As expected Apple unmasked its new mixed reality headset, now named Apple Vision Pro, at its annual World Wide Devleopers Conference this week. No surprise that the reactions have also been as expected with some giving new meaning to the old cliché about Apple’s reality distortion field and others being quite vocal with their negative reactions, especially as regards to that $3500 price point.

I’ve been following along with some of the bloggers and journalists who got to try the headset on, experience the 30-minute demo and I have complied a series of links to some of the reactions. Keep in mind the responses from those who got strapped in are somewhat akin to folks reacting to a trailer for a new film. Folks are responding to a canned demo, acknowledging that, and the fact that Apple has a lot of work to do before this thing debuts to the public supposedly early in 2024.
I’ll have more to say about it at some point in the future based on my thoughts to these reactions.
Matthew Panzarino in TechCrunch says Yes, Apple Vision Pro Works and Yes, It’s Good.
Jason Snell of Six Colors goes Eyes (and head) on with the Apple Vision Pro.
Joanna Stern in the Wall Street Journal had two reactions after the demo. “Wow. Very Cool” and “Did I just do drugs?”
John Gruber says the price might be an impediment to owning one. But the experience is something you’ll want to set aside some time to try it out.
Krista Jones in Esquire says she knew you could do futuristic FaceTime, but what she found the most interesting -shocking even-was how it made her feel.
Harry McCracken in Fast Company gives us three things he learned and three things he didn’t about the new gizmo.
Jason Hiner on ZDNet says Apple Vision Pro is far ahead of where he expected it to be.
David Pogue on Medium brings up a recurring theme I’m seeing among those writing about these first experiences that say the device felt heavy after using it a bit in the 30 minute demo.
Roman Loyola of MacWorld didn’t want to leave the demo.
And you might want to watch this video review of the experience from MKBHD.
There’s plenty more out there if you’re interested. There will be more digital ink spilled on this between now and the products eventual release than you can imagine. Bottom line themes I see emerging:
1. Amazing technology
2. Expensive
3. Weight is still an issue
4. Apple has lots of work to do before this releases and even more in the years ahead. They’ve staked out a vision and have the bankroll to advance it. It will be interesting to follow.