Key Takeaways
- The Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional is uncomfortable for lengthy classes attributable to its weight, resulting in fatigue.
- The headset is not excellent for productiveness, as discomfort hindered my workflow, and studying textual content on screens utilizing passthrough was difficult.
- The exorbitant price ticket of the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional, beginning at $3,499, is difficult to justify in comparison with different extra reasonably priced combined actuality headsets.
I reviewed the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional headset when it got here out in February 2024. Nevertheless, I returned it earlier than the two-week return window closed for a couple of causes. Though I miss a few of its options, this is why I do not remorse my determination.
The Headset Is Uncomfortable for Lengthy Classes
A headset must be pretty mild and comfy to make use of for lengthy durations of time (and to get your use out of it). The Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional is heavy, which makes it somewhat difficult to make use of throughout longer classes. It could actually begin to weigh in your face comparatively rapidly once you use it, because it did for me.
Moreover, I needed to squeeze the headset onto my face with Apple’s Solo Knit Band to make it match accurately with out drooping. I additionally skilled fatigue simply by having the headset on my head and utilizing it for some time. Lastly, I encountered eye pressure in direction of the top of my evaluation interval although I did not use it for lengthy durations.
Since discomfort would kick in and make it tough to make use of the headset, it influenced how lengthy I’d need to use it, and I’d really feel a bit relieved when taking it off. This is not optimum for a brand-new Apple machine that should show its price in Apple’s product portfolio.
Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional Wasn’t Nice for Productiveness
As I discussed in my Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional evaluation, I used to be anticipating the headset to excel in productiveness. Nevertheless, that did not find yourself being the case. For one, the problems with consolation immediately impression how helpful the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional will be for productiveness.
Since I work for a number of hours straight on a typical day, utilizing the Imaginative and prescient Professional was extra of an inconvenience somewhat than one thing that was supposed to reinforce my workflow.
Regardless of having the very best passthrough mode in any VR/AR headset, I typically struggled to learn textual content on common shows. Moreover, Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional’s subject of view (FOV) made the expertise worse because it blocked a few of my imaginative and prescient.
The Value Tag Was Exhausting to Justify
It is no secret that the Imaginative and prescient Professional is pricey, which is not unusual for a first-generation Apple product. The unique iPhone price $500 on a contract when Apple launched it in 2007. Again then, $500 was thought of fairly costly for a smartphone.
The Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional, nonetheless, begins at $3,499. And it could go all the way in which as much as $3,899 when you go for the 1TB mannequin. Different combined actuality headsets, such because the Meta Quest 3, are cheaper at $499. Nevertheless, it is essential to notice that there are substantial variations between the 2 merchandise.
If you think about all the problems with the headset and the truth that arguably certainly one of its standout options—EyeSight—is flawed, it is arduous to justify spending that sort of cash on a first-generation product just like the Imaginative and prescient Professional.
