Apple Vision Pro surpasses the cinema experience, introduces new video formats, and marks the beginning of a video revolution. Here are Flatpanels' first impressions.

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are not new concepts. FlatpanelsHD has covered Oculus – now Meta Quest – since 2012 and tested the first Rift developer kit in 2016.

More than a decade later, Apple steps onto the scene. While the company is not the first, we have no doubt after a demonstration: Vision Pro is the best, delivering picture quality and video entertainment in a league of its own. The experience is, at times, nothing short of spectacular, though the headset is far from flawless.


A glimpse into the future
Apple Vision Pro introduces the following new video formats:
Revives 3D, for the first time in 4K, HDR and Dolby Vision (MV-HEVC codec)
Movies in High Frame Rate (HFR) at 48fps and higher, e.g. Avatar 2
Immersive Video in 180-degree 8K 3D
Playback of any video format, including 1.43:1 IMAX
It helps to divide the video experience into three categories to understand the concepts:
2D movies on a virtual flat screen
3D movies on a virtual flat screen
Immersive 3D video that fills your entire field of view (180 degrees)
Apple Vision Pro can create a virtual screen in any aspect ratio, scaling it to a size larger than even the biggest cinema screen – all while you are virtually sitting on a beach, in nature or on the moon. It can simulate a movie theater that feels authentic, minus the audience, noise and distracting phones. Apps like Disney+ and Max can offer unique environments.

You can also step into another world – recorded with cameras or computer-animated – where 3D images fill your field of vision, with depth that feels almost as natural as the real world. This is an incredible experience.


Over 15 years in the making
The road to this point has been long. Apple holds patents dating back to 2008 with designs resembling Vision Pro. Over the years, FlatpanelsHD has covered advancements in display technologies – and acquisitions – that have led us here.

Beyond sensors and processing power, the 'secret' behind Vision Pro's excellence lies in its display technology: Micro-OLED. These are ultra-dense OLED displays produced on silicon wafers (like microchips) for the first time. A VR headset's success depends mainly on the quality of its displays (and lenses), which are placed directly in front of your eyes.


 The displays behind the lenses in Apple Vision Pro. Photo: FlatpanelsHD

Sony's PlayStation VR2 headset uses OLED, which can deliver true blacks, high contrast and lifelike colors, but these are traditional OLED panels (made for phones) with significantly lower resolution. Meta Quest uses outdated LCD panels resulting in grayish images with poor contrast and dull colors – untrustworthy for VR and unsuitable for AR.

The video formats introduced with Vision Pro are the result of years of groundwork. Unlike Blu-ray and most streaming content, Apple has for decades refrained from encoding the black bars in movies into the video file itself. For example, a 4K movie in 1.33:1 format is encoded at 2880x2160 pixels (instead of 3840x2160). Vision Pro can simulate any aspect ratio, including 1.43:1 IMAX, which can now be experienced at home for the first time. There are no black bars at the top, bottom or sides to crop away since the black bars do not exist in the video file to begin with when playing from the Apple TV app. This allows the picture to be scaled to enormous sizes without conversion or any distractions.


The user interface
I had tried Apple Vision Pro before, but the lenses and fit were customized for someone else, so it did not work for me. This time, I tried with standard lenses – I do not wear glasses or contact lenses – and an individualized fit. This is essential for a good experience and one of the challenges in testing Vision Pro.

Next, you calibrate eye tracking by looking at dots and pressing your index finger to your thumb to confirm. That is how Vision Pro is controlled; look at elements in the interface and use your hands and fingers to 'click', move, resize, etc. It is intuitive but takes a little getting used to, and you need to keep your hands above the table. You can see your hands through Vision Pro but when moving them quickly, your hands' edges become visibly blurry, which needs improvement. I also noticed that if I placed one hand on top of the other, finger movements were not always recognized.

The device lets you see the world around you via front-facing cameras. People nearby see you wearing ultra-nerdy glasses, and you see them clearly, though the brightness is slightly lower than in real life. In the environment where I tested Vision Pro, ceiling lights caused some flickering in the cameras – this also needs refinement.

To watch movies you open the Apple TV app, Disney+ etc. Here, you get your first "wow" moment. It is pretty amazing to be able to freely position app windows in your surroundings, placing them, for example, in front of a person. Or behind you, where the window stays put even if you turn around and do something else.

This is where you start to understand the limitless potential of AR technology. You see the real world but can overlay artificial elements or entirely change your view. You begin to understand the possibilities of freely virtualizing monitors, or just screens in general. Instead of having two physical PC monitors on your desk, Vision Pro lets you mirror your Mac – now in ultrawide – and place other windows around, like PDF documents, a music player etc. Your entire wall can become one giant screen or your desk area can have several virtual screens. This will change how we work and complete tasks, from recipes in the kitchen to manuals for assembling new IKEA furniture.

That said, most of this is still unrealized. The library of apps available for Vision Pro is vast as almost all iPad apps work, but for it to go beyond being a flat virtual screen true VR apps need to be developed. This process will take many years.


 How I want to work in the future. Photo: Apple

The movie experience
I started by playing 2D movies on a flat virtual screen in my actual surroundings. It was distracting because there was too much happening around me. I then switched to a virtual 'environment', which is a completely different experience. I first loaded the moon and made the screen larger. It is a crazy but highly convincing experience where I could turn 180 degrees to look back at Earth.

Next, I loaded the virtual cinema environment. Here, the screen has a fixed size, unlike the other environments where you can adjust the screen to a massive format. In the cinema, you can instead choose where to sit (front/back etc.). Apple was eager to showcase this, likely because it offers a direct comparison to something we all can relate to. The key difference is that the picture quality on micro-OLED is far superior to what even the best cinema projectors deliver, while still giving you the feeling of sitting in a large, dark theater – it is hard to describe. It feels like a massive OLED TV with true blacks, high contrast, bright highlights and vivid colors.


 Apple's virtual cinema environment. Photo: Apple

A 3D experience that far surpasses TVs and cinemas
It looked even more impressive with 3D movies. Here, I watched some clips from Super Mario Bros where the 3D version is in 4K and HDR. It is a 3D experience that far surpasses TVs (from the 2010s) and cinemas. The depth in the image felt realistic without artificial 3D levels. However, there were not many effects coming out of the screen. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to watch Avatar: The Way of Water, which adds 48fps HFR (High Frame Rate) to the mix.

When you are in an 'environment', you shut out the outside world, but if a person gets close they appear as a ghost-like figure making you aware of their presence and whether they are speaking to you.


 You can enlarge the screen significantly when watching movies in a virtual environment. Photo: Apple

The sound did not really catch much of my attention, which is to say it is good enough not to be a problem. Of course, you do not get deep, rumbling bass from the built-in speakers, but they are adequate for enjoying a movie.

The micro-OLED displays, however, are impressive and paramount for presenting movies at such a high quality that it far exceeds cinemas. It looks fantastic. However, as a display enthusiast I would add that there is definitely still room for improvement in resolution, brightness, refresh rate, color volume and sharpness (Vision Pro uses foveated rendering, so the image is only fully sharp where you re looking). I hope Apple does not downgrade the displays in a cheaper Vision device.


Immersive video is a revolution
If you regularly read FlatpanelsHD' reviews, you will know we rarely use bold statements. However, after watching a selection of Apple's productions in 180-degree 8K 3D in Apple Immersive Video – as they call the format – I feel compelled to use bigger words. It is absolutely wild!

I have watched VR180 video, or whatever you want to call it, in various headsets over the years, but never like this. It is the combination of 8K, 3D and micro-OLED displays that makes it so convincingly realistic that you feel the presence.

I felt like I was standing right in front of Alicia Keys in the recording studio, leaning over The Weeknd in an ambulance, and just a few steps away from stepping onto the field with football players or onto the court with basketball players. It feels so real that you almost forget you are wearing a rather silly headset. My primal brain tells me I have met these people, even though I know full well that I have only seen them through a screen. It is entirely different from a flat screen because the headset provides two perspectives – one for each eye. This gives a 3D depth that feels realistic. Looking out at the horizon truly feels like things are far away, even though it is all just an image on a screen.


 Impossible to illustrate on a flat monitor, but imagine being inside this universe

It is better than being at the stadium. You have never seen football like this!
Sports, in particular, stood out to me, as you feel like you are on the sidelines or behind the goal. It is better than being at the stadium. You have never seen football like this! I could see the players' expressions, every touch of the ball, and all the nuances – and dirty tricks – in the fight for possession.

I would also highlight two scenes from The Weeknd's music video in 8K 3D. In one scene, you drive down a road winding down a mountain and then up a mountain as far as the eye can see in the wild nature of the US, until the world starts folding around you Inception-style – it is psychedelic. In another scene, the ambulance doors open to a world that seems infinite both above and below. For a moment, you have to tame your fear of heights. Wow.

Later, I went underwater with sharks and fish. Again, it felt convincing, but as an experienced diver I missed the realism and the sensation of actually being underwater – the pressure on the body, the temperature, the sounds, etc.

One thing is that the classic film format looks better and bigger than in any cinema or on any TV, but being drawn into a world, whether recorded or animated, is a whole new dimension that I am convinced will revolutionize video entertainment – and gaming. This is what comes to mind first when I think of Apple Vision Pro (plus the potential for boosting productivity). Here, 8K – and even higher resolution – starts to make sense.

For me, however, it is not enough to justify the high price of this first-generation product. There is still too little content in the immersive format. The sports clips are short – not live – and the other titles typically last only a few minutes. It mostly feels like demo content created to convince content creators. I did not get to watch Submerged on Apple TV+, where you find yourself in a submarine under attack.


 You don't look cool, but it's an out-of-this-world experience inside the Apple Vision Pro. Photo: FlatpanelsHD

The headset needs improvement
In addition to the lack of content, I would point to a handful of design flaws as decisive factors. During my demonstration, I wore two head straps: one at the back of my head and one on top. Even so, I found Vision Pro to be too heavy and uncomfortable. Much of the weight rests on the face and nose area and after an hour I had visible marks on my forehead and cheeks.

In my opinion, Vision Pro sits too far from the face because of the module that blocks out light. You can remove it but my experience is that the lenses are not good enough for you to freely look around if the headset sits too close. For example, when I looked down in scenes where wild animals ran past me, I started to see double images. Instead, you end up turning your head with a more stiff gaze rather than freely looking around with your eyes.

Additionally, there is the strange flicker effect around the hands when you move and see them through the headset. This needs significant improvement.

The battery was in my pocket throughout the demonstration. I did not notice either the battery or the cable at any point.


 Apple Vision Pro is too large, heavy and bulky. Photo: FlatpanelsHD

Photo and gaming experience
Most of my demo time was spent on video but I also explored 'spatial' photos and video files, and briefly tried a handful of games.

Photos and home videos captured in 3D – spatial video – are impressive. It feels like looking back at the moment through a small window to the past, visually resembling a memory. This effect is achieved by a sort of smoke-like haze surrounding the window, giving it a dream-like quality. I watched people celebrating a birthday, for example. After seeing this, I have started thinking about capturing memories this way myself in the near future – while my children are still young. It truly feels like peering into a window to the past, a type of audiovisual memory.

visionOS, the operating system powering Apple Vision Pro, includes a feature that can convert a standard photo into this 3D effect. I saw a demonstration on a couple of pictures and it worked surprisingly well, although the image compositions were simple. I have yet to see how it performs with more complex compositions.

As for gaming, you can play on a flat virtual screen, with or without an environment, or load games that display 3D worlds in front of you. I did not try VR titles where I was "inside" the game, meaning the game did not take over my entire field of view.

The potential in VR gaming is far from realized
I tried to play chess on the table in front of me and tried What the Golf on a 3D course that appeared on the table in front of me. These were fun, small experiences but fell far short of the potential VR gaming holds.

A better experience was actually Alto's Odyssey (or maybe it was Alto's Adventure?), even though it ran on a flat virtual screen in Vision Pro. The developers have created an 'environment' that replicates the game's atmospheric colors and weather effects, making my real-world surroundings disappear. It added to the game's mood and allowed for deeper immersion into its universe, despite being a simple 2D game.

Using specific apps you can also stream games from PC, Xbox and PS5 to a virtual screen inside Vision Pro, but I did not have time to try this. It requires setup and comes with video quality limitations.

Despite my brief gaming demo, it is clear that Apple Vision Pro lags in this area. For VR gaming, there is a long way to go to catch up with Meta Quest, PS VR2 and PC VR in general, even though I believe VR games have the potential to look much better on Vision Pro than on any other headset due to the micro-OLED displays. The challenges lie in the lack of PC connectivity – or gaming ecosystem on Mac – and the fact that the built-in M2 chip is not powerful enough to handle complex games. This an area Apple has to focus on as part of its broader push to attract game developers. Right now, you probably should not buy Vision Pro primarily for gaming.

 Also read: Google reveals Android XR: Samsung headset to launch in 2025

Adding to the challenges are the controllers. While some games can be easily controlled using hand gestures and while you can connect PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo controllers, many VR games require dedicated VR controllers. These are not currently supported, though there are rumors of a collaboration between Apple and Sony.


Most people should wait
Although Apple Vision Pro offers fantastic and unique experiences in video, work and gaming, the demonstration left me feeling like I was looking into the future rather than at a product I would invest in today.

With a starting price of over $3500, one could argue that it is an affordable home theater and workstation combo. However, for many, it will likely feel isolating to watch movies alone wearing a headset.

That said, I am convinced that the combination of AR and VR will shape the future as soon as the technology enables a solution that is significantly more discreet, lighter and cheaper, without compromising picture quality.