I just watched Billie Eilish, in all of her talented glory, jamming out in the middle of Bora Bora with a breathtaking, sepia-toned sunset vibe in the background. And I didn't have to spend a penny — well, save for the $3,499 Apple Vision Pro headset itself. This is all thanks to the new visionOS 2 I've been testing.
The new-and-improved update, poised to officially roll out to the public later this year, was unveiled at WWDC 2024 — and it comes with a gaggle of new useful features. For example, the Control Center is a lot easier to access with a new gesture, allowing you get quick information like battery status and time. Plus, visionOS 2 now supports a new curved ultrawide virtual display while connected to a Mac — more on that later.
However, nothing could prepare me for the immediate sense of calm that came over me when I was whisked away to the French Polynesia, thanks to the new Bora Bora environment via visionOS 2. The Apple Vision Pro isn't just a spatial computing device. It's a "get me away from my darn family and teleport me to paradise" escape portal, allowing you to leave your troubles behind — just for a little while so you can catch your breath.
New Bora Bora environment in Apple Vision Pro
The Apple Vision Pro's edge over other AR/VR headsets is its crisp, sharp details. While diving into the new Bora Bora environment in visionOS 2, the landscape that surrounded me was so visually rich, it was as if I could taste the mist of saltwater in the air and the feeling of grainy white sand beneath my feet. When I looked up at the palm trees, I could see a realistic animation of leaves swaying in the wind.
You still won't find an official, dedicated YouTube app in Vision Pro, but you can do what I did and pull up videos via Safari. I fired up a Billie Eilish concert and watched her do her thing while I expanded the video to a jaw-dropping immersive scale that made it feel as if she was performing right in front of me.
Let's be honest. Sometimes, we just need to get away. As much as you may love 'em, if you're at your wits end with your family, slipping on the Vision Pro may be the escape you've been waiting for, without the madness of TSA, dragging luggage around, and braving hours upon hours inside a zooming metal bird that is susceptible to turbulence.
From a 2D snoozefest to a 3D spatial masterpiece
And when you miss your family again, visionOS 2 has a new machine learning-based feature that transforms your 2D photos into 3D masterpieces.
Now, when Apple boasted about this at WWDC 2024, it was difficult to wrap my mind around how mind-blowing this perk is — until I tried it myself. I uploaded some of my own 2D photos into the Vision Pro, and wow, I couldn't believe how well the Vision Pro breathed new life into them, making each picture pop in ways that you'll never experience by pulling up the Photos app on your iPhone.
I relived some photos of myself in Grenada. Apple wasn't joking nor exaggerating when it said that these 2D-to-3D experiences actually makes it seem like you're revisiting the past. Firstly, the 3D spatial photos made my entire body stick out of the photos like I was leaping out of the image. In the background, I could see the colorful town of St. George. It was as if I stepped into time machine and discovered a way to watch myself relive one of the happiest memories of my life from a third-person perspective.
I could also see this feature as a useful perk for anyone is obsessed with a particular photo of a loved one, whether it's a capture of their child, spouse, or friend. The Vision Pro brilliantly isolates the subject from other elements in the photo, creating new dimensions for some of your favorite memory-filled snapshots.
A true escape with your Mac
If your surroundings are distracting, it may be difficult to truly hunker down and focus on tasks while working on your Mac.
That's why Apple, with visionOS 2, now lets you dive into a feature called Mac Virtual Display, which basically turns your MacBook screen, for example, into a panoramic beauty. I tested this on the Apple Vision Pro and found that it transformed my workspace into an expansive, immersive environment, making multitasking and productivity feel remarkably enhanced.
Keep in mind that there are other spatial computing spectacles on the market that support Macs, like the Viture Pro XR, that offer multi-display views inside a simulated environment. The advantage of the Viture Pro XR glasses is that they're lightweight and comfortable, a pro that the Vision Pro struggles to match. However, on the Viture Pro XR spectacles, the visuals are slightly too blurry.
Meanwhile, the Mac display inside the Vision Pro is as crisp as a freshly picked apple. The Cupertino-based tech giant claims that the details are "astoundingly sharp" — and I can confirm that this is true.
Plus, the Vision Pro (with visionOS 2 of course) can now see your Magic Keyboard or MacBook keyboard, even while you're immersed in an environment (e.g., Bora Bora). I tested this one as well — and I felt like a digital nomad, working remotely while seeing the striking, majestic Mount Otemanu looming on the horizon.
These just scratch the surface of what visionOS 2 has to offer, but these were my favorites while testing the new beta version of the update. The official version is expected to drop some time later this year.