Apple's $3,500 face computer has been on the market for a while now, and developers have responded with the kind of creativity you'd expect from a group of people trying to justify a headset that costs more than a used Honda Civic.
The Vision Pro app store is now home to a thriving ecosystem of experiences that range from "genuinely cool" to "why does this exist." Let's start with the winners.
There are actually some legitimately useful apps now.
You can watch movies on a virtual IMAX screen, which sounds gimmicky until you try it and realize your $200 TV is basically a potato.
There are productivity apps that let you arrange infinite virtual monitors around your head, which is great if you enjoy looking like a cyborg having a mild panic attack.
Somebody made a virtual aquarium where you can stare at fish in spatial computing.
Another developer created an app that lets you pet a digital cat.
These aren't apps, they're expensive screensavers with extra steps.
The real gem of this whole situation is the $3,500 price tag.
That's a lot of money to spend on a device that mostly exists so early adopters can feel like they're living in the future while their friends politely nod and change the subject.
But hey, at least you can now scroll through Instagram on a floating screen in your living room while your family watches you wave your hands at nothing.
Apple is clearly betting that spatial computing is the next big thing, the same way they bet on the iPhone, the iPad, and that one time they removed the headphone jack and acted like it was a favor.
The difference is that those products had a clear reason to exist for normal people.
The Vision Pro is still searching for its "killer app," and so far the killer app appears to be "having $3,500 and a high tolerance for looking ridiculous." To be fair, the hardware is genuinely impressive.
The displays are sharp, the eye tracking works like magic, and the passthrough video is good enough that you only occasionally forget you're wearing a computer on your face.
But impressive hardware without compelling software is just a very expensive paperweight that tracks your eyeballs.
Developers, meanwhile, are stuck in the classic chicken-and-egg problem.
They don't want to invest big money in apps for a device with a tiny user base, and the tiny user base doesn't want to buy a device without big apps.
This is the same dance we saw with the Apple Watch in its early days, except the Watch cost $400 and didn't make you look like a cyberpunk extra.
If you already own a Vision Pro, you've made your peace with the purchase and are probably enjoying the handful of apps that actually work well.
If you don't own one, nothing in this app store is going to change your mind.
And if you're on the fence, maybe wait for the second or third generation, when Apple figures out what this thing is actually for. **The Verdict:** The Vision Pro app store is a fascinating glimpse into the future, assuming that future involves a lot of virtual fish and people awkwardly gesturing at empty air.
It's a $3,500 bet on a category that hasn't proven it needs to exist yet.
Early adopters are paying to be beta testers for Apple's next big swing, and honestly, that's been the Apple business model since 2007.
Final Thoughts
Just maybe don't buy one expecting it to replace your laptop, your TV, and your social life all at once.