The Apple Vision Pro is now available in France: finally a real technological breakthrough

L’interface se pilote à l’aide du regard et de gestes intuitifs. Bram Van Oost sur Unsplash

Il y aura un avant et un après le casque de réalité mixte du constructeur américain tant ce produit semble en avance sur son temps. Impressionnant.

It now sits prominently in all Apple Stores in France, including the one in Montpellier, at Odysseum. Six months after its launch in the United States, the Vision Pro has been on sale in our country since July 12 for the modest sum of 3,999 euros. Not to mention the accessories, some of which are almost essential, such as the carrying case. How can you justify such a price?? On paper, the possibilities offered by this device packed with cutting-edge technology are, to say the least, enticing and promise a completely new kind of experience.

But to really appreciate the potential of this gem, it is imperative to try it (1). It all starts with adjusting the optics, in the company of an expert from the American brand. You benefit from perfect vision? It will take 30 seconds. You wear corrective glasses? Barely 5 minutes. Then comes the adjustment of the arches so that the whole thing fits perfectly in place. An extra minute. It is then time to turn on the headset.

Total immersion

And there, it’s the shock. Truly. From the memory of a technophile, who is beginning to have tested a good number of new products supposed to be revolutionary, never the “slap” was so powerful from the first moments. The Vision Pro transports the user to another world with a totally immersive interface but which allows, on demand, to see the universe around it in the background. We immediately think of science fiction films, like Minority Report by Steven Spielberg. We tell ourselves that we are not trying a product for the general public, rather a prototype reserved for a privileged few, to which ordinary mortals will never have access.

Soon to be copied ? No doubt. Shavnya.com on Unsplash

This impression is further reinforced when you start handling applications, navigating menus, displaying web pages, etc. Everything is done in the simplest way possible using your eyes and a few gestures learned in a few minutes. We have known for decades that Apple is a master when it comes to inventing innovative, fluid, intuitive interfaces. The proof once again with VisionOS, which is only at version 1. Not for much longer, since V2 is about to arrive.

Social networks, entertainment, reading, music, communication… Everything you do with a smartphone, a tablet or to a lesser extent a computer, you can already reproduce with the Vision Pro. With one major difference: here, you are in the image, not at a distance. It is difficult to pay tribute to this experience with words. Mixed reality is more experienced than described. More than 2,000 applications are available while the headset is only a few months old. When developers exploit the full potential of the device, we will be faced with a technological breakthrough like never before that the competition will not fail to try to copy.

Better than the cinema

For now, the most impressive thing is probably the three-dimensional films and photos. Forget what you've seen at the cinema, even in the best 3D theaters. Here, it's a notch above: you feel like you can touch the images around you while being able to move your head to see the scene from another angle. And the extremely high resolution of the lenses (twice 4K, fans will appreciate) allows you to obtain an extremely detailed image. Even traditional films and series take on another dimension: you'd simply think you were in a Pathé, a CGR or a UGC, in front of a screen several meters diagonal. The sound, which comes out from who knows where, is also amazing. And it's even better with headphones, apparently. Let's not throw any more, the court is full.

Both lenses offer 8K resolution… Roméo A. on Unsplash

Everything is probably not perfect, but after spending an hour with the Vision Pro, there remains the astonishing feeling of having entered a new era of computing. There is only one thing to hope for: that the price will drop over the months and with new versions to make this product accessible to as many people as possible. Everyone should be able to benefit from such technological advances.

(1) It is possible to test the Vision Pro now in all Apple Stores in France.