On February 2, Dr. Arish Syed Ishaqi arrived at the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York early in the morning (around 5:30 a.m.) to pick up his long-awaited Apple Vision Pro.
Ishaki, a self-described “avid Apple fan” and minority shareholder in the company, had pre-ordered a $3,500 mixed reality headset to add to his collection of Apple products. But he still wanted to be first in line to get a Vision Pro. And he was right. Later that day, Ishaki’s face triumphantly holds the trophy aloft as he emerges from the store with a big smile on his face and a box in his arms, posing for photos and videos amid a crowd of cheering Apple employees. However, it has become a hot topic on the internet and TikTok.
“It was pretty surreal,” Ishaki said of meeting Apple CEO Tim Cook at the New York opening, marking the third time he had met the Apple president in 12 months.
Cook billed the Vision Pro as a “revolutionary device” in Apple’s product lineup. And while the company has clearly tempered its expectations for the first version of the device, positioning it primarily for superfans and developers, Apple’s ultimate goal is to make the Vision Pro completely useful for its business. The goal is to create a new product category. iPhone.
The big question is whether the Vision Pro will be better than past generations of virtual reality and mixed reality headsets, from the meta Quest 3 to the ill-fated Google Glass, which have struggled to penetrate beyond niche audiences such as gamers. The question is whether it will work or not. Early reviews of the Vision Pro marvel at its features, but note that prolonged use can strain the wearer’s eyes and neck, and that the number of apps currently available is limited. Other shortcomings have also been pointed out. Perhaps most worryingly for Apple, many consumers have returned the Vision Pro after playing with it for a few days, deciding it wasn’t what they expected or not worth the considerable price they paid. That would be the report.
So luck We tracked down what may be the most famous Vision Pro user: Ishaqi. Ishaqi was the first person in New York to get the device and was the unofficial poster boy for Apple Vision Pro. After a few weeks, what does he think about his purchase? How often will he wear it? Did he return it? Did it change his life? What is his reality?
Here’s what Ishaki told us:
He expected some problems with first-generation products.
Ishaky, who lives in New Jersey, brought the device home for the whole family to try out. (“It was a pretty heavy box,” he said.) His sister and his parents all tried it on. In particular, her sister and mother said they felt some slight strain on their necks while wearing them, and Ishaky agreed that they were “a little heavy.”
“It puts all your weight in front of your face. It’s unbalanced,” he said, but said he personally doesn’t mind it that much.
Courtesy of Dr. Aarish Syed Ishaqi
So far, Ishaqi has used Vision Pro primarily for entertainment. to watch movies and play games like Apple Arcade’s immersive game Synth Riders. Ishaqi describes using the device as feeling like your own “personal theater” with crystal-clear images. However, battery life is limited (he says it lasted about 3-4 hours, and he hopes it improves over time). His other major complaint was that dark scenes in some of the movies he watched caused glare from reflections on the lens.
“These are the downsides that I’ve seen,” he says, but he expects there will be some issues with first-generation products and expects Apple to improve them over time. He said that
As a physician who conducts research in oncology and is pursuing a career in medicine, Ishaqi is enthusiastic about the potential of certain medical applications, such as Insight Heart and Surgical AR Vision, which provide 3D medical animation technology. .
“It’s a first-generation product. So it has some quirks, but the possibilities are pretty crazy… In my opinion, this is a breakthrough,” he says.
So was it worth it?
Ishaqi says he was a little worried that he wouldn’t like the Vision Pro technology. Eventually, he tried his Meta’s Quest 3 headset, but he struggled with distortion issues. He says that when he moves the lens up and down, his hand waves through the lens.
“It’s a little tedious,” Ishaky says of the quest. “We didn’t have any issues like that with Apple.” Overall, he’s very impressed with the technology compared to others on the market.
Still, Ishaqi admits that he uses the Vision Pro less often than he expected when he bought it. He never expected it to be so heavy to wear or so isolated. Ishaqi says it feels strange to be wearing the headset when work is over, even though Vision Pro wearers can adjust the so-called pass-through feature to see everyone around them. I’ll tell you. And when you use it in public places like trains or libraries, it attracts a lot of attention, especially because of the hand gestures in the air.
“So far, I haven’t used it much,” Ishaki told me. The Vision Pro is primarily strapped on and turned on to watch videos, which he says ends up taking him an average of about an hour a day.
I asked Ishaky if it was worth it, and he said it depends on the situation.
“For someone like me? Yes,” he says. “But I don’t think anyone really needs that. Like I said, it’s a great experience, but I think $4,000 for just the movie is a little steep.”
As this technology becomes cheaper and lighter over the next few years, and app developers continue to introduce more applications, it will become more meaningful to the average consumer, and “everyone should have this.” Ishaki said.
As an early adopter, Ishaqi has no plans to return Vision Pro. He’s glad he bought it. Additionally, the 14-day return period has passed.
More information about Apple Vision Pro from Fortune:
Apple Vision Pro review by a working parent
Tim Cook touts Apple’s new Vision Pro headset as a corporate must-have despite augmented reality’s checkered history in the workplace
If Apple can’t make smart goggles, no one can. So what happens if Apple fails?
