I just happened to be visiting my parents the day the Vision Pro was released, and like a good daughter I made them give up several hours of their day to hang about a suburban Portland shopping center so I could get a demo. When I finally dropped the cash and got one, according to my mom, she hadn't seen me as excited since I got a Barbie Dream House for the holidays when I was seven.
But almost two weeks in, is the headset still dreamy? Yes, but with some caveats. First off, it's not anywhere ready for prime time in terms of being a mass consumer device. Price aside, it's got some bugs and a very small app ecosystem, and while I'm leaning in and using it daily, the average person needs a lot more to be developed for it to be ready for mainstream use. That said, it's going to get there. Here's a few use cases I've tried out and found amazing, and a few that honestly aren't quite there yet.
Spatial video: this just might be the killer app. I've been shooting tons of spatial video, from strolling around my block to capturing my hands doing all sorts of tasks to chatting with friends. The video quality is fantastic and the depth is incredible. The downsides are that it's not easy to view that content many places, but that'll change with the ubiquity of the device. It's also such a good mainstream use case -- everyone loves taking photos and videos and if parents and grandparents can take hands free, super realistic videos of sporting events and birthday parties, that right there is enough to explode a market.
Entertainment: My first try using it on a plane was a bust, because I didn't know about putting the device in travel mode. Also, maybe it's just my account, but for some reason I'm not able to see movies I saved in Apple TV, only TV shows. Still, I'm more than willing to try it again on my next flight, and have been using it to watch TV at home. The lack of a Netflix app isn't great but watching content in the browser is more or less OK.
Fitness: Purpose built apps will solve some of this, but for right now, the Vision Pro is a bust for some types of fitness. I tried doing a yoga video but the battery pack kept getting in the way and the static placement of the browser made it tough to follow the instructor. I tried it walking on a treadmill and found it fine; I didn't try running out of fear of damaging the device.
Work: I've done a few Zoom calls but had some glitches and TBH I hate how my persona looks, but that's likely because I took it on a bad hair day and need to retake the photo. On those calls I was definitely less likely to multitask and get distracted, which is good. I've done other work (writing emails etc) in the headset with a wireless keyboard and found it about the same as writing on my laptop -- not an improvement, really, but not worse.
Overall, I'm still thrilled I got one and it's going to progress really quickly. The future isn't here yet, but it's coming a lot faster.