The Apple Vision Pro
The Apple Vision Pro is Apple’s mixed reality headset, released back in February 2024 and later in Japan at the end of June. Although it’s been out for quite a while, I had never tried one—until today, 5th April 2025, when I experienced a demo at my local Apple Store in Tokyo. I was genuinely impressed with the overall experience.
I own quite a few Apple products across their range, so it was exciting back in June 2023 to watch the keynote for this brand new product category. Since then, I’ve seen a trickle of news about it, but I never sought out a demo to try it myself. When I was in the Apple Store the other day, I noticed they were offering demos if you booked online—so I booked one for the following weekend. From the demo, I realised that you really have to try one yourself to understand the appeal of the device. No flashy, overhyped keynote can do it justice compared to experiencing the real thing.
What Impressed Me
I’ve tried a few other headsets at electronics stores in Tokyo (though not a huge selection), but none that I’ve used had such a crisp image as the Vision Pro. The 23-million-pixel display was incredibly clear, and the immersive videos and imagery really made it feel as though you were at the original shooting location, witnessing the event live. For example, the family celebrating a birthday and blowing out candles made you feel like you were right there. The basketball and football videos—shot from court and pitch side—made you feel like you had better seats than those in world-class stadiums.
You can shoot these immersive videos on the Vision Pro yourself, but as this was a demo, I couldn’t help wondering how good they'd actually be compared to the polished demo footage. How many of these sporting events are actually available regularly to give you that courtside view? (And as for family moments, how many people want to experience them with a headset on, slightly removed from the world...?)
Beyond the media features, I asked to try the Mac screen sharing functionality, as I was curious whether it could provide a realistic deep-focus working environment. The world is full of distractions, so the idea of putting on a headset and entering a focused zone could be a game-changer. The Mac screen share works well—you can enlarge the window so it’s huge—but it’s still just one flat screen. You can’t drag apps around like the native ones to surround you, though you can have native apps floating alongside your desktop.
It didn’t seem like you could control the remote desktop with eye tracking—you’re back to using a physical keyboard and mouse. That probably makes sense, since the eye tracking and finger gestures need large, custom interface elements to work well. I got the impression that the Mac screen share wasn’t one of the demos they were keen to show off, so perhaps it’s not seen as a flagship feature. For me, though, it’s something I’d hope to rely on if I owned the device.
What Didn't Impress
After reading for over a year about the device’s drawbacks, I was curious to see how many I’d notice in just a short demo.
Firstly, the dangling battery pack was quite annoying. Placing it on the table left a cable in the way that I kept bumping into with my arms while trying out the hand gestures. Putting it in your back pocket wasn’t comfortable either—sitting on a nearly half-kilogram box of metal that’s thicker and larger than even an iPhone 15 Pro isn’t ideal. It gives you two hours of battery life, although you can plug it in for longer sessions. There’s a reason the whole demo is done while seated!
The actual headset weight—around 600g—didn’t feel as heavy as many online reviews suggest, at least when using the dual-loop band (with a strap across the back and top of the head). But I only wore it for 30 minutes, so perhaps that’s not long enough to get a full impression. Apple’s marketing tends to show the solo knit band, which I doubt anyone would prefer after trying both.
Clearly, the price is the number one issue—even after an impressive demo. In the US, it starts at $3,500 for the 256GB version. In Japan, it starts at ¥600,000, which is over $4,000 at current exchange rates. 256GB seems rather small for the price, and the jump to 512GB is even pricier than the same storage bump on an iPhone. I imagine the immersive 8K videos will be quite large, which seems like one of the main selling points. That said, Apple uses the MV-HEVC codec, which gets them down to about 130MB per minute—so you could store just under 34 hours of content on the 256GB model. Not as bad as I feared.
The virtual keyboard was difficult to type on, so I’d definitely still want a physical keyboard nearby. But honestly, not being able to air type after just a few minutes of trying isn’t the biggest issue here.
Lastly, when I took the headset off, I felt a little dizzy and disoriented. It took me a bit of time to feel normal again. But I’ve had similar experiences with other headsets, and maybe it’s something you could get used to over time.
Overall
I was more impressed than I expected to be. That may partly be because it’s such a great device to demo—but it’s hard to really know without spending more time with it. I’ve heard that a number of owners don’t use theirs regularly, so the idea of buying one after just a 30-minute demo feels a bit daunting. That said, I was invited back for another demo whenever I like—so maybe I’ll write a follow-up post with more thoughts.
The Future
Tim Cook has acknowledged that, at this price point, the Vision Pro isn’t a mass-market product—which is no surprise. But it’s only the first generation, and I’m excited to see what future iterations bring to this immersive 3D world.
I think they need to reduce the headset’s weight, improve the battery situation, and bring down the price. This isn’t a device the whole family can enjoy together like a big-screen TV or projector—it’s a solo experience. That, to me, limits how much people will be willing to spend.
Still, I really hope Apple continues to invest in this product. I can see a very exciting future for it. I appreciate Apple’s focus on reliability and good design, and I think they’re in a strong position to refine the device and make it more accessible. They’re unlikely to make the low-cost, mass-market headsets—Meta seems more interested in that space.
If you haven’t tried the Apple Vision Pro and live near an Apple Store, I definitely recommend booking a demo on Apple's website. The initial hype has died down, so appointments are easy to get—and it’s a great opportunity to experience Apple’s vision of the future, first-hand!