That depends on you (you may need to try it first), but I’m not sure that’s the right question. I’d say the experiences of using these two devices are substantially different, not just in terms of quality. If it takes paying $3500 to get an experience that you cannot get elsewhere, it’s difficult to quantify the difference in value as it is in the case of something like an EV versus a Prius (both fundamentally and primarily are designed to transport humans).
The right question to me is “can you justify (and afford it)?” I cannot justify (or afford) purchasing the $3500 device, even if it provides a substantially unique and polished experience that ends up “transforming” how I use computers (and it only kinda does the latter). But I also can’t justify purchasing the $500 device that provides a relatively gimmicky and janky gaming experience that I’d probably use frequently only right after getting it.
What about compared to the Hololens 2, or some of the other AR offerings?
The apple one is way too expensive to compare to the Vive or Quest 3, and the feature set is more oriented towards AR, and work/life-centered applications, and not gaming.
I’ve used Google Glass, 2 iterations of Quest (including 3), and the Index, each for a few hours. I might be wrong, but I might be the only person here who admitted to using the Vision Pro (at all, for more than a few minutes, etc. Does this make me an “expert”? ). Aside from the Glass (which was pretty primitive compared to what’s out now), the other offerings felt more-or-less like you were put into a low-res box world with janky yet iteratively improving interaction control in comparison. The Vision Pro was like “wow” during those few hours: so much higher quality, so much more intuitive control, etc. It’s something you have to try to really compare.
As far as gaming, that’s debatable. For instance:
I tried something similar: I connected the Vision Pro to my MacBook Pro and played a few native Mac Steam games on it. Playing games on a screen that is, for all practical purposes, perceptually 4k at theater size was something I hadn’t experienced before and was pretty fun / immersive. $3500 fun? I don’t know about that, but I was sad I wasn’t home so I could try streaming some serious Steam games from my PC. Maybe, just maybe, Valve will provide a native app so you can do those VR games on it, but I’m not holding my breath.
Interesting, that’s not the case on my iPhones. we live in Japan with Japanese sim’s and just having the switch set to silent also mutes the camera click.
I 3D printed a better headstrap for mine, but yeah an hour is about the max for me too. I mostly play Beat Saber or link it to my PC to play other games.
For social / work uses, you really need the network effect, and it’s too janky to get widespread adoption right now.
Also, a lot of that side of things just isn’t compelling. Meta’s own stuff is boring and sterile, and things like VRChat are more fun and quirky but offputting in how clunky they are.
Some of the games are fun, but yeah the novelty wears off quick and it doesn’t currently have much to offer beyond that if you’re not extremely dedicated.
Anyone who has seen Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning would be worried… You know, when your AR view maliciously shows you 6 feet away from the edge of the subway platform, rather than about to step off of it in front of the incoming train.
maybe that’s apple proving that they like to put the preference of device owners over the preferences ( and safety ) of the community at large. which does seem to be a theme of this thread…
). Aside from the Glass (which was pretty primitive compared to what’s out now), the other offerings felt more-or-less like you were put into a low-res box world with janky yet iteratively improving interaction control in comparison. The Vision Pro was like “wow” during those few hours: so much higher quality, so much more intuitive control, etc. It’s something you have to try to really compare.
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