Here’s how my fitting, demo, in-store tutorial for the Apple Vision Pro went (updated)

On Friday I went to the Apple retail store closest to me (in downtown Nashville, TN) for the fitting for my Apple Vision Pro. Things surprisingly smoothly.

All told, I spent an hour and 10 minutes (yep, I timed it) including the demo, fitting process, and a very thorough walk-through/tutorial on using the Vision Pro. 

I’ll be filling a series of reports (starting with this one) on the various features of the spatial computer — and which ones get a thumbs-up and which ones a thumbs-down.

Since I just received my “spatial computer,” I haven’t worn it long enough to comment on the weight. However, it’s smaller than I expected, and I’m hoping that its magnesium and carbon fiber frame makes it relatively easy to wear for long periods. We’ll see.

As for the design, it’s extremely well thought out, as you’d expect from Apple. On the top edge, there’s what feels like the Digital Crown on the Apple Watch — only bigger. You use it to adjust both the volume and the level of virtual reality immersion on the right. A button on the left lets you take 3D photos and videos.

Setting up the Vision Pro is dead simple. The headband adjustments are the only manual adjustments involved. However, they’re necessary to make sure the spatial computer fits comfortably. 

I received my Zeiss prescription lens just hours before heading to the Apple Store. I expected I’d need ‘em for the demo and tutorial. Surprisingly enough, I didn’t. Apple retail stores have a “lens-meter” (which the employees can it) that can read your eyeglasses prescription and provide a “good-enough” facsimile of your lens for the demo and tutorial. Things won’t look as sharp and clear as they will when you get your custom-made lens, but they work well enough to let you try the Vision Pro.

You have to hold down the digital crown when you first put it on to adjust the lenses to your eyes. Then you go through an  eye tracking setup that’s pretty much like setting up Face ID on an iPhone or iPad. 

What really makes setup easy is that if you have an iPhone and bring it close to the Vision Pro (and you agree to the stand terms and conditions form), all your settings and apps will be transferred over. If you don’t have an iPhone, you’ll have to enter your passwords manually.

Press the Digital Crown and an app grid pops up and the apps are in resizable windows (akin to the iPad’s Stage Manager). You can resize ‘em and drag ‘em about the screen if you wish.

So now I’m set up and ready to spend most of the weekend test driving the Vision Pro. Come back Monday for my first report.