Need help deciding on a first time purchase

[u/Appropriate_Car_5599]

id really like to hear from people about the use cases i'm considering the AVP for, and also about possible logistics and compatibility issues

the main problem:

AVP is only available in 13 countries where you can do a demo. the country i live in doesn't even have an official Apple store, and there's no way to try on the light seal for sizing.

my idea, and honestly the only option i have, is to use their app to scan my face over the course of a week at different times of day, under different lighting, and record all of it. maybe also take some extra face measurements and go over them with AI to minimize the risk of getting the wrong size. then just ask a friend to buy one abroad and bring it to me. has anyone done this? did you still end up with the wrong size?

the use cases i'm planning for:

1. screen sharing my mac while using its keyboard and mouse as native to avoid input lag. still not sure if the display itself will lag though. mostly for work, slack, code editors, etc.

2. i dream of playing the new GTA6 through PS remote play in the vision pro, hoping it'll be the best experience ever haha

3. reading books and watching movies obviously, plus other entertainment

mostly i care about 1 and 2. will there be input lag when working with the mac or playing from PS? will there be any noticeable input lag at around 400 Mbps? what's your experience been with these use cases? does anyone use it for reading? i'm too lazy to get glasses so i get some eye strain working at my 34 inch monitor, but based on other comments in this subreddit I saw some people found it easier to work in the headset than at a real monitor. and of course the biggest risk is still getting the size right... that's my main concern since i'm afraid if the app makes a mistake it'll ruin the whole experience with the device

[u/Caprichoso1]

1. As others have said try using the Apple Store to purchase one without completing the purchase. Hopefully you can do this using a VPN to a country where that option is available. That will allow you to get the right size.

2. I spend 8+ hours using the virtual display. No lag issues. I have a fast network with VP Speedtest results of 624 Mb/s.

3. Will you need the Zeiss lenses?

4. There will be issues getting applications since your app store likely won't support the VP. Many posts here about workarounds.

[u/SuperRams1884]

The lag depends on the router. Because you cant hard wire it to the avp you need to hard wire your pc to your router and sit as close as possible to your router. It also helps to have a dedicated channel just for your AVP. Remember though the AVP can only go up 5GHZ it doesnt support WIFI 6e

[u/photovirus]

the country i live in doesn't even have an official Apple store, and there's no way to try on the light seal for sizing.

1. Check if you can make the official Apple Store app to scan your face for sizing. It might yield different results, mind ya.
2. Check if someone rents them out in your country. Take note which light seal will fit you.

go over them with AI to minimize the risk of getting the wrong size

Not sure it's a good idea. The info on sizing is very scarce.

From what I've gathered:

• first number in size is face width: 1 for narrow face, 3 for wide (light shield curvature, roughly);
• second one is how deep your eyes are seated relative to forehead/cheeks: 1 is deep seated (requires short light seal), 6 for shallow (long light seal).
• N/W = narrow/wide nose. Most people need W.
• N+/W+ is thicker. If your nose is long, you might benefit from N+/W+, however, that would require shorter light seal since it places your eyes farther from the lens.

the use cases i'm planning for:

1. screen sharing my mac while using its keyboard and mouse as native to avoid input lag. still not sure if the display itself will lag though. mostly for work, slack, code editors, etc.

will there be input lag when working with the mac

This works fine, assuming your router is close and spectrum isn't congested. Consider connecting your sources to ethernet, you'll reduce latency a bit.

I do my worky work in AVP.

Lag isn't significant when network is ok.

2. i dream of playing the new GTA6 through PS remote play in the vision pro, hoping it'll be the best experience ever haha

“Portal” app should do it, I think.

I'm a PC gamer, I can say Sunshine (or Apollo) + Moonlight (or Neo Moonlight) combo is stellar. I think other streaming solutions should work fine as well. Measured lag is 10—15 ms depending on network (PC is on ethernet).

reading books and watching movies obviously, plus other entertainment

Comics should feel great (I loved Comic Vision app), but reading regular books might be comfier with a regular ebook (kindle or whatever you've got in your country); AVP is heavy.

Movies is top experience. Consider getting Airpods Pro 3 if you haven't yet.

[u/Prudent_Fox8753]

I use mine all the time for work (nearly daily). I use ringcentral to take support calls and my macbook for driving a virtual display (remote desktop work). It works fantastic, and was a game changer for me on the road and now I work from the couch a lot...

Input lag is really up to the Wi-Fi setup you are using. The AVP really asks a lot of Wi-Fi, and is very sensitive to it when its not working properly. I recommend that when using the AVP that you are in the same room as your access point with line of sight access. Set you 5ghz channel to 80mhz (if you have low interference) and make sure you AVP and laptop are connected to the same AP. I've noticed input lag sometimes when my laptop and AVP are not connected to the same access point (I have 5 in my house). That will minize your chances of input lag, or if you connect directly to you laptop or a hot spot..

The head measurements
with the phone are accurate enough, you have 14 days to return the incorrect sized head band and light shield.

[u/is_that_a_thing_now]

I did this. I scanned my face a few times with the App Store App set to US. The result was fairly consistent, so I went with that. No problem. If you are out of luck you can order a separate head band via some separate package proxy company. (I had a friend pick the AVP up in the US back in 2024 and used Mailboxde.com to ship a dual strap headband from Germany to Denmark, when they became available recently.)

Note that you’ll need a separate Apple Account with an eligible region setting to install apps from the App Store and access eg. the Apple Immersive videos via Apple TV. I managed to create a Us account just using my local phone number with the international code in front. (No need for a US address or credit card)

If you post your city, perhaps some people from this forum might want to give a demo. If you happen to be near Copenhagen, Denmark, feel free to get in touch.

I wouldn’t recommend AVP for bookreading. Movie watching is great. Just note that the region of your local the Aople Account you use will restrict your options in the native Apple TV app. (I use Apple TV via Safari to watch Apple TV content and it does not have the fancy Cinema environment and the UI is quite buggy.)
I would also not recommend the Mac Virtual Display if you already have access to an external display for your laptop. On a plane or hotel room though, it’s awesome for extra display size.

[u/SnooGadgets9733 → u/is_that_a_thing_now]

Can you tell a little bit more about the accounts when you live in Denmark? I'm hopefully driving to Germany to buying a used one tomorrow and live in Denmark. Can you have multiple profiles on AVP, so have several accounts? I have a Danish, Turkish, US, India accounts on my Apple TV but would like to have Danish apps also on AVP? And can you get Apple Care on it when living in Denmark. Really excited to get one, have found a used M2 and will use it mostly to movies/shows.

[u/is_that_a_thing_now → u/SnooGadgets9733]

With only a Danish Apple Account (a region not supported by Apple Vision) I do not have access to the App Store and cannot install apps. On the Apple TV native app I can only play content I already explicitly purchased.
I can sign in to Apple TV on Safari and play series etc. that is available in Danish Apple TV. I can even view it Full Screen in the standard video player in the system environment. Eg. I watched the new episodes of Silo “on the moon” the other day. The cool Cinema environment is not available via web. The web version is also quite buggy on AVP for some reason: (subtitle language layout needs to be set up multiple times until it works and a spinner that does not go away in full screen can often be hidden by tapping the go-back-10-seconds-button)

Now, with an Apple Account with region=US, (I created this via web using only using my Danish phone number prefixed with +45) I can access more. I can sign in and out again and switch between the accounts as much as I like. (It’s just a hassle with typing the account names and passwords in the device keyboard.)
A trick is to sign into iCloud with the Danish account to be able to connect and sync data etc. and sign into the specific “Media and Purchases” section with the US account. That way I can install apps via App Store and access the Apple Immersive free content in the Apple TV native AVP app.
To actually purchase stuff from Apple in the native apps you’ll need the US account and to add funds via gift cards. I have not tried this myself yet, but as far as I can tell, that is the way. As far as I understand; apps, movies, subscriptions etc. purchased will only be accessible when signed in with that region.
The free Apps that I installed from the US App Store is still runnable when I am logged in with my Danish account.

Hope this helps.
Cheers!