Apple CEO Tim Cook says he uses his Vision Pro headset every day and explains why he thinks the device is “very revolutionary,” in an interview published Thursday.
“I think it delivers stunning entertainment,” Cook told The Sun in an interview tied to the AR/VR headset’s U.K. launch. “It unleashes this infinite canvas for productivity. It gives you new ways to connect and collaborate. These are just huge ideas that affect all of the things that we do every day, so I’m a huge believer in it.”
Here’s why Tim Cook uses his Vision Pro headset every day
Apple unveiled its headset in 2023 and released it earlier this year, making a major bet on what the company calls “spatial computing.” With high-end displays and a variety of advanced sensors, the Vision Pro builds upon years of Apple experience with multiple products, as well as more than 5,000 patent applications. But the headset’s most imposing feature might be its hefty $3,500 price tag.
In The Sun‘s interview, conducted last month ahead of WWDC24, Cook explained the importance of 3D spatial computing, which Apple apparently sees as the platform of the future.
“Spatial computing is a big idea, you know, just like the Mac ushered in personal computing and the iPhone really propelled mobile computing,” he said. “Vision Pro will introduce everybody to spatial computing. And spatial computing allows you to see, hear and interact with your digital content right in your physical space. And so you’re able to do things that you can’t do with other technology.”
Massively entertaining
Cook said he first got into using the headset to watch TV shows.
“I began to use it to screen entertainment. I watched the third season of Ted Lasso on the Vision Pro,” he said. “[And ] I just screened a new show — that’s coming out this week — last night on Vision Pro.”
He soon found the headset could make watching TV a very different experience from what most people are used to.
“And so the ability for me to get in the position that I want to get in — including lying flat and putting the screen on the ceiling — is an incredible kind of experience,” he said. “And of course, it’s a 100-foot screen. I mean, it’s amazing the level of entertainment that it delivers.”
That experience works well with sports in particular, Cook said.
“Some people thought it would be like sitting court-side, which would be incredibly special because most of us don’t sit court-side at a game,” he said. “But it’s better than that. It’s almost as if you’re on the court, and you’re face to face with the players. It feels like you are there. You’re face to face with the net.”
Useful for work, too
Cook didn’t leave it at TV screenings, of course. He made the rounds of various Vision Pro uses, including for work.
“In terms of productivity, when you’re working in multiple screens, like so many of us do, the multitasking is so much more efficient on Vision Pro,” he said. “Because you can take various windows and put them around your physical space.”
At this point in the interview, Cook noted how pervasive the headset has become in his daily life.
“And so I use it in all aspects of my daily life now,” he said.
Why is it so hard to explain the Vision Pro experience?
Cook also emphasized the ineffable nature of spatial computing with the headset, saying it’s difficult to describe in words. So people in Britain, and everywhere, should get a demo, of course. (Cult of Mac definitely recommends doing a Vision Pro demo, even if you don’t plan to buy one of the pricey headsets.)
“It’s hard to explain it in words, the experience,” he said. “It’s hard to show it in a 2D fashion, what a 3D experience will be. And so we’re offering everyone a demo. It’s a very cool experience that you can reserve and not stand in a queue.”
But watch out, a demo can be an intense experience, Cook warned.
“It’s an emotional experience to take a demo,” he said. “It’s interesting to watch people, the reaction that they have. You know, many of them tear up. Because when you begin to experience your photographs in the Vision Pro, it’s almost like you’re there again. And so you can imagine your family photographs as big as life, and you’re there, you’re celebrating a birthday party or you’re celebrating some huge event in your family’s history, it’s amazing.”
