Vision Pro's killer feature? It's a wearable Mac | Hacker News Reader

Vision Pro's killer feature? It's a wearable Mac

computerworld.com

11 pointsmpweiher28 comments

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It's a wearable iPad, not Mac.

I wonder how this will pan out. Obviously it's too early to fully ascertain its usefulness.

The first iPhone was hardly useful either without any third party apps (they only came later)

Macs are allowed to run compilers (including the ones in third-party web browser engines), unlike this device.

And with Termux the Oculus Quest and other Android based headsets can too.

I love how many doors termux forces open, it totally changes the fundamental capabilities of android.

Yes but you can use Vision Pro as a gigantic external display of the Mac

But then it's a display and not a Mac.

Then it's a wearable display for the Mac, not a Mac.

Speaking from first-hand experience, there is some latency which makes the virtual display a lot less comfortable to use, and it's capped at 60Hz. It's effectively a coat of paint over Apple's typical "screen mirroring" feature, which is excellent for showing people stuff, but not necessarily for using it yourself.

>it's capped at 60Hz

60Hz is really not great for VR as it can lead to motion sickness. Even the Meta Quest 2 launched with 72Hz and then bumped it to 90Hz-120Hz to reduce potential motion sickness and some people still feel it.

It could be also why Apple didn't market it for gaming and in most marketing shots people are using it sitting on the couch, not standing or moving with it.

AVP runs other apps at up to 100hz. I think they meant that the MBP screensharing is capped at 60hz.

Could be, but the #1 reason for sickness is moving in VR while not physically moving. Like on the Oculus moving with the stick which the VP doesn't have.

This is simply a requirement for most games, there's a really tiny subset with the user in a small space where they only move naturally by actually moving. Like Beat Saber. I think this is one of the reason it's so popular. I personally don't care for this kind of game, I love exploring complex environments.

It's true that some people still get it, often due to low framerate or vergence accommodation conflict. But these issues can be avoided with high framerates and not sticking stuff too close to the user.

The remaining users that are still experiencing some nausea are really few and far between.

I think we need to have some minimum specifications for what a "computer" is, especially as corporations are dumbing down devices while telling us they're smarter than ever.

For me, a computer is something where you can create and run programs directly on the device, without needing to hand off anything to a cloud service, remote desktop, or require permission from an app store. No local development environment = not a computer. If your device can't do it, you have a PDA. No shame in that. I have an e-scooter; I don't call it a car.

Works great - just look at the laptop, tap, and you get a massive movable monitor. Feels great for neck ergonomics and screen space. Makes switching to 13inch MacBooks much more attractive in the future imo

(Been playing with it over the last day)

I bet the Vision Pro will get too heavy unless your work days are somewhat short. And that’s beside the battery, which you’ll either need to swap every now and then, or replace with a (wall port) power supply.

Swapping the battery requires a full power down. You can charge the battery pack directly while using it, so that’s going to be the common mode of operation.

You can plug in the Battery and just keep working, so as long as you’re not moving around a lot, that works great.

Eh device isn't upgradeable or easily repairable. 3/10 for effort. Pretty piss poor given the climate and resources situation the world is in. I expect companies to be more ethical in their production these days. Not just making future e-waste in the form of unrepairable junk.

Doesn’t it only run iPad apps?

Yep

I have to admit I struggle to see what kind of productivity this article is talking about. The one concrete example of using Visio working with an infinite canvas seems the exact opposite: you can't navigate that much space, it'll feel fun for a few minutes, but then you'll want a way to have "all the information at your beck and call" without needing to traverse an infinite space, which is something that can't be done better or worse on a Vision Pro compared to just... a monitor.

It isn't a wearable Mac.

It's an iPad strapped to your forehead.

iForepad?

iPad Head?

Noggin Pro?

The real question is how fast someone will come out with a face-hugger case for the the thing.

But how long will people comfortably be able to wear it without fatigue? Think thats an issue (for now) until these devices are lighterweight.

Microsoft HoloLens was meant for enterprise and productivity as well ... but I wish them to succeed

But it literally isn't.

A Mac doesn't need Apple's content to run software.

A wearable Mac that doesn't run macos though. So you can forget running any productivity software, unless it's already ported to iOS.

It's a wearable iPad.

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