Vision Pro for Dev after one week 

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finally a developer perspective on vision pro, thank you!

i couldnt stop laughing when the cup hit the vision pro.

Thank you, I have searched soooo many videos for a few things, and you are the first person to address some of them! I wish you talked about these things a bit more, but thank you for touching on how you can use the Apple Vision Pro with a Magic Keyboard, in particular for programming without pairing a Mac! (I don't have a Mac)

I’m also a developer with a Vision Pro and this movie was pretty spot on with the same criticisms and praises I would’ve had

If you could open native Mac windows in the Vision Pro you wouldn't be limited to a screen at all, you would just open bunch of them and have them around you. I'd like to do this for recording music, you could have the DAW floating wherever you're playing instead of always having to go back to the laptop.

This is the most usefull video I've watched on the AVP. I think the best device will be lighter, multiple screens a bit like the approach visor by Immersible are apparently working on (remains to be seen in the wild yet) with 5 screens possible and you hook up to any of Windows, Mac, Linux as well and about 1k$. More of a visor than headset. I don't know what the comfortable weight is but the lightest appears to be 250g. The question remains if all the bells and whistles of Apple's approach are necessary for multiple different development projects and options envisioned that galvanizes development and use and interest? But for dev work I think the simpler model approach seems best for all the above reasons. This video did a brilliant job of showing how the AVP can be used for development and pros and cons some of which you'd only start to consider if wearing for a while but overall adding more screens will make a big difference to AVP for this dev use case, clearly. Did not realize the immersion background could be so nice also. A beach with setting sun seems a nice option?!

It's always the chicken or the egg with new Apple products. Without the new device out in the wild, there is no way to vet it and stress test it. While I understand the complaints especially because it is so expensive, this is to be expected on a first gen product. Kudos to Apple for the massive spending and tying up their engineering resources on a spec product that may or may not ever become successful. And that is why Apple has been as successful as they have been, taking chances, and betting the farm on products no one even asked for.

Dude literally the 2 biggest issues I have that I have not seen anyone talk about. The drinking and folding laundry.

You're reviews are always the best, so informative and straight to the point while also being funny. Can't stop watching!

I am saying it all the time - Apple products (except MacBook) they work perfectly in "ideal conditions"... But if you face bad conditions, you are so screwed.

Thanks Alex, way the best Vision Pro review of the dozen or two I’ve watched: practical, insightful and based on real work. Had a couple Apple Store demo sessions and I think I’ll buy one as a mobile display for work. Looks like the next software update addresses several of your comments 👍

this is very interesting to me mostly because of how I feel looking at your eyes after you wore the thing, very informative

Like for the video :) but As I said earlier, it's a useless device for work (unless for testing/dev. internal apps) IMO, Once you buy it you'll have to get lots of "dongles-workarounds" just to get it to work a bit more comfortable like w/o the set. It was obvious 3K+ resolution per eye cannot give you the same sharpness of a monitor in a window, unless you go full screen or lower the resolution of the monitor. Also you lose all your external monitors and portability :) Did you see the size of the case? So instead of carrying just a macbook, you'll have to carry that case, + a macbook + an external keyboard (+ external touchbar). Dark environment issue, yeap, it's camera sensors, less light - higher ISO (noisy picture) and slower "shutter" speed (motion blur) I love how Apple releases a product and makes you think that it's perfect and then makes you to buy several other products just to fix issues with the already perfect product :) Not many people will admit that this was a bad deal for them, especially with that price.

theres an expression that says "going around your ass to get to your elbow". with all the vids ive seen on vision pro for productivity, that expression fits perfectly as far as the justification for spacial computing being the use of multiple "virtual" display monitors rather than one nice physical display like a studio display. still love the vid Alex, keep up the good work.

I think Immersed hinted they are making a Vision Pro app, which would fix the single screen issue. However, as someone mentioned, they are working on the Visor headset that's much lighter/cheaper (I'm still skeptical it'll be everything promised). I've used Immersed on Q3 and love it, but it's still not as convenient/comfortable as coding at my desk with multiple monitors.

Great video, Alex. This is the real use case I am interested in. I’m sure it’s great for movies and such, but it seems that for most dev tasks it may be more limiting than useful so far. I would be interested, though, in how it is for doing AR/VR development. Is it more like an iPhone, where you really just use it for testing, but do the developing out of VR on the Mac? Also how about just VisionOS apps in Xcode for spatial computing?

Question: Can you not drag the mac's projected screen out to be larger, using the bracket in the lower corners of the windows as you would the native apps? You can set the resolution to be higher then make the screen physically larger, no? Thanks!

I think the Vision Pro is really exciting! That said, I'm waiting for Vision Pro 5 before I jump in.

stellar review for the usecase , grounded clear and exhaustive , also the tone is very pleasant =) so big nope to vision pro for work, its spacial sure, but not "computing" , more like entertainement and roaming

Thanks for the video. As we move to more advanced process nodes, there will be no need for future Vision Pros to have fans for cooling, which will make the device much smaller and lighter. I'm also hoping for better camera quality and maybe they can use machine learning to fix some of the issues. I want the battery pack to also function as a Thunderbolt 5 dock for wired connectivity. I also want the UI to use 3D objects instead of flat 2D objects.

Watching the tear down videos, the design of this thing is very dense as it is, I'm not sure how they're going reduce the size and weight of the head set. It's going to take a lot of consolidation of parts as well as substitution of materials, that glass and aluminum body is probably weight that's not needed. I think the battery brick could be a trojan horse, get users used to having it, then just move the processing parts there. They're going to need to make the headset lighter and thinner and this would be one quick way to do it. They could also add a cellular connection and a full function USBC port to the brick. People might not like the idea of a cellular transmitter right next to their head all day, but they're used to having one in their pocket.

Did you find that trackpad continuity across MacBook and visionOS apps worked as well as it does on the iPad?

Great Video Alex.. I've had an AVP since launch and find your video very well done, I agree with your points. I would add you can make the simulated Mac screen very large, and I don't see a degradation in quality. Weird hack I've noticed is stepping back allows me to make a bigger screen where I want it to be, then walk up to it, and the larger size is retained. While it's not 2 screens, you get very readable large screens, I think mine about 55" on my desk, and takes no space. Another thing I've noticed, I've switched back to the solo loop and find it as comfortable and much easier to adjust than the other, and the initial heavyness of the unit no longer bothers me, I think it's getting used to it. Sliding the solo loop up and down the back of my head helps to adjust how it lies on front.(I haven't seen anyone cover that yet, but subtle shifts up and down affect how it sits up front) A tip for drawing/whiteboard, simple place your app on a real wall and use it like a whiteboard with your fingers.. key is to put it on the wall. (I hope they make it so you can place notes flat, being able to push against something, even lightly improves the experience)

Have you ever walked down the street holding your iPad and had the thought, "man, I wish I could jump into this iPad!"? Good, me neither. No one has. No one ever will. VR is NOT a computer screen. VR is a dream shaped canvas.

Thanks for the informative video. I think the Vision Pro is a good start. I am sure it will be amazing soon.

Great video, also have a Vision Pro and this is the first review that I feel is in sync with my reality. I have not forced myself to dev on it yet and I need to get a Bluetooth keyboard. For me the killer use case is using it to watch movies on a plane. It’s nice to be in another world while trapped in a flying tin can.

Not having multiple screens is a huge deal breaker for me. I use an ultra wide monitor and a standard monitor when developing.

I am happy about this video

THIS IS WHY I think the Vision Pro is not worth 3500 box. in the quest3 I can at least deactivate hand tracking when doing something else with my hands or just using the joystick . I can remote my Mac and use the meta quest joystick as my computer mouse. ALL THIS AND MORE; FOR 7 TIMES LESS THE PRICE. I'm making a video soon about why I got the quest 3 :)

The lack of the multiple screen support is a deal breaker for me. I checked the specs out and determined I’d wait for the next model to be released, but even then I assumed multiple screen support would already have been supported! The use case for VR in a workflow is to be able to build a portable environment, not battle your current workflow!

This is great, but there’s one other developer scenario that seems very high-potential - creating experiences in WebXR. I’ve learned about the community by working on Glitch (where many WebXR devs hang out), and it’s based entirely on open standards, dev can be done in any plaintext editor and works in most popular browsers (you can even make stuff without owning a Vision Pro!), and since it’s standards-based, the worlds or experiences you create can even run on other platforms. Would love to see what you think of building that way.

That context menu (Little Green Dot) can be moved higher in your field of view. Settings > Control Center > Indicator Position

LOL, how the coffee cup hit the Vision Pro when you tried to take a sip.

The virtual screen should have an option to become curved if you make it really big

Nice video. I hope I can test one by myself soon. I live in Germany. This tec is interesting for me because I already work fulltime in VR. I work this way over 3 years now and it works for me.

What I would expect is the ability to position individual application windows around you in space. Not just a fixed resolution virtual monitor in front of you.

i am hoping Apple will synch the apple pen to the AVP .. and even if they don't do that I hope they make it so you can place a virtual drawing paper that can line up with existing physical flat serfaces (or even perhaps not completely flat surfaces?) so you could use your finger to draw on those virtual papers and have the sense of your finger touching something when drawing? I am also hoping that Apple will do a software tweek that will allow the iphone and ipad to act as virtual game controllers and usitilizing the touch screen on the iphone with virtual joysticks and virtual buttons.. and use the iphone haptics for more game immersion..

Maybe I'm old, but I just can't get into ANY tech that requires me to strap something large and bulky on to my head. Everyone looks ridiculous wearing things like this. Also, the internet is replete with videos of people falling or running into things wearing VR head sets. And for coding, there really isn't any tangible benefit over just using a normal display - at least not that I can see.

As someone who worked in a factory. where they use protective earmuffs most of the day. those earmuffs leaves dents and permanent changes around your ear, if you use em too much. and it would happen faster with the vision pro, but on your face as the pressure is increased.

I get dizzy from watching peoples screen recordings. Thanks for the demo anyway :)

I think that monitoring infrastructure will be great. One screen with Kubernetes dashboard, other with the cloud web console, etc

I'm also a developer and I bought it on VisionPro and it's coming at the end of February. It's funny that it crashes with the cup. It's funny to think that's me in two weeks. I'm also planning to use Vision Pro for Windows and Mac (Mac mini, Macbook) to open multiple windows and use it for development. I tried to develop with Metapro before and failed, but I'm looking forward to it. But when I tried to make a desert in VR and develop it, I thought it was amazing, but I was a little disappointed to see that the keyboard was not visible. I'm looking forward to seeing how much better it will be with software updates over the years.

"have my coffee... which is cold by now" 🤣

Pls review Xreal Air 2 and when it is released the next model Air 2 Ultra.

FYI, you can change the height of the Control Center green pull-down arrow in the settings, if the default height is bothering you.

Thx for the video! :)

Great breakdown of gotchas and what to expect!

You can move up the control center dot. Go to settings >> control center, then it’s slider on the top

😂 the coffee scene. Just hilarious

Fantastic video and really shows the challenges ahead to see what is really required to develop apps for this new product category from Apple.

Those videos you make are great.

I don't know, I would never use this for development. I'm fine with my two screen setup and if I need to go mobile, I can always take my laptop. They both are just released those split screen monitors which are basically flip tablets; to me that's more convenient than AR / VR.

Thanks for the wonderful review - sorry about your coffee mug :) that was a great laugh for the morning. This is exciting, and I hope there will be the ability for multiple functioning desktops, such as when you add a desktop(s) while working with a MacBook. Rather than needing to swipe between desktops, having those in the space you are working in would be interesting to see the functionality. Looking forward to the future.

This was helpful as productivity was one of my primary interests in this device. Knowing the keyboard and mouse can join is good. What about apps like bbedt, notepad++, etc in terms of native compatibility? The VLC hack is great

it's too big to sit with it on the face for a few hours. I prefer hooking up to a monitor. Same issue as with the quest, the resolution wasn't the biggest issue for me, it's actually having a screen hanging on my face.

Only one mirrored screen is really a deal breaker

Best review yet 😅 Love how you started it

Nice video… it gave me more clarity for replacing desktop with Vision Pro 👍🏽

One big ultrawide screen for $1000 replaces the whole thing and you keep your head free and don't get your eyes tired. VR is for gaming and 3d modelling. Real AR glasses (not toasters strapped to your face) could work but we are still a couple of years away.

Great video, Alex! As a low vision dev, I’m skeptical of being able to use the VP, but you’re helping me visualize hours I might use it. Thanks!

Multiple screens would be amazing for this. And it’d be nice to be able to increase the screen size. Look at however many lines of code is whatever, but squinting isn’t fun. It’d be cool if I could make the workspace larger

The location height of the control panel toggle button in your field of view can be adjusted to be less in your direct line of sight in the settings app.

Just something I'd like to add in case you don't know, theres a setting to change the height of the trigger for control center. The default is really low which is why you likely trigger it accidentally so often. I'd move it to the 5th setting which to me has been the top of my eyesight without tilting my head.

After trying the Apple Vision Pro, I'm going to use my iPhone 15 Pro Max to record photos in panoramic and videos in spatial video so I can relive those moments in 3D Apple Vision Pro.

Thanks for showing the real experience

Was genuinely curious if you'll get it. I need a programmer's opinion on whether this would be handy enough once we can put tabs from a single app into separate windows so I can have all my classes opened all around me in VSCode or if it's just a gimmick.

Alex, my recommendation would be to use the dual loop band. It’s tougher to fit correctly, but once you have your strap lengths dialed in, it will cause much less fatigue on your face.

Nice video, thanks for it. I honestly don't use the screen mirroring so much because of the same reasons you mentioned. Coffee, for example, Lol. Since I'm working on an app and a game, I first did a game builder with Lua support. With that, I can work remotely, with unlimited native VisionOS windows and without the laptop. But I'm very much impressed so far with how nicely all works with RealityKit and SwiftUI.

How about virtual screen from macbook, at max resolution and increase the size of the window to be like 100 inches? Or how about going into vision pro gives your mac multiple screens, so youre not limited to one mac screen sized box?? How about connecting to macbook and integrating mac apps to act like vision pro apps (seamless virtual screen)? Theres a long way to go until it would suit actual working. Also has to lose a lot of weight or fix weight distribution problems.

what I'd like to know, though, is what the productivity is like in a development environment. What I imagine is that you'll be (because writing code is precise), on a physical keyboard to actually get work done. So a lot of the virtual keyboard tech is not a factor, true? So did you do anything with compilation as a part of the workflow, anything where Simulation as you would for developing an iOS app would require, and try in the VPro environment? Or is it just an expensive screen for the MBP?

I'm (building) architect. Software dev for building industry is slow as heck. No major developments has happened over 15 years I've been on the industry. I would like to see finally some actual software where you can make your virtual buildings (BIM not 3d-modeling!) with ease and control. Not like copying 80's user interfaces for drawing lines on paper.

Really good video!

thanks Alex

yes, rd client app you using in macbook, that same app is available in ipad as well.

cool review - THX

One question about 5k resoution. If you place that resolution, can you make the window insanely huge to compensate how small the text is?

I'm from Brazil and here the minimum wage is ~R$1,500/month, but this product is costing R$32,000 here for my salary as dev (R$3,100) I need to work for 10+ month and not spend the money on anything. definitely is a very cool and promising technology, but at the moment I think it's a matter of time before it becomes more popular or more accessible. and the prices reduces. i hope...

Can you resize the Mac virtual display window. I can on quest 3.

You can move the control center button up so it pops up less unless you very explicitly look up inside the headset. It’s a quick fix! 😁

All I want is basically what is a quest 2 with Linux for ARM on it with a 'screen casting' in a scene built in, with multiscreen support - with an additional USB port for USB debugging and external wire bound devices. In that world, you wouldn't need a computer alongside the device anymore.

What I don’t like is that I am an Android and iOS dev and I can’t use the Vision Pro only. If that would be the case and I could have several windows open… I would love it. I want to use it similar to a Mac.

Great video! Interesting to see the current state of the VP with every day issues like the coffee mug 😃 I see the potential of a device like this but I think there is a really long way to go. Biggest issue will be the form of the device as the goal would be "normal" glasses with such functionality. I imagine something like normal glasses which just act like a VR screen and the MacBook is doing all the processing.

Good overview!

why don't you expand the mac virtual display? you can resize it and and a lot bigger and clearer screen and imagine you sit in a sofa and just have it in really big size

tl;dr coding is usually blurry and you get quick headaches after longer periods. the input lag from a physical keyboard can also be annoying. after a while you usually get pissed off and prefer looking at your screens directly. (i am speaking from Valve Index experience)

Holy shit, that's actually awesome. I hate to say this but I can actually see myself replacing my ThinkPad with a Vision Pro once it gets polished enough to not be that huge, expensive and buggy.

you need the overhead strap to relieve the pressure off your face lol. I will be getting one, but I will be waiting for a few Generations until they perfect it. I want to be able to work and game without having a physical monitor, allowing me to work literally anywhere.

If this gets smaller in size, like eyeglass size, it'd be amazing as I realized as I was testing it that I didn't have to switch between two eyeglasses -- which I do on my computer as I am both nearsighted and farsighted -- as Apple configured my prescription in minutes -- to use it.

This is the first video where i see the headband pattern in the hair.

Seems like it will be much better in about 20 years

Why not set the resolution of the virtual MacBook screen in Vision Pro to the largest possible size, then position it close enough so everything is readable? That way you'd have the screen real estate equivalent to multiple large Mac monitors. Every app window could then be positioned without overlap and enough content to work efficiently. VisionOS apps could be on the periphery.

Bingo, that is exactly why I haven’t purchased one. I see this version as a beta version for developers and early testers. I will be getting the 3/4th Gen if I can wait that long. Gosh it will be something nearer to 2030!!!! Crazy

great video i agree with most what you said but the meta quest pro kinda blows this out the water too IMO would love a comparison

certainly a very interesting device, should users have expected a more polished experience given the price tag? there could be an argument for that. Imagine they address some of your complaints in future revisions of this device and the price falls to that of an iPhone, sure would be a compelling piece of kit.

either they need to make the Vision run Mac OS programs or make Mac OS run their programs in some kind of special windowed way that looks like a native Vision OS app when connected. Not being able to have multi monitor with a Macbook is really sad

if only you could plug it into a mac and have a bi-directional thunderbolt link between them. There would be so many possibilities for productivity especially if they were to implement a lossless kvm over thunderbolt solution like intel recently did. It seems like one of the biggest limitations is the wireless bandwidth, and the worst part is there was already a wire for power lol. Awesome video btw, always enjoy watching your content! :)

Question: Is there a feature that indicates where your eyes were looking during screen recordings? Kind of like showing the location of taps in phone screen recordings. Having watched multiple demos now, the way the screen is foveated (thus out of focus depending on where you look) is ever-so slightly frustrating as a secondary viewer. But I think it'd help to know where the original viewer was looking at the time of recording. That way my eyes can kind of follow along with theirs to see things more sharply focused.

Kudos for the cup humour. I really giggled. The MacBook connection seems to work flawlessly but I have a Mac mini with a third party screen. Does it work the same way?

The pov vids on this is gonna go crazy