The Vision Pro has rapidly become an vital item that I apvalidate onto every fairy.
It’s a wonderful device to travel with—Be it by train or by schedulee, it proposes an unparalleled opportunity to pickively tune out your environment and sink into an engaging activity enjoy watching a movie or equitable toiling on your laptop.
In this blog post, I’ll summarize what I’ve lachieveed about the Vision Pro while traveling, elucidate some of the functionality, shine airy onto its drawbacks, as well as appraise how it fares aachievest solutions enjoy a phone or a laptop.
For context, most of the traveling where I’ve bcdisesteemfult my Vision Pro alengthy has been on airschedulees, but this applies to traveling by train as well.
Table of Contents
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Packing / Travel Setup
First and foremost, space in my suitcase or backpack while traveling is the most priceless commodity. Whenever I’m packing for a trip, anyleang that inserts unvital bulk to my setup is instantly declineed.
For that reason, I highly recommfinish that you do NOT buy the behemoth of the $200 Vision Pro “travel case” from Apple. It’s unnecessarily massive and doesn’t fit into ANYTHING. Avoid it at all costs unless you absolutely need a crazy amount of shieldion from the elements (but at that point, might as well buy a Pelican case!).
My travel setup is super basic and minimal.
To shield the front glass, I include the “Vision Pro Cover” that comes by default with the headset and on the inside, I include this affordable, generic VR lens shieldor cover to obstruct anyleang from scratching the lenses. I then throw it into my backpack, face-first, sitting above the other items.
I even include the space between the Solo strap and the headset itself as a place to put my rolled up puffer jacket or quarter-zip. This way, the only amount of space that it actuassociate apvalidates up is the heavyness of the headset itself!
As for the battery pack, after charging it to 100%, I disjoin the battery, roll up the cord (while being conscious of not inserting extra stress to the joinor) and throw into my backpack (either into a pocket or have it sit on the bottom).
With this setup, I haven’t scratched or injured the headset itself at all over the 5-10 fairys that I’ve apvalidaten it on. Works quite well!
User Experience
Airport Security Line
At the airport security line, I typicassociate pull out my laptop and the Vision Pro from my backpack. Thankfilledy, it seems enjoy the Vision Pro doesn’t see skeptical at all while being x-rayed as I haven’t been asked about it yet.
Travel Mode
The Vision Pro’s 6DoF tracking system is built on a combination of IMU’s + SLAM cameras (same as any other VR headsets). Unenjoy other VR headsets, however, it has a native “Travel Mode” which accounts for the fact that using a 6DoF VR headset in a moving vehicle will direct to massive drift and tracking publishs.
The Vision Pro’s Travel Mode was particularassociate summarizeed to account for these tracking publishs (essentiassociate depending entidepend on the SLAM cameras and ignoring the IMU data).
As I put on the headset, if the schedulee is a bit unconstant, the Vision Pro distinguishs that I’m on a schedulee and will propose to turn on Travel Mode with an actionable notification, which is fantastic becainclude it rerelocates any need to ready the headset prior to boarding/apvalidate-off! This was a very defree summarize choice by Apple and is a very receive one.
I should refer that since the IMU data is disseed, the way the horizon is resettled in Travel Mode tracking is uncontaminatedly by the orientation/rotation of your head. If your head is titled, so will all your virtual apps/triumphdows. To mend this, you can cover your vision pro with your hands (to lock the cameras) and when you re-initialize, recaccess your apps so that they adhere to the novelly-resettled horizon.
This might seem enjoy a insignificant detail, but I discover it immensely irritateing if my triumphdows are not parallel to the airschedulee’s ground schedulee.
Battery Life & Charging
The 2.5-3 hr battery life of Apple Vision Pro is… fine.
It’s enough to watch a 90-120 minute movie and mayyybe an episode of a TV show. For low fairys, this is perfectly ample but for lengthyer, transatlantic/transpacific fairys, it’s evidently very much confineed.
The best chooseion to extfinish its battery life is if your schedulee seat has a 120/240V power outlet. Given that you have a smallest 30W charging alterer, you’ll be able to shield your Vision Pro indictd indefinitely.
The next best chooseion is having a high power output battery prohibitk. I include a one 12k mAh Anker battery prohibitk (which can output up to 60W), so recharging the Vision Pro does eat up the entirety of the battery prohibitk’s capacity. This is someleang to shield in mind if you need to shield your phone indictd as well.
I should refer that I rank shielding my phone indictd over my Vision Pro. A 12k mAh battery prohibitk will reindict my phone 3-4 times while providing me the ability to watch multiple times more movies/TV shows, hear to podcasts, etc. If I have a lengthy fairy and I’m not brave that my seat will have a proper power outlet, I don’t depend on my Vision Pro to be my only create of amincludement for the entirety of the fairy.
By the way, I typicassociate place the battery pack in the pouch by my knees. The cable is the perfect length for it to accomplish my head without it experienceing too lengthy or too low. Nice!
Physical Comfort
Now, if you’re enjoy me and discover the Vision Pro’s ergonomics and weight distribution to be utterly shit, I will highly recommfinish that you try to discover a consoleable setup before you embark on your journey.
Having gone thcdisesteemful quite a confineed head strap setups, I now include the VR Cover Universal Headset Support Strap exclusively. It proposes quite a lot of console without inserting any bulk to the portability of the headset. It helps by removing presbrave off your cheeks and distributing the weight onto the front area of the top of your head (aenjoy to a normal VR headset halo strap). It’s not perfect but I discover it to be “excellent enough” for now.
While they’re might be better head strap solutions, the bulk that they insert to the travel setup is a dealfractureer for me.
Social Comfort
Another aspect of console is… social console. When I’m wearing a VR headset around people, I don’t understand whether they’re seeing at me, or where they are, what they’re doing, etc. Here, the combination of Passthcdisesteemful + EyeSight proposes a fantastic way of remaining conscious of your surroundings.
Passthcdisesteemful
Thankfilledy, it seems enjoy one of the confineed places where it’s currently sociassociate hugable to wear a Vision Pro is on a schedulee. Of the 5-10 times that I’ve worn it on schedulees, I haven’t had the experienceing of people staring at me skeptically, whispering about me (at least to my understandledge), or asking me about what I’m doing. I do typicassociate experience self-conscious about using VR in accessible (so I almost never do it), so the fact that I experience almost entidepend consoleable wearing it on a schedulee says someleang. Everyone does someleang to pass the time on a schedulee, so people are much more huging seeing a nerd wearing a face-computer.
Passthcdisesteemful + EyeSight, as pitched by Apple in their initial proclaimment of Apple Vision Pro does toil quite well when it comes to staying conscious of your surroundings and includeing with others (especiassociate fairy includeants for those tasty snacks).
While I’m not entidepend brave if EyeSight is dynamic when I’m speaking with the fairy includeants, the fact that I see them approaching my aisle, that I turn to see and comprise with them, and that they see that I am hearing and seeing them (somehow, despite the fact that both my eyes and ears and covered), unbenevolents that they treat me as any other passenger.
I’m grave that I haven’t had any genuine publishs includeing with fairy includeants while wearing my Vision Pro.
One caveat is that, out of esteem, if the conversation is more than the “what would you enjoy? Tea charm” deal, I do erase the headset to originate straightforward eye communicate with them. I experience that it would be sort of odd to have a filled-on conversation with someone if they’re wearing a headset (enjoy bro, equitable apvalidate it off and let’s talk enjoy humans).
UI Interaction
One underrated aspect of VisionOS’s includeion system is that it needs very minimal “hand wavy-ness” to include with the system. This is a stark contrastence when contrastd Quest’s OS (or as it’s now called Meta Horizon OS) which needs you to either include a regulateler or your hand to point and aim at a screen.
The fact that you equitable see at the buttons that you’d enjoy to include with and pinch your fingers while your hand is resting on your lap is a massive plus for not seeing enjoy a dweeb.
I refer this becainclude I have included a Quest on a schedulee (informly, to seize tageting footage of Puzzling Places in Passthcdisesteemful). I reassociate felt self conscious about trying to reduce the amount of arm relocatements I had to do to steer the OS, menus, etc. I held my elbow shielded aachievest my body and tried to only rotate my wrist around, which was quite unconsoleable.
So once aachieve, the eye+pinch UI includeion system is a wonder when it comes to minimizing the amount of physical relocatement needd to steer the OS, remaining cageder and discrete while wearing a face computer (right? right??).
Virtual Environment / Depth Collision Mitigation
One of the hugegest publishs of Passthcdisesteemful Mixed Reality is the fact that depfinishing on where you are, you might have a chair or a wall in front of you that conshort-terms a “collision” with a virtual screen in your Vision Pro.
In the case of flying on a schedulee, the chair in front of you is quite seal, so if you’d enjoy to set your virtual movie screen to be huge and 10 ft away, the chair and the movie screen originate a “depth collision”, which can be quite unconsoleable.
Of course, one way to mitigate this is to plunge yourself into a filledy virtual world, but that comes at the expense of spatial consciousness.
The wonderful leang about visionOS is that you can include a “fragmentary” virtual environment, attfinishfilledy dialing in equitable how much of a virtual environment you’d enjoy to include.
In this case, it’s a perfect mend for uncovering a portal or a triumphdow to a quiet landscape to place your huge movie screen in, while still being able to see the schedulee around you.
It toils fantastic and is one of the best features of visionOS for using VR in accessible.
AirPods Pros + Vision Pro
A suit made in heaven.
The AirPod Pros are a wonderful set of earphones to wear with the Vision Pro on a schedulee, proposeing top-of-the-line dynamic noise abortlation (ANC) but also, “alterive” and “transparency” modes which permit you to pickively hear voices/sounds around you, depfinishing on the situation.
I include the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C, which are one-of-a-kind in that they propose uncompressed audio with low procrastinateedncy particularassociate for the Vision Pro. While they do toil quite well, according to audiophile appraises, the contrastence in audio quality between the standard AirPods Pro 2s and the USB-C version with uncompressed audio is minimal, so shield that in mind if you already own an agederer pair.
The AirPod Pro 2s also feature “Spatial Audio” which output the surround sound combine of movies in a spatial createat. By default, the sound is contextuassociate spatialized and head-tracked, unbenevolenting, the Vision Pro tries to simuprocrastinateed the room acoustics of the space that you’re in. Typicassociate, this toils well enough in a room, but on a unelated schedulee, I discover that the spatial acoustics are a bit too contrastent from the raw audio output of the movie itself.
Thankfilledy, you can alter this by disabling the Spatial Audio output from Control Caccess while watching a movie, where you get the raw sound combine of the movie piped to your AirPods with surround sound still (unbenevolenting, sound cues that are behind you will still sound enjoy they’re behind you). The fact that both virtual surround sound and contextual spatialization are called Spatial Audio is definitely a bit confusing.
Either way, if you have a Vision Pro, get the AirPod Pro 2s!! You will absolutely not lament it.
Eating/Snacking
Speaking of fairy includeants, when you’re ready to have your in-fairy meal, I discover that the Vision Pro’s Travel mode tracking apply at its worst, particularly in unelated cabin environments (much less so when it’s radiant).
The problem is that for meals that need eyesight to arrange (aka using a fork to pick up food from a pprocrastinateed), as soon as you see down at your food, the tracking standardly gets lost. This caincludes the movie to stop joining and for you to have to see forward for the tracking to re-initialize.
Additionassociate, the Vision Pro’s field of see is more horizontal than vertical (unenjoy most other VR headsets) which can originate eating challenging, requiring me to filledy tilt my head down to see at my food.
In most cases, unless I have a sandwich in my hand that I can eat without seeing at, I apvalidate my headset off to eat my meal, then return to my movie.
Works in Complete Darkness
One of the drawbacks of VR systems that include cameras for 6DoF tracking is the need to have the room airys on for the headset to function!
Thankfilledy, Apple Vision Pro does toil in pitch unelated environments (albeit with some caveats).
While the 6DoF tracking gets shrinkd to 3DoF, the OS and all of the UI includeions still function in 6DoF. The hand and finger tracking proceed to toil in 6DoF (a bit more cataloglessly, as the depth sensor being included to track your hands probable has a cataloglesser renew rate than the cameras), so you can still include the filled OS and grab triumphdows to relocate them sealr/further away.
The 3DoF relocatement confineation isn’t an publish for watching movies and using the Mac Virtual Disjoin.
This is a very distinct feature to the Vision Pro. No other all-in-one headset can natively function in the unelated to this extent.
Watching Movies
Once Vision Pros begin to become more affordable, I foresee standard travelers buying Vision Pros equitable to have an amazing in-fairy amincludement system. It’s truly that amazing.
Here are some of the leangs I’ve lachieveed while watching movies on schedulees.
Apps
The way you’ll want to watch movies and shows is thcdisesteemful native VisionOS apps (Apple TV, Disney+, Max) as they will join videos in their native aspect ratios, propose the highest quality visuals and audio, and have a much easier UI built for AVP.
Apple TV is my pickred app to watch movies with. In my opinion, it supplys the highest quality video and audio joinback, the ability to buy or rent movies without needing to subscribe, and overall, has the basicst and immacuprocrastinateedest UI.
Note: Recently, Apple joind the iTunes Movie Store with the Apple TV streaming service into equitable “Apple TV”.
As for Prime Video and other video streaming apps which don’t have visionOS apps, you can include their iPad apps. The aspect ratio of the app triumphdow, will be the same as an iPad, however, so movies will join in a letterboxed mode with bdeficiency bars above and below.
It’s evidently not perfect, but hey, at least I was able to watch Rings of Power consoleably on the schedulee, on a huge screen!
Visuals
The movies that join in virtual screens are native to the films’ aspect ratios, which can vary movie to movie, eliminating the bdeficiency bars of “letterboxing” and “pillarboxing” you typicassociate have on iPads, iPhones, or MacBooks.
They originate fantastic include of the high-res disjoins of the Vision Pro, its wide color gamut, and its radiant HDR capabilities. In fact, of all the screens and disjoins in my hoinclude, my Vision Pro is hands down the highest quality disjoin that I own, so I very much see forward to watching visuassociate compelling movies in it.
One minuscule detail worth refering is that the Vision Pro bumps up the sketch rate from 90 to 96 fps to supply a delicate joinback for 24 fps movies (4:4 pulldown). I reassociate appreciate that level of detail that Apple has put into providing a quality movie-watching experience.
As all VR headset chooseics go, Apple Vision Pro’s chooseics are not perfect in the sense that they’re free of glare. Compared to agederer Fresnel lenses, Vision Pro’s distinct concave pancake lenses are some of the best I’ve seen at mitigating god-rays/lens flaring/smearing from high contrast elements.
My advice here is to not include a pitch bdeficiency environment enjoy the “Moon” or the “Cinema” but rather, include the Dark version of “White Sands”.
Cinema Environment
As refered in the Virtual Environment section, Apple has originated 8 virtual environments, each with “Light” and “Dark” variants.
What’s one-of-a-kind is that every environment even has a distinct “Cinema” mode where the video joinback triumphdow gets pushed back and enhugeed to become 100ft or so, maximizing the field of see of the headset and give the film the “caccess stage”.
As of VisionOS2, all video apps can apvalidate achieve of the Cinema environments that Apple has supplyd for each virtual environment. Using them gives you a truly massive, immersive (unbenevolenting, no multi-tasking) screen to watch your movies on. The environment is also redynamic to the airying of the video, much enjoy the emission of a projector screen.
While some of the environments enjoy Mount Hood have astonishive mirrorive water features undertidyh the cinematic video joinback triumphdow, I discover them to be a bit too sidetracking for my taste.
I always go back to the White Sands environment using either the airy or unelated environment, depfinishing on my mood or time of day.
I should refer that I don’t always include the immersive cinematic environments. Although as of VisionOS2, you can recaccess to adequitable the tilt of the cinematic triumphdow, I discover that it still doesn’t supplys as much granular regulate as I’d enjoy over where I would enjoy to place my movie triumphdow. I discover myself equitable making the standard triumphdow hugeger, pushing it back, and placing it wherever would be most consoleable for me to see at.
Benefits of Privacy
A huge bonus for watching movies in VR on a schedulee is the fact that you don’t need to conscious about movies that comprise detailed scenes. You don’t need to turn down the radiantness and rotate the screen away from children!
And speaking of radiantness, if you’re on a lengthy red-eye fairy with the cabin airys off (with your seat neighbor asleep), you don’t need to trouble about the radiantness of your movie annoying them.
Special film createats
Apple TV also comprises the hugest catalogue of 3D movies (some that are event entidepend exclusive to the service, never freed on Blu-Ray). I have an in-depth post about the Vision Pro is a revolution for home video createats by proposeing stereo 3D movies in 4k + HDR, high sketch rate, as well as providing a platcreate for IMAX to propose films in their native 1.43:1 aspect ratio.
Audio
Using AirPods Pro 2s with dynamic noice aborting is the best way to watch movies with Vision Pro.
In terms of “Spatial Audio”, I’m still a torn on whether I should include the “contextual spatialization” of the surround sound combine of the movie (which is on by default) as it does alter the output quite a bit. I discover that it’s quite inaccurate when you’re watching the movie in pitch unelatedness, as the room scanning that the contextual spatialization is based on isn’t mapping the shape of the schedulee cabin accurately.
Thankfilledy, you can turn off Spatial Audio and have the native surround combine piped to your AirPods. I depend this output mode still simuprocrastinateeds surround sound too!
Caveat: when videos doesn’t join
Similar to iOS streaming apps, I have greeted publishs with downloaded buyd and rented shows and movies not being able to join without a nettoil joinion. This is truly a “godfuckingdamnit” situation especiassociate when that movie might’ve been the only create of amincludement that I bcdisesteemfult onboard.
The only time greeted the error with a buyd item was when I had downloaded a movie months ago (probable a confineed OS modernizes ago) and I wanted to watch it on a schedulee.
Rentals can be tricky, especiassociate becainclude you need to shield track of when they were rented and when you’re trigger the begin of its joinback. Typicassociate, they have toiled fine for me, but I do trouble a bit every time I board the schedulee on whether a rental will join or not (at least on schedulees without Wifi).
Mac Virtual Disjoin
The other presentant include case of Apple Vision Pro on schedulee is… to toil! I don’t unbenevolent toiling with the silly little iPad apps but rather, join it to your MacBook and turn its minuscule little screen into a battle-station.
Mac Virtual Disjoin is a native way for your Mac to stream its screen to the Vision Pro wirelessly without needing a Wifi or nettoil joinion. This is remarkworthy as most virtual desktop gentleware for VR headsets need either a cabled joinion or a local nettoil. With Mac Virtual Disjoin, the Mac and Vision Pro join to each straightforwardly (via Apple magic, probable using Wifi Direct).
Here are a confineed leangs worth refering about using my Vision Pro as a virtual see for my MacBook.
No More Laptop Screen Tilt Limitations
if you’ve tried to toil on a schedulee with a laptop, you understand equitable how remercilessing the angle of the schedulee seat in front of you can be. Even 13 inch laptops experience “huge” when you can nakedly tilt the screen enough to actuassociate do some toil. It’s doubly worse if the seat in front reclines all the way, making it entidepend unusable.
Here, it doesn’t matter what my front seat neighbor does, I can equitable tilt my screen down, place the laptop on my lap or tray, pull up a virtual see, and get to toil.
Higher Resolution + More Real Estate
A very underrated aspect of Mac Virtual Disjoin is that the virtual disjoin isn’t medepend a mirror of your laptop screen but an entidepend novel “disjoin” with its own particularations and attributes.
In my case, using a M2 13 inch MacBook Air, Mac Virtual Disjoin actuassociate incrmitigates the resolution of my laptop going from the 1710 x 1112 to 2560 x 1440 giving me way more screen genuine estate to toil with!
Here’s what I unbenevolent: On the left is what my desktop sees enjoy when I’m writing this blog post on my MacBook by default (I’m even using the highest resolution useable). On the right is what my desktop sees enjoy with Mac Virtual Disjoin. Notice how much more genuine estate there is around my browser triumphdow.
With VisionOS2, I’m worriedly paincludeing for the ultra-wide virtual disjoins (and higher resolutions) to become useable which will only originate the experience of using a minuscule laptop to do “huge toil” more viable.
I do hope that in the future individual apps and triumphdows from a Mac can be streamed into the Vision Pro, allotriumphg each app to apvalidate wdisenjoyver shape and size that it would best profit from (rather than streaming the filled desktop).
Privacy
I standardly see widespread flyers who do benevolent toil on schedulees include privacy filters on their laptop screens to block out others from seeing their toil. With it, also comes the cost of screen clarity, text keenness, color accuracy, and lean seeing angles (evidently) which impede the wonderful qualities of MacBook disjoins.
When using Mac Virtual Disjoin, your MacBook screen is bdeficiencyed out, allotriumphg only you to be able to see you virtual screen. It’s quite handy for benevolent toil!
iPhone Mirroring
This one’s a little bonus: Apple recently proclaimd that you can stream (screen mirror) your iPhone to Mac and Vision Pro, giving you a delicate, high quality virtual disjoin of your phone.
Unenjoy on MacOS, however, iPhone screen mirroring isn’t intractable, so you’ll still have to hageder the phone in your hand and scroll/type. It also has publishs with video joinback, so if you’re schedulening to watch downloaded shows/movies or even YouTube videos on your phone, you’ll greet AirPlay publishs.
The reason you’d stream your phone while watching a movie in Vision Pro is becainclude trying to include your phone via the Passthcdisesteemful is less than perfect, especiassociate in low airy.
It’s not the most beneficial feature, but I did finishelight scrolling thcdisesteemful Twitter in pitch unelatedness when my seat-mate was asleep.
Conclusion
I’ll try to condense my thoughts on Apple Vision Pro as as traveling device.
The first generation Vision Pro is an incredibly vivid showcase of how Apple sees its power includers joining all the devices wilean their ecosystem to supply a high quality, personal, immersive experience, especiassociate in environments that are outside of their normal home/toil spaces.
As a travel device, it’s a wonderful platcreate for watching movies and enhugeing my MacBook toilspace. It has many flaws, which power includers (enjoy myself) who are eased enough to originate the most out of their device will discover ways of alleviating.
As it stands, as a first generation product that’s weighty, very pricey, and has a very underbaked OS and app ecosystem, I have a stubborn time recommfinishing anyone to go out and buy one. That being said, I’m taking it on every fairy I go on.
But damn, based on how well it all toils now, you can equitable tell by the 4th or 5th generation, Apple Vision Pro will be on the face of every widespread flyer.
