Apple Vision Pro 2024: Is It a Worthy Investment?

Apple Vision Pro Review 2024: Is It Worth It?

This morning I met a dinosaur, got up close and personal with a sexy Alfa Romeo F1 race car, and sat among the clouds at Haleakalā. This isn’t a normal Thursday for me, but it could be with the help of the Apple Vision Pro. I had a rare opportunity to demo Apple’s new spatial computer before it’s available to pre-order on January 19 and I was blown away by what I witnessed. I’ve tested my share of VR headsets and visual wearables created by big tech companies, but nothing comes close to the elegance and innovation that the Apple Vision Pro will soon bring to your living room, office, or wherever you are.

What exactly is the Apple Vision Pro?

The Apple Vision Pro is a spatial computer that allows you to blend your favorite digital content into your IRL physical space. After you set up your headset (which is custom-fit to your head and eye prescription), you use your eyes, hands, and voice to navigate through the elements of your virtual world. It transforms you into an artist and architect, allowing you to customize your existing field of vision into a canvas of infinite possibilities.

This is what the home screen looks like on Apple Vision Pro. You look at an app icon to activate it and pinch your fingers once to open it. When you look at photos and videos on the Apple Vision Pro, you enter into a projection of the 2D gallery mode that you’re used to viewing on your phone, but in panorama photos envelop you, wrapping around your body in incredible resolution. The 3D camera is the most breathtaking feat of this technology. Viewing spatial photos and videos on the Apple Vision Pro was a borderline emotional experience for me.

Apple’s 3D camera is the closest thing I’ve witnessed to freezing a moment in time. We’re urged to escape technology for the sake of mindfulness and mental health, and ironically, Apple Vision Pro helps you do just that. When you open the Mindfulness app and begin a guided meditation, it dims your surroundings into pitch black to help you go inward while flower petals dance around your head.

When you use Apple Vision Pro, you can partially or fully immerse yourself in an “Environment” at any time. The Environment I tested was a view of the volcano Haleakalā, above the clouds in Maui. Using the Digital Crown, similar to the crown on the Apple Watch, you can turn up the opacity all the way, so your actual environment completely disappears, or you can turn it down, so it feels more like a light wallpaper around you. You can also watch movies or TV shows in an Environment. Apps like Disney+ will also provide themed Environments, like the Avengers Tower or Tatooine.

EyeSight is a feature on the Apple Vision Pro meant to ensure that you’re never alienated from the people around you and lets them know if you’re focusing on something. For example, if you open an app or enter an Environment, the front of your glass will shimmer in color. But if you’re having a conversation, the glass will become transparent so the other person can see your eyes.

According to Apple, “like every Apple product, Apple Vision Pro was designed with accessibility in mind. The flexible input system lets you use your eyes, hands, and voice individually or in any combination with features like Dwell, Voice, and Pointer Control.” From set-up to shut-down, the capabilities of this product in its first public iteration are genuinely amazing. At a base price of $3,499, the Apple Vision Pro is a splurge and will likely belong mostly to folks who have a really, really nice salary. If you can’t justify buying one against your current budget, at least set up an appointment at an Apple store to try one on when they hit stores. You will leave looking at the space around you in an entirely different way.

Mia Lardiere (she/her) is Cosmopolitan’s emerging platforms director, who oversees Cosmo’s Snapchat Discover channels, TikTok page, and special projects. She works with TikTok influencers and IRL experts to craft excellent educational content. She also occasionally contributes fitness and lifestyle articles. In her spare time, she runs with the Brooklyn Track Club and awaits the day that she will become a mom to a mini sheepadoodle.