and see if you can join us horizontal typists…it’s cozy over here.
Cinematic experiences
When I first got the Vision Pro, I decided to try bringing film back into my life. I’d been off the wagon for a long time, for a tangled knot of reasons. The knot had gotten so tangled that I’d lost the plot: I love film as an art form, and I could use more art in my life.
The first movie I watched inside the Vision Pro was Tetris, an Apple TV Original, that very first weekend. It was captivating. Yet this is also where I first noticed that tearing up at moving scenes would cause the tears to leak into the light seal cushion, destined to lodge there as grunge forever. Well, I got the device to use it, not to be precious about it, so I decided I was okay with it—but I hope this setup improves over time. I’m not about to set up a light seal cushion handwashing-and-air-drying assembly line in the kitchen.
Since then, most weekends I’ve picked out a film to chip away at inside the Vision Pro whenever I get a spare moment, anchoring now on the most stunning visuals I can find, to make the most of the immersive visual environment. This is how I came to watch Dune: Part One, which I never saw in theaters. I found it majestic, and I’m eagerly awaiting the home release of Dune: Part Two—I’d rather watch it at home in the Vision Pro than at the theater.
The Vision Pro’s built-in speakers are the unsung hero of cinematic experiences on the device. They’re so, so good, and it’s such a treat to have perfectly-placed high-quality speakers that cause sound to wash over my ears instead of cramming it in via AirPods. When I’ve had occasion to use headphones with the Vision Pro on and Environments dialed all the way up (such as on a plane), I end up feeling dangerously out-of-touch—all my senses blocked. Spatial audio washing over my ears, ambient sound in the background, and vision completely focused on the window at hand feels like a balanced compromise.
Apps and more
A brief plea: I want more apps! If you’re developing an app for Vision Pro and want a beta (or even alpha) tester, please count me in.
I also want more Environments, but for now, only Apple can satisfy that wish. Word on the street is that the “Coming Soon” Environments may drop before / during WWDC in mid-June, which could just be wishful thinking—but does at least sound plausible.
Conclusion
Looking back on my Vision Pro Eve reflections, I’d say I was directionally right about where the experience would shine and where it would break for me.
My hope is that the commitment device of donning a headset for a serious computing-while-lying-down session will signal the onset of effort in a less distractible way. Of course, it could go the other way—I could spend ages intermittently checking notifications on my phone while doing light chores to “clear the decks” for focused work, then run out of time to put on the Vision Pro at all.
Ten weeks in, putting on the Vision Pro feels like a treat (since I so enjoy “going under” to another plane), but it’s also a commitment. That could be seen as a problem, but it could also be seen as the point.
p.s. If you’ve read this far and you’ll be in San Francisco anytime soon, we have a shareable Vision Pro at Matrix—reach out and I can add you to the list for our next demo hangout! diana@matrix.vc