Although most of you will not know it, I have been a maquero (or whatever it is written) in this life. Long ago, when my main hobby was music and I didn't need to watch my spending so much. I had (and still have) an iMac, then between Android and iOS I opted for the iPhone, iPad, watch… But a little because of the philosophy and a lot because of the price, I went back to using a Linux that I have never completely abandoned for a long time. Today Apple introduced the VisionPro, and it is the second device that I do not see favorably, never better said.
The first device that seemed a bit silly to me when I started to look more at the price was its HomePod. A speaker that is currently for €350 and that I think was worth more when he showed up… To be honest, he aroused zero interest in me. I felt a bit the same with the AirPods Max, so there would actually be three devices that don't call me anything. The Vision Pro have been presented as a great innovation, and the blogosphere is "freaking out" about them, but not me. I explain the reasons.
The Vision Pro uses more iOS than macOS
I have seen the Apple keynote live, and the gesture that my head has made the most when seeing the Vision Pro has been the "no". The first thing I thought of was an image from a Facebook presentation, I don't know if it was from when they were Meta or before. I can't find the image, but there were dozens of people sitting in something like a cinema and each one with their glasses, isolated from the world. When I saw that photo I thought "leave the house to isolate yourself, great idea". Apple has taken certain measures to prevent users of its glasses from mixed reality away from their surroundings, but enough?
Apple doesn't design gadgets without thinking about what they do. His glasses include various physical elements to interact with. The same digital crown that we find in the Apple Watch is mounted on the Vision Pro, but in this case they have another output function: adjust isolation level. They also show the eyes on the outside if someone approaches, and at that very moment the glasses will show us the person who is coming towards us, but I repeat: is it enough?
The operating system, yes, that is as spectacular as you want, is a version of iOS designed to move around our room. I'm not saying it doesn't have its merit; what I mean is how closed it is: will not allow you to install applications from outside the App Store, so, for example, we will not be able to work with Visual Studio Code while we have what we are designing/programming on another "screen" to one side. There is also no complete Photoshop, let alone GIMP.
But let's go with something good
If I am not interested in this device, it is because, like the speakers and headphones, they are prohibitively expensive for what they offer and that we cannot do with another device in a different way. One of the best purchases I have made on Amazon were a pair of MPOW headband headphones that cost me €25, whose battery lasts about 24 hours and offers simply acceptable sound. The Vision Pro they cost $3500, that in Spain they will approach or go up to €4000, to get away from mine?
We had said we were going to go with the good stuff. If we put aside the price, and that we are going to have to carry that hulk with us, innovation does have. If we want to overlook, even if it is difficult, the entire camera system that does the magic, it has a retina reader to unlock it (Optic ID) and do things like buying or entering passwords. In the absence of trying them, it doesn't sound bad at all to watch a movie on a movie screen wherever you are, but for that price one cannot be left with the feeling that something is missing: if I have a little toy that allows me to have many windows open, I would like it to be able to run desktop applications.
But sticking with the good stuff. you can control the interface with your eyes, with gestures of a hand (which can be placed on the thigh) and with the voice.
Only available in the US of departure
Initially, the Vision Pro will go on sale in the US and only in the North American country, something we already saw with the iPhone in 2007. They have an age limit, and They are not recommended for children under 13 years of age.. For users with glasses, it is necessary to use Zeiss magnetic lenses like the ones used by Tim Cook, or else… you will see blurry 3D images. There are other devices that do allow you to accommodate the glasses, but that is not possible with the advanced system used by the Vision Pro.
Apple has introduced this when everyone was and is thinking about artificial intelligence. Being from Apple and at the moment they are going through, they are guaranteed success, but they can wait for me sitting down with that price and with iPhone applications. I'll buy a Vision Pro when I buy my first HomePod, promised.