Apple Vision Pro demo unit
Initial demos are walk-in only and occur via a queue and first-come, first-served basis. Apple is opening up online reservations for in-store demos starting on February 5.
Anyone who’s heard about demos from the lucky few who tried Apple Vision Pro during WWDC should be familiar with the in-store demos already. An Apple Store employee walks you through the device and its features via a scripted session that takes about half an hour.
The guided tour Apple posted on YouTube is close, but not quite the same. For example, you won’t go over working from Apple Vision Pro, and some of the examples are different.
The Apple Store employee has a step-by-step guide via a custom app shown on an iPad mini. That iPad mini is paired with the demo unit, and it shows what the wearer is seeing.
Before you begin, you’ll get sized for Apple Vision Pro if you haven’t placed an order already. It’s the same process you do at home with a brief measurement performed via the TrueDepth sensors on the front of an iPhone.
Following that, you’ll be told about Apple Vision Pro’s capabilities and have the buttons explained. The employee even shows you how to pick up the product, as it’s not obvious that the device shouldn’t be lifted by the magnetically attached light seal.
After the brief intro, you’re invited to put the Apple Vision Pro on. You walk through a brief setup to get it calibrated, which also doubles as a kind of tutorial for the look and pinch operation.
Once set up, you’re shown the Home View and start with opening the Photos app. Here you experience photos, panoramas, spatial photos, spatial video captured on Apple Vision Pro, and finally, spatial video captured on iPhone.
You’re then asked to open Safari and scroll a webpage. Then, you open the compatible apps section to launch a third window.
Apple Vision Pro demo units match the customer’s fit
The demo ends with the Apple TV app. You’re shown a brief preview of a movie — either “Super Mario Bros” or “Avatar.”
The very last thing you get to experience is a sizzle reel of the immersive experiences shot in 8K. This was the most impressive point in the demo and acted as a kind of finale filled with wow factors.
Right away, you’re face to face with Alicia Keys standing a few feet away while she’s singing in her studio. The reel plays through scenes from the various immersive experiences available, like “Wild Life” and “Adventure.”
We found a scene with a shark swimming by underwater to be quite impressive. However, the moment everyone is talking about in the Apple Store is when you’re seemingly inches away from several rhinos.
Try before you buy
The demo is straightforward and quite fun to experience. Again, we highly recommend anyone interested in Apple Vision Pro at least check out a demo at their local Apple Store.
Apple Vision Pro is now available for purchase starting at $3,499 with 256GB of storage. It includes everything needed to operate the device, but additional accessories, like a $200 travel case, are available.
