3 Comments

I have had one and been using it since launch day (Feb 2) and so far it has exceeded my expectations. Totally agree about the weight - the device is full of electronics, sensors, etc and the frame being aluminum with a glass front piece really add up.

Overall it has exceeded my expectations vs. the other HMDs I have. The ability to control it with eye tracking and hand gestures is almost magical in its implementation. The displays are amazing and watching video content on it is a joy.

One fun thing - I loaded up the Second Life Mobile Alpha Viewer using TestFlight and was able to logon and visit my Museum of Computing History in world. Since it was the iPadOS version the controls were a bit "interesting" (using eye/hands spatially to control the virtual touch pad controller) but I was able to move around and look around without much issue.

It is not for everyone - it is a minimum of $3.5K ($4.5K if you add some storage, prescription lenses, and AppleCare coverage) and there are tradeoffs in the implementation. But as a view into the things Apple is thinking about and working on it is pretty exciting for what it is.

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great summary. what are the components of the headset that are the main driver of weight and / or the most tricky to miniaturize?

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I don't know. An iPhone 15 is 170 grams, including the battery. The AVP is 500 or something, without the battery.

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