Imagine being transported to a futuristic cinema from the comfort of your sofa. Sure, a projector can get you halfway there, but what about the experience of a massive multiplex screen right in front of your eyes?
That's what using the Apple Vision Pro for watching movies feels like.
This headset, packed with advanced tech, might not be a budget-friendly gadget at £3,499, but its immersive capabilities are mind-blowing. It's now on sale in the UK and I've had a hands-on demo at Apple's offices, experiencing the ins and outs of how this new gadget works.
The first thing I noticed? It's as sleek and futuristic as it gets. Sure, there's a lot you can tell from photos and videos online, but after seeing it in person I can confirm it looks impressive. Before you set it up, you need to do some face scans (a bit like using Face ID on any iPhone) to ensure you've got the right "Light Seal" for comfort.
In my 30-minute demo, I had no complaints about how it felt, although it may eventually get tiring for a long watch like Avengers: Endgame. Picking the best fit of the two included adjustable headbands is essential.
Once you're in – and yes, putting it on does feel like you're entering the OASIS of Ready Player One – the Micro-OLED displays in front of each eye deliver stunningly clear visuals. I've tried the Meta Quest 3 too and the difference in resolution is noticeable. With Apple's headset, you're getting a 4K screen for each eye, so it won't feel pixelated at all.
The user interface is presented as a home screen of apps right in front of you. You set up hand and eye tracking by looking at your hands, and then at dots on the displays. It's intuitive – to get around, you look at what you want to select and pinch your fingers to "click" on it.
For a first-gen product, I was surprised to find there's already a lot you can do. You can meditate on a mountaintop, experience dinosaurs wandering all around you, track five basketball games at once, dive into immersive spatial videos and view your panoramic photos like you're back in that moment.
And for getting browsing and work done, you can mirror your Mac's display, place windows all over your space and multitask in ways you'd never imagined. I know what you're interested in, though – it's movies and TV shows where this tech excels.
Movies are to be shared, of course, but I've got no problem admitting that many of my favourite times at the cinema have been when it's empty. Using the Vision Pro gives you a private screening and you get to pick the venue, whether it's on the beach, among the clouds in the sky, on the moon or in your personal cinema.
Of course, £3,499 is a serious investment, but have you considered the costs of adding a screening room to your home? In use, the high-resolution screen and spatial audio support (both over the Vision Pro's speakers or AirPods Pro) make for something quite unlike anything else I've experienced before.
During the demo, I was shown a clip from Avatar: The Way of Water in 3D, and I was blown away by the richness of the colours, the depth and the details.
The only serious downsides I can think of are that it's only for solo watching, it might get heavy and the external battery pack won't last beyond 2.5 hours when watching videos – you should just about be able to fit in The Dark Knight when out of the house, but you wouldn't get to the end of The Return of the King without needing to connect to a wall adapter (yes, you can use it and have it on charge at the same time).
Beyond movie-watching, it's worth mentioning that the usability of the Vision Pro is super simple to get your head around.
The hand and eye tracking also feels seamless – you can keep your hands relaxed at your sides, and the cameras will still track your movements. Need to go back to the main menu? A press of the "Digital Crown" on the headset gets you back to the home screen.
I don't know if most of us will get to witness the level of immersion or the viewing experiences the Vision Pro offers for a few years.
Everything I saw at the demo feels like advanced tech that will be more present within the next decade, but that still doesn't have all the content, apps and environments to support it. This is an impressive futuristic headset, and quite possibly the best way to watch a film at home – as long as you're happy doing so on your own.
| Display | 23 million pixels, Micro‑OLED display, up to 100Hz refresh rate |
|---|---|
| Chips | Apple M2 and R1 |
| Sensors | Two main cameras, six front‑facing tracking cameras, four eye‑tracking cameras, TrueDepth camera, LiDAR scanner, flicker sensor, ambient light sensor |
| Audio | Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking |
| Capacity | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Battery life | Up to 2 hours of general use, up to 2.5 hours of video watching up to 2.5 hours (it can be used while charging the battery) |
| Weight | Up to 650g |
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