Apple Vision Pro review: This is the future of computing and entertainment
It’s night. I’m at a lake near Oregon’s Mount Hood, sitting on the beach. Jazz music is playing as I write. I’m not in the real world.
Well, I sort of am.
I’m wearing Apple’s new Vision Pro headset, which looks like a fancy pair of glowing ski goggles.
Apple’s long-awaited headset, which starts at $3,500, launches in the U.S. on Friday. It’s the company’s first major new gadget to hit the market since the Apple Watch debuted in April 2015. I’ve been testing it for nearly a week. While it has some shortcomings, it’s easily the most fun new product I’ve tried out in years.
Analysts don’t expect the Vision Pro to drive massive amounts of revenue initially. UBS anticipates Apple will ship about 400,000 headsets, leading to a “relatively immaterial” $1.4 billion in revenue this year. However, I’m convinced that if Apple eventually sells cheaper versions, we’ll see millions of people using them in the coming years.
Apple Vision Pro home screen. Here I’m on top of a mountain in Hawaii.
Todd Haselton | CNBC
The Vision Pro offers a new kind of experience that Apple calls “spatial computing.” You sit in your world while looking at a digital one, and then plop different apps around you. You can work, play games, watch movies or surf the web.
Thanks to very sharp displays, and a full M2 processor that’s usually found in Macs, the Vision Pro has the power to do a lot of what you’d expect from an Apple device. There’s a dedicated App Store for Vision Pro apps, but you can also install more than a million iPhone or iPad apps. Or pair it with your Mac and work while looking at a 4K display inside the goggles.
I’m only scratching the surface of the capabilities, but here’s the gist: This is an entirely new type of computing, providing a whole new world of experiences. It feels like the future.
Here’s what you need to know:
What’s good
Apple Vision Pro
Source: Apple
I was skeptical when I first met with Apple to see the Vision Pro. Companies have been trying to do virtual reality and augmented reality and mixed reality or gobbledygook reality for years.
Sometimes it’s cool, but most of the time I’m done after an hour or so.
With the Vision Pro, there are three key parts that come into play. It has super sharp and colorful screens, it allows you to see the world around you by default using “passthrough” technology, and it has a fast processor.
Text is super crisp on the Apple Vision Pro
Todd Haselton | CNBC
The displays help remove the “screendoor” effect that’s common in lower-cost headsets like the Meta Quest 3. That’s where you can see the pixels as you look through a headset. You can easily read text on a website or a book on the Vision Pro. And I was able to watch movies, including in 3D, on screens bigger and nicer than any TV in my house.
Apple Vision Pro.
Source: Apple
The Quest 3 and other headsets also have passthrough. But Apple’s works better. It’s clearer and sharper, enough so that I can comfortably see the room around me in full color and without any lag, though I still can’t read my phone. And I love how you can turn the small digital crown, just like on the Apple Watch or AirPods Max, to adjust the volume or transport yourself into a fully 3D landscape.
You can select different scenes to surround you.
Todd Haselton | CNBC
Virtual travel is a nice touch. You can work or watch movies in Hawaii, by a lake, in White Sands or at Joshua Tree. They’re all relaxing environments with calming sounds and slow animations – like clouds moving across the sky — that help you feel like you’re almost there.
Navigation is easy once you get the hang of it. This reminds me a bit of the iPhone moment, when Apple launched its multitouch display that changed how we interact with phones that had largely been navigated with a stylus, touchpad or keyboard. There aren’t any controllers here. The headset uses sensors to track your eyes (and even verify when you’re making purchases online or in the App Store.) Apple has a quick setup process that aligns the headset to your eyes and then has you look at a series of dots, pinching your fingers as you go so you can calibrate. If you wear glasses, Apple also sells inserts that pop into the headset.
It’s incredibly accurate. You just look where you want to go and then tap your thumb and index finger to select a button or app. There’s a white bar at the bottom of every app, for example, that you can grab to pull and push around. You can adjust the size of any app by looking at the corner and then dragging it out or in at a diagonal angle. And you can swipe through photos or scroll websites by holding your index finger and thumb together while pulling up or down.
Likewise, you zoom in and out by holding those fingers on both hands and pulling outward or inward. You don’t have to flail your hands in front of you. The headset’s external cameras can detect your fingers down in your lap. You can be subtle.
Apple Vision Pro with a bunch of apps open.
Todd Haselton | CNBC
It packs a punch.
I launched more than a dozen apps around me. There’s no point in doing more, because you can’t see it all. I loved setting it up with a browser in front of me, music next to me and a TV screen above it all. But the world is yours to customize. You can open mail and a browser or leave Slack open next to a Word document with your calendar on the other side. Put your text messages on the ceiling if you want. It’s a completely new way to multitask.
Multitasking with the Apple Vision Pro
Todd Haselton | CNBC
A note: My screenshots show apps askew. But, in the headset, they’re all perfectly level.
I didn’t run into any slowdowns during my time with the Vision Pro. Part of that is due to how Apple renders content. It’s technically only sharpening the areas of the screen where you’re focusing, leaving the other areas blurry. That’s why some of the screenshots here look out of focus around the sides. Inside the headset, it’s all super crisp. It’s called foveated rendering, and it allows for optimized processing.
Gaming on the Apple Vision Pro is a lot of fun.
Todd Haselton | CNBC
I loved watching movies with the headset. I lounged on my couch and put up a huge screen across the wall of my living room and watched an hour of “Barbie,” and the two first episodes of “Masters of the Air” before the battery was at about 5%. Another night I watched “Greyhound.” I used the NBA app, which was updated to work on the Vision Pro, to stream four games at once, with the main game in the middle and others pinned to the sides. It’s wild.
With the NBA app I could watch a bunch of games at once.
Todd Haselton | CNBC
Apple also has some specially recorded content that’s so sharp you feel like you’re standing right there next to a rendered dinosaur or a video of a rhinoceros. There’s a slightly terrifying clip with a woman walking on a tightrope between cliffs. Don’t watch if you’re afraid of heights. The clips show the type of content third parties will eventually be able record and publish to the headset. I imagine sports highlights or even sitting courtside at a live game.
The Disney+ app is fun. You can watch movies in one of about four different 3D landscapes. I sat in a racer on Tatooine and watched a bit of a Star Wars movie, but then switched over to watch “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse” in 3D. Unlike 3D TVs and movies, which generally flopped, the effects work well in the headset. It’s neat, but I still prefer watching movies in 2D. It feels more natural to me.
Apple Vision Pro FaceTiming and multitasking.
Todd Haselton | CNBC
FaceTime works well. You see a clear video of the person you’re calling on a screen in front of you. But they don’t see you. Or, not the real you. They see a 3D-rendered version of you called a digital Persona. It’s still in beta, and mine looked like a much older version of me. My colleague thought I looked like an 80-year-old man. My wife laughed.
You create a Persona by selecting an option in the settings menu and then removing the headset and following screens on the external display. It asks you to look up, look down, look left, look right, smile, smile with teeth, and close your eyes. Then, in seconds, it creates a 3D Persona.
My digital Persona from the Apple Vision Pro. I think I look great!
It looks more human than cartoony like with other headsets. I spoke with people over FaceTime also using Personas, and it’s much easier to hold a conversation without feeling like you’re two goofy avatars trying to talk. You can hold a real meeting if necessary in your pajamas while your Persona is in work attire. Personas also carry over to other apps like WebEx.
You can see my persona’s eyes on the screen here.
Jay Yarow | CNBC
Your Persona’s eyes can appear on the outside display. Someone will see glowing effects on the outside of the headset if you have screens up in front of you. If they begin talking to you and you’re in an immersive view – like one of the landscapes I mentioned earlier – they’ll start to fade into focus so you can see them. As you look at them, the eyes of your digital Persona become visible on the outside of the headset. It looks like you’re wearing a snorkeling mask.
In real life, I just removed the headset face when my wife came in to chat.
The built-in speakers are great. They get nice and loud and support spatial audio, so if you turn your head away from the movie in front of you, the sound stays in the same place, much like if you were watching a real TV. Music and movies sounded fantastic, with full surround sound. People can hear the audio coming out of the headset, though, so you’ll want to use AirPods in public.
Photos in the Apple Vision Pro
Todd Haselton | CNBC
I love the “spatial photos” you can capture using the cameras on the outside of the Vision Pro or with the latest iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The camera creates a 3D version of a photo or video. I filmed my 4-month-old daughter eating and my dog’s 9th birthday, for example, in hopes that I’ll be able to come back and relive some of those moments. I wish I had recorded some of these videos when my stepfather was alive because it’d feel like he was in the room with me. Some people might see it as a gimmick, but I found it moving.
Lastly, the build quality is superb. Apple used top-of-the-line glass, screens and metals. It feels like a premium headset and it’s comfortable to wear. My only complaint is that I had to be deliberate to hold it by the metal frame. The padded inserts pop off their magnets if you try to grab them. Those could be stronger, but they were designed to be easily removed so people could share the headset by popping in their own inserts.
What’s bad
Apple Vision Pro
Todd Haselton | CNBC
Apple’s apps work well. You’ll find Notes, Music, Safari, Podcasts, Photos, Apple TV+, Maps and more. Other apps include SkyGuide and Disney+ and there are Apple Arcade games. Many more are coming, as most apps haven’t yet been built specifically for Vision Pro.
The Vision Pro supports more than a million iPhone and iPad apps. But you need to search for each app individually and some of them aren’t available. Netflix and Spotify haven’t been shy about not supporting the Vision Pro, though you can easily access either using the browser. Still, there are lots of others that I couldn’t find: 1Password isn’t there, which made logging into some apps a bit of a pain. You won’t find Uber, DoorDash (but there’s GrubHub!) or Amazon. None of Google’s apps are here, including YouTube TV, though it works fine in the browser.
SkyGuide in the Apple Vision Pro is fantastic.
Todd Haselton | CNBC
Popular games like Diablo Immortal and Genshin Impact aren’t available. Facebook’s apps aren’t here, so no Instagram. These are just a few I noticed.
Some work well, though. I didn’t have any issues with the X iPad app, for example. CNBC’s app worked fine. Others, like Amazon Prime Video, exist but aren’t great. A bug shows a big box in the middle of the screen when you’re watching a movie, but a fix is coming.
For some apps that aren’t yet available, developers are working to optimize them and eliminate bugs.
X on the Apple Vision Pro
Todd Haselton | CNBC
Apple Keychain was sometimes buggy in iPad apps. This is Apple’s version of 1Password, and I rely on it to enter my username and passwords. It generally works fine. But if you have two usernames for apps, like my wife and I do for Amazon Prime Video or Peacock, the app locks up when you try to select a different login. I informed Apple of the bug.
The floating keyboard is useful for search or typing quick messages, but you won’t be able to type very fast at first. You look at each letter on a digital keyboard and select it, or reach out and tap the digital keyboard. I got faster during my time with the Vision Pro, but nowhere near as quick as I am on my iPhone or a real keyboard. You can just use Siri voice-to-text to respond to iMessages or enter URLs in the browser (and launch apps). Still, you’re going to want to use a keyboard if you have to do a lot of typing.
There’s also the battery pack that plugs into the headset with a proprietary plug that you twist in. I don’t mind it. I thought the pack worked fine, but it would be a lot easier if it was just embedded into the headset, though that would add weight.
Should you buy it?
Apple Vision Pro
Todd Haselton | CNBC
I’d buy the Vision Pro right now if I had an extra $3,500. I’d even consider trading in my iPad Pro and MacBook Pro to offset the cost since the headset gives me a lot of the same capabilities. But that’s not an option.
You’ll definitely love it for movies. I think a lot of people will also really enjoy being able to read the news and browse the web while having a huge TV screen open and lounging on their couch. Some may find they can work in it. I did. It’s fun.
Apple’s real opportunity will materialize when it finds a way to mass produce the Vision Pro at closer to $2,000, or less. Until then, it may be a niche product. But the experience blows everything else out of the water. It’s Apple’s most exciting product in years and it’s the best example yet that this will become a new way of computing.
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Three years since the arrival of OpenAI‘s ChatGPT, more devices featuring generative AI technology have hit the market in time for the 2025 holiday shopping season, with many offering deals for Black Friday.
Shoppers can pick from more advanced smart glasses, smart speakers with genAI and a pendant AI friend that acts as a confidant.
These latest gizmos come from megacaps like Amazon, Alphabet and Meta and smaller players like Friend and Plaud.
Despite the arrival of this new wave of products, reviews for many of the devices are mixed, and nothing has separated itself as a clear leader of the pack.
That’s in part because much of the spending on artificial intelligence has been focused on other things.
Since ChatGPT was released in late 2022, the bulk of the tech industry has reoriented itself to prioritize building out large language models in a race to reach artificial general intelligence, or AI with the capabilities that are on par with, or surpass, humans.
Thus far, much of the development in Silicon Valley has focused on AI apps, including chatbots like Anthropic’s Claude, image generators like Google’s Nano Banana or feeds for AI-generated short-form videos like OpenAI’s Sora. All things people can access on their existing smartphones without a spiffy new gadget.
But the world of AI hardware is growing fast.
If you’re in the market for the latest AI devices, here’s what’s available to snag this holiday season.
Daniel Rausch, vice president of Alexa and Echo, announces the Echo Studio and Echo Dot Max during an Amazon event showcasing new products in New York City, U.S., September 30, 2025.
Kylie Cooper | Reuters
Alexa+ Echo speakers
Amazon wants to make sure its Alexa voice assistant and Echo smart speakers don’t get left behind in the era of genAI.
The company unveiled Alexa+ in February, promising a smarter, more conversational and personalized version of its 11-year-old digital assistant. In September, it followed up with a new set of Echo speakers and displays, which are the first devices to come with Alexa+ out of the box.
The lineup includes a $100 Echo Dot Max, $180 Echo Show, $220 Echo Studio and $220 Echo Show 11.
The Echo Dot Max is an entry-level, all-purpose smart speaker, while the Echo Studio is larger, pricier and offers better sound quality. The main difference between Amazon’s smart displays, the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11, is the touchscreen size.
All of the devices have improved sensors, speakers and microphones.
Amazon is offering 11% off the cost of the Echo Show 11 and 10% off the Echo Dot Max as part of its Black Friday promotions.
With the upgrades, Amazon is aiming to have users engage more often with the devices than their predecessors. Consumers frequently complained that Alexa had grown outdated while the Echo devices offered little utility beyond setting timers, spouting weather forecasts, playing music and controlling smart home accessories, like turning lights on and off.
Amazon’s recent Alexa ad tries to paint a different picture.
Comedian Pete Davidson strolls through his kitchen when an Alexa-equipped Echo Show announces, unprompted, that the “Coffee’s on, and your Uber is on its way.” Davidson then casually banters back and forth with Alexa about his preferred nickname.
The interaction is meant to showcase a few of Alexa+’s biggest selling points — users don’t have to repeat a so-called “wake word” after every command, allowing the conversation to flow more naturally.
The devices can also now connect to external services to take actions on users’ behalf. As of now, Alexa+ can book an Uber or OpenTable reservation, generate a song via Suno, plan a trip through Fodor’s, schedule a repairman visit and purchase concert tickets through Ticketmaster. Amazon has said it expects to add more capabilities soon.
Alexa+ isn’t yet available to the general public. Consumers have to wait to receive Early Access or purchase a new Echo model to use it.
Amazon is offering Alexa+ for free to users with Early Access, but at some point, the company will begin charging non-Prime members $19.99 a month for the service.
The company is also making moves in wearables.
Amazon in July announced plans to acquire AI company Bee for an undisclosed amount, indicating that it could have more hardware infused with the technology in the works. Bee is known for its $50 wristband that uses AI and microphones to listen to and analyze conversations, then provide to-do lists, summaries and reminders for everyday tasks.
— Annie Palmer
A person holds Google Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro Fold mobile phones during the ‘Made by Google’ event, organised to introduce the latest additions to Google’s Pixel portfolio of devices, in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., August 20, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Google’s AI-powered Pixel 10 series
Although the Gemini-powered Google Home Speaker won’t roll out until the spring, Alphabet did deliver some generative AI tech this year.
Launched in August, the Pixel 10 smartphones thoroughly integrate Google’s AI into several features, such as live translation, text-based photo editing and the built-in Gemini assistant.
The baseline Pixel 10 starts at $799, while the Pro lineup includes the $999 Pixel 10 Pro, the $1,199 Pixel Pro XL and the $1,799 Pixel 10 Pro Fold. The Pro line offers a higher quality camera and display, as well as additional video features.
Among the AI products is “Magic Cue,” which connects data across different apps to surface relevant information and suggest helpful actions. For example, if a user receives a message asking about a dinner reservation’s location, Magic Cue can find the answer from the calendar app.
For snapping pictures, Google provides an AI “Camera Coach,” which scans the scene of a photo and offers recommendations about framing, lighting and other techniques to improve the image.
The Pixel 10 Pro phones come with a one-year subscription to Google’s “AI Pro” plan, which typically costs $19 per month and offers multiple AI tools, including writing assistant NotebookLM and video generator Veo 3.
All the Pixel 10 models are currently on sale for $200 to $300 off until Dec. 6, except for the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, which has a $300 markdown until Dec. 2, the company said.
— Jaures Yip
The Meta Ray-Ban Display AI glasses at Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, California, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Meta’s AI-infused Ray-Ban smart glasses
Meta’s partnership with eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica, originally inked in 2019, has spawned a surprise hit in the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses that both companies are keen to boast about.
With the Meta AI digital assistant, users can command the camera-equipped glasses to take photos, play tunes and to answer questions about nearby landmarks.
In September, the two companies debuted the latest version of the glasses, dubbed Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2).
The new model has double the battery life of its predecessor and an improved camera. It costs $379, which is $80 than the prior version.
Meta and Luxottica this year also launched two smart glasses aimed at athletes under the Oakley brand.
The $399 Oakley Meta HSTN glasses are pitched toward casual athletes who want to take photos while playing sports like golf, while the $499 Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses are geared toward the action-sports crowd, like skiers.
The Vanguard glasses feature a flashier wraparound design and two buttons on the frames’ underside that lets helmet-wearing athletes easily take photos and videos and perform other actions.
For those willing to spend big money and test new technology, Meta and Luxottica also rolled out the $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses in September.
They are the first glasses Meta sells to the public that include a display, albeit a small one, in just one of the lenses. The display is intended to show users small bits of information, like navigation directions. The glasses also include a wristband that utilizes neural technology so users can command the device with gestures like rotating one’s fingers to adjust volume.
Buying the $799 glasses, though, is not easy.
Meta requires that people sign-up for in-person demos at stores like Best Buy and LensCrafters before buying the product, and the company warns that “availability varies by store, so you may not be able to purchase a pair immediately after your demo.”
Early reviews for the display glasses have been mixed.
Some reviewers have praised the device’s color display, camera and innovative wristband. Still, others have criticized its high price and have said its lack of apps limit functionality.
Meta is currently offering a few Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals for some of its various AI-powered smart glasses that will last until Dec. 1.
People can save 20% on all versions of the Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 1) at Best Buy, Target, Amazon and also at Meta’s website and the Ray-Ban website and stores. Meta is also offering 20% off the cost of prescription lenses for people who buy the Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) and Oakley Meta HSTN glasses from its website.
— Jonathan Vanian
Friend AI Pendant
Source: Friend
The AI friend you wear around as a pendant
Most AI chatbots want to make the user more productive. The makers of this smart pendant want AI to be your friend.
Users wear Friend, as the product is aptly called, around their necks while the $129 device listens to the conversations happening around it.
Friend’s chatbot is powered by Google Gemini, and it offers commentary on the user’s conversation and life. Those comments appear as notifications through the device’s corresponding smartphone app.
For example, when one reviewer played a new Taylor Swift song for her AI friend, the device commented through a notification that it didn’t “think it’s bad at all” and “pretty typical for pop.”
The device is at the center of the societal debate about the rise of AI.
Friend plastered a subway station in New York this fall with ads that suggested that the pendant was better than a real friend, promising that it “will never bail on our dinner plans.”
The posters were immediately defaced with messages like “AI wouldn’t care if you lived or died.”
Those wanting to experience what it’s like to wear around an AI friend should place orders swiftly.
The company’s website currently says units will be shipping “Winter 2025/26,” but Friend founder Avi Schiffmann told CNBC that devices ordered early enough will ship before Christmas.
— Kif Leswing
Plaud Note
Source: Plaud
Plaud, the AI recorder
The Plaud Note looks more like a credit card than a voice recorder, but it’s an ideal purchase for any note taker who wants to capture meetings, lectures or any dictation.
With over 30 hours of recording time and battery that last 60 days on standby, the slim device can produce transcriptions in 112 languages. The transcriptions include tags for each speaker on the audio.
The recorder’s companion app is powered by OpenAI’s GPT-5, Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4 and Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro. The app uses those AI models to generate detailed summaries and notes. Users can select from over 3,000 summary templates, such as phone Q&As or seminar notes.
The Plaud App’s basic plan offers 300 minutes of transcription per month, though users can upgrade to a pro plan for 1,200 minutes for $8.33 per month or a more expensive unlimited plan for $19.99 per month.
The recorder can easily be attached to phones with MagSafe magnets, meaning all Apple smartphones since the iPhone 12 series, or phone cases with similar magnets.
The company also offers the Plaud NotePin, a smaller, pill-shaped version of the recorder that can be worn as a magnetic pin, clip, wristband or necklace.
Typically priced at $159, both devices are currently on sale for 20% off during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with another 15% markdown set for Christmas, the company said.
— Jaures Yip
WATCH: Google releases Gemini 3.0 model, closes gap on ChatGPT
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