Apple makes a real leap forward in XR's capabilities and execution

The VR announced by $Apple(AAPL)$ today is really powerful, with 5,000 patents and a price of $3,500 US, which beats the products of $Alphabet(GOOG)$ and $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ .

After a roughly 30-minute demo demonstrating major features that weren't quite ready to test, I'm convinced Apple has made a real leap forward in the capabilities and execution of the XR -- or mixed reality with its new Apple Vision Pro.

To be very clear, I'm not saying it delivers on all of its promises, is a truly new computing paradigm, or any of the other strong claims Apple hopes to deliver upon launch. I'm going to need more time to use the device than a guided demo.

However, I've used basically every major VR headset and AR device from 2013's Oculus DK1 to the latest generation of Quest and Vive headsets. When it comes to XR, I've tried all my experiences and attempts to implement fetch. I've been awed and awed again as the hardware and software developers of these devices and their curated apps continue to chew through the "killer app conundrum" -- trying to find something that will get a real buy across the wider sphere people.

There are some real social, narrative or gaming success stories like Gorilla Tag, VRChat or Cosmonius. I was also moved by the Sundance filmmakers' emphasis on first-person experiences of the human (or animal) condition.

But none of them have the edge that Apple brings to the table with the Apple Vision Pro. That is to say, it has applied for 5,000 patents in the past few years and has a huge talent and capital base. Every bit of this thing shows Apple-level ambitions. I don't know if it's going to be the "next computing paradigm," but you can see the beliefs behind each choice here. No cutting corners. Showcasing full tilt engineering.

The hardware is good, very good, with 24 megapixels on both panels, orders of magnitude more than any headset most consumers have come across. The optics are better, the headband is comfortable and quick to adjust, and the top strap saves weight. Apple says it's still working on options for the light seal (cloth cover) that will ship with the official launch, but the default seal is comfortable for me. Their goal is to introduce glasses in different sizes and shapes to suit different faces. The power connector also has a nice little design that uses an internal pin power connection with an external twist lock for interconnection.

There is also a magnetic solution for some (but not all) optical adjustments that people with different vision may need. The onboarding experience features automatic eye calibration that matches the lenses to the center of the eye. There is no manual wheel adjustment here.

The main frame and glass pieces look good, but it's worth mentioning that they are quite large in size. Not heavy per se, but definitely there.

If you've had experience with VR, you know that the two biggest hurdles most people experience are either the nausea from latency, or the isolation that can come from wearing something over your eyes for extended periods of time.

Apple has mitigated the effects of both. The R1 chip sits alongside the M2 chip with a system-wide polling rate of 12ms, and I didn't notice jitter or frame drops. A slight motion blur effect is used in pass-through mode, but it's not distracting. The windows themselves are sharply rendered and move quickly.

Of course, Apple has been able to alleviate these problems thanks to the abundance of brand new original hardware. Everywhere you look here there is a new idea, new technology or new implementation. All of these new offerings have a price, and $3,500 is on the high end of expectations and places the device firmly in the early adopter power user category.