The Apple M5 Vision Pro: My New Productivity Tool (and more)

by Jonathan A. Handler, MD, FACEP, FAMIA

Note: I get no financial incentives (ad revenue, payment, referral bonuses, discounts, etc.) from these posts. I write these because I want to write them. Period. However, if someone wants to pay me $1M to write a post, let’s discuss! 😀

Why I Got It Even After I Had Previously Returned One

I already have and love a Meta Quest 3 headset, which I mostly use for 3D video-gaming. Before I bought the Vision Pro, I imagined three main things I might do with it:

1. Work on a giant monitor without having to be physically at a giant monitor.
2. Watch movies on my own personal, high-quality, “IMAX“-like screen (with the ability to watch 3D movies in 3D as a plus).
3. View 3D spatial pictures and videos taken with my iPhone 15 Pro.

Almost two years ago I had bought and returned a Vision Pro. Although I thought it was a stunning experience, I was disappointed with the content availability, and it felt like my eyes were burning when I used it.

What a difference a couple of years makes. I saw there was a new M5 Vision Pro, so I gave it another try and I loved it! Yes, it’s expensive, but for me it’s been worth every penny so far.

I almost never feel my eyes burning anymore while using it. Perhaps that’s because I got the headset’s reader lens inserts, or because this version has improved display capabilities. However, I suspect that the burning was due to the older version’s fan blowing air onto my eyeballs (others have reported this). This new version might have a better fit to block the fan air, and/or its M5 chip may be less likely to blow the fans as often or as strongly (others here and here have mentioned this).

I turned on access to beta features on my Vision Pro, so some of the features I describe may only be available that way.

Virtual Laptop Display for my Mac Laptop

I work mostly remotely, and I have a large monitor in my home office. However, I like to work in other parts of my house. Also, my dog, Truffle, insists that we hang outside all day. There are squirrels to watch, potentially dangerous passers-by to warn away with some ferocious barking, and neighborhood dogs to romp around with in the yard. She can’t miss any of that! So I also work outside a lot. In sum, I was often working on a small screen when I needed a larger one.

I think the Vision Pro’s mirroring of my Mac laptop’s display has improved my productivity. Wherever I am (home, airplane, car passenger, etc.), I can put on the headset and have a giant screen. I believe the original Vision OS (operating system) had only one aspect ratio (16:9), but the newest OS version has three aspect ratios with a beautiful curved shape and can provide a reported 10K horizontal resolution experience. I find the wide middle size to most often be just perfect for me. However, at times when I’ve needed the ultrawide, I was glad it was available. With the virtual screen, I can:

• Easily compare two documents side-by-side.
• Have a browser window open on one side for reference material web searches while my research manuscript remains open on the other side.
• Enlarge a window to see a massive amount of content without having to scroll.

I find that last bullet useful for some web conferences. Have you ever had someone try to screen share a document and it looks so tiny you can barely read it? Then, to see the content, you have to zoom in (or ask the presenter to zoom in), but that means dragging or scrolling all over to see the whole thing. With the headset, I can make the window huge and virtually always easily see and read the whole document. Some web conference apps even run natively on the Vision Pro. With native web conference apps or video calls, attendees see my avatar instead of me wearing the headset. I’m told the avatar has a bit of an “uncanny valley” effect, but it seems drastically improved from that of the first Vision OS, and that was already surprisingly good. Still, due to the avatar’s uncanny valley, I can only use the headset on some calls. I like to pace when I think while on a call. I wish the web conference window would follow me around automatically. However, I can just pinch my fingers to “grab” the window and drag it with me while I roam. I find this useful: since I can pace while I think and talk, I can engage more fully; I can see massive amounts of shared content without having to squint; and I can be outside on a beautiful day to help me stay at my mental and emotional best while I work. Plus, when I’m on my driveway with Truffle and there’s a 36 square foot web conference screen floating in the air wherever I go, I can’t help but smile and think, “this is cool!”

Watching Movies

There seems to be much more content now than before, and I value having my own IMAX-like, 3D-capable theater nearly anywhere (home, airplane, etc.). I can barely tell that I’m crammed like a sardine into my airplane seat when watching a movie in VR (or “VIRT“).

3D Photos and Videos

Even more amazing to me than 3D movies is the 3D photo and video experience. I can take “Spatial” 3D photos and videos on my iPhone and easily transfer them to my Vision Pro. I tried the same with my Meta Quest 3 headset, but the image transfer from phone to headset felt far less seamless, and I felt the pictures looked much better on the Vision Pro. I recall the original Vision OS only showing the 3D images floating in front of me as if in a frame a few feet away. They felt like the magical portraits in Harry Potter. Now I can also click a button to enter an “immersive mode” in which I feel much more “in” the picture. Since the image doesn’t/can’t take up the whole field of view, it makes the peripheral surroundings look like a super-blurred version of the picture. I am even able to take many of my recent non-spatial (2D) iPhone photos, including my Live Photos, and click a button to auto-transform those photos into 3D! Although I didn’t find it perfect, it worked really well for me. As I imagine Paul Simon might put it, while the photos and videos may never match my sweet imagination, everything looks worse in 2D. 😀

And More

I find this new Vision Pro’s head strap more comfortable than the original, and its speakers sound excellent. The gesture recognition seems almost surreally good (is “surreally” a word?).

I’ve barely explored the app store and I’m already almost overwhelmed. I can also decorate my augmented reality world with widgets (weather, stock market, clock, calendar, etc). They have a neat ability to recognize and “mount” to walls.

The immersive content library now seems much bigger and growing. Occasionally I find myself gasping in awe as I enter one of the beautiful scenes from around the world. I have also laughed with delight during immersion experiences in the Museas and Art Authority Museum apps.

I am glad I can now use my Mac Virtual Display in virtual environments available within apps (I’m now writing this in the Hogwarts Great Hall from the HBO Max app). I wish I didn’t have to go through some hoops to turn on Developer Mode to be able to do that, but I only had to do that once. Still, I’d love to see Apple provide many more native immersive environments. Apple, if you’re reading this, and if I have to narrow it down, then please grant me this one wish… give me an immersive environment that lets me work in the Library of Congress’ Main Reading Room (perhaps my favorite place in the world). Or… if that’s not a go, then the Library of Trinity College Long Room in Dublin. Or… the Boston Public Library Central Library’s Bates Hall. Or the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library at the University of Chicago. Or the British Library. Or the McGregor Room at the University of Virginia’s Edgar Shannon library. How about the Seattle Central Library? I could go on… Actually, while I’m at it, Disney, I’d like the Jedi Library on Coruscant. Yes, I am a library geek, and proud of it!

Summary

On my original try with the Vision Pro, I had high hopes that were not quite matched. On this retry, my high expectations were exceeded. Some of that was likely due to the hardware improvements, but I suspect a lot of it was also due to the maturation of the platform, including more content and enhancements to the operating system. I believe it has significantly boosted my work productivity, and it also brings me joy in both work and play. I understand that it has a price tag that is prohibitive for many. At the same time, for me, it has been well worth the investment. As always, YMMV.

All opinions expressed here are entirely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or positions of their employers (if any), affiliates (if any), or anyone else. The author(s) reserve the right to change his/her/their minds at any time.