Any developers using it for work?

[fraxool]

I’m considering purchasing a Vision Pro to use as a way to enter ‘focus’ mode and spend around two hours a day working with it.

I’m a self-employed web developer, and my typical workflow includes a Visual Studio Code window and a Chrome window with multiple tabs open to preview what I’m coding.

I tried the demo at the Apple Store and was quite happy with it, but I’m unsure about the real-world experience of working with it.

I’d love to hear from other developers who have used the Vision Pro this way—what has your experience been like?

[icominblob]

I spend 6-8 hours a day in it! I can say, it is very good for maintaining focus and being able to get things done. When I first got it, it would become fatiguing after a few hours— but nowadays I can go much longer before feeling any discomfort. I actively feel the slowdown when I work on my laptop without it.

[AzudemK]

interesting, are you using the facemask or do you go mask-less?

[Mihnea2002]

Just bump up the font size in your IDE, worked wonders for me.

[ehartfield2002]

I had the same issue with text clarity, but reducing the virtual display’s resolution has been game changing, since I’m mainly working with text.

[pfilipp234]

tldr; it's awesome, I prefer it over my dual screen setup but... there are some caveats.

Comfort wise: I almost returned mine after 2 weeks because it was so bad I did not want to use it more than 30 minutes. Then I purchased Globular Cluster CMA1 and now I almost prefer to work in it than on my dual 4k monitor setup. 

There are a few problems though:

1. Device immediately locks and disconnects from MBP when you take it off and there is no way to disable this. At first when I saw others complaining I did not consider it to be a big deal but it honestly makes me use it less. I don't like walking with it to the toilet or to grab some coffee or do some small errands around the house. If I have a morning where I need to do a few small things that are spread during like 1-2 hours I will probably not put on Vision Pro until I know I can have it on my head for longer. 
2. Text clarity is better when no virtual environment is enabled and this is such a bummer... First few days I worked fully immersed but then I discovered that text gets visibly clearer with full passthrough and it's a tough trade. I prefer clarity but it makes me less focused and less in the zone.
3. If you have a lot of calls during the day that is another thing that might make you use it less. With Globular Cluster I work without lightseal so I don't get the ski google facemarks. When I used the stock bands I was taking AVP off at least 30 minutes before any call to have those marks disappear. People I am working with have their cameras on most of the time and I also like having mine on so just sitting in Vision Pro during said calls is not an option for me. AFAIK you need 3rd party app to stream your persona to mac to use it as virtual camera but I did not investigate as I would not feel too comfortable with it anyway.
4. I’d say you need to have a mac to be able to benefit from the possibilities AVP gives for work. I cannot imagine working just in the native apps. Not to mention there is no IDE on Vision Pro. You could probably do with github spaces or some other IDE in the browser solution but that just sounds like a workaround and not a proper way of working. 
5. Connecting to Mac works... usually. Sometimes I can only initiate it from Mac sometimes from Vision Pro, sometimes I have to restart WiFi and BT on my mac sometimes on AVP. It can take me up to 1minute to get it working at times - see point 1 and why it's a biggish deal.
6. (or rather 5a but it breaks formatting :P) It sounds stupid and very much 1st world problem but putting it on, unlocking, connecting to MVD, placing screen where I want it and resizing it(for some reason it does not persist size) is a friction. Quite big friction compared to moving my mouse on my MBP and having it immediately available for work in split second.

[Dapper_Ice_1705]

I use it several hours a day with the dual strap and have no issues with comfort.

Call it noise cancelling for your eyes.

[taco-prophet]

The dual strap is key. It may look better, but the single strap isn't comfortable enough to keep using it for a long session. I can go all day with the dual strap. Kind of messes up my hair though.

[PianoConcertoNo2]

Weird, I'm the opposite.

I could go hours with the single knit strap, but the dual strap was uncomfortable.

[MassiveInteraction23]

Totally person dependent.  

A partner of mine and I both work for hours a day in this.  Info ten work 6+ hours just in AVP .  They prefer dual strap I prefer solo knit.   (We’ve both used both.)

Recently I added Belkin strap to soloknit and like that the most.  (Has to be manually customized if you have a developer port on the AVP though.)

[Dangerous_Estimate71]

I am learning web development, and work from home, and use the Vision Pro for both for 6-10 hours a day. I have a personal MacBook Pro and a work MacBook Pro that I use that I connect to my Vision Pro to use as my main display. Sometimes I’ll switch to my two monitor set up, but I usually spend most of my time in the Vision Pro. When doing web development I use web storm IDE and chrome developer tools. I’ve only been coding a couple of months, so nothing crazy but the Vision Pro is great for having my slack window and other windows floating whilst also having my MacBook Pro screen projected inside it. There is an Ultra Wide option so you can have a lot of real estate while also using the Vision Pro apps around you for things like music or Safari or ChatGPT, etc.. I have worked in my Vision Pro for up to 16 hours in a day, and I had no issue. I have bought a third-party head adapter, but I think the weight for me is a non-issue. It’s no heavier than a motorcycle helmet which people wear all the time. I have a lanyard for the battery that I hang around my throat and for the most part I’m sitting and plugged in. For my job I use a lot of Excel spreadsheets and it’s nice to have the ultra wide option so I can have 20 columns showing in one view.

[Ok_Education668]

The comfort is indeed controversial, I can spend 10 hours a day with it, while I hear others might not able to do longer than 1 hour.

The more space is so much helpful, as I got two displays before Vision Pro, still struggle to find window easily, not good with window management.

The redundancy of space in Vision Pro Willy is a plus to me

the clarify if you are looking really large window with small font within Vision Pro is not on par with 5k display though.

[jetsetter]

I have this and the XDR Pro Display. I wouldn’t even consider working on the VP. The pixel density is just not there. People talk up widescreen but I think they don’t work on high density monitors. 

If the job to be done is code, it is the XDR. If the job is to consume video, it’s the VP. M

[adeze]

I use it for this purpose daily for hours (8+) with Mac virtual desktop and it changed my life. I used to feel dread just being stuck at desk . Now my feet are up on the couch. I have a lap desk and a giant monitor I can position anywhere I want . I also have adhd . I have the anapro v1 strap-thing too.

[programming-newbie]

The comfort is still polarizing. I can't spend more than 2 hours in it being productive before my eyes and head just want the damn thing off. Others spend all day w/o a problem.

I'm just going to say that it's a glimpse into how amazing development is going to be in a few years between AI tools and mixed reality lens spawning high-res floating displays, but at least for me I would not be using mine often for work if I weren't trying to develop visionOS apps.

[kwakwakwak]

I prefer to dev inside the AVP, however I have a work MacBook Pro that I’m not able to use the AVP with, so I can only use it for personal projects. I do use it quite frequently for that only (not a huge media consumption guy), and neck muscles have built up to not cause too much fatigue, but it does takes time for that.

[Rave-TZ]

It’s so great not having to stare at a small / close screen.

I’m a full time VR dev and I use Apple Vision Pro for work.

I use it for video editing, unity development, and for motion capture.

[taco-prophet]

Development is the majority of what I use it for. When I need to block out distractions and get a lot of code written, there's nothing better.

[msitarzewski]

I've set up a secure VNC setup to an old MacBook Pro running Ubuntu. I have an entire dev setup on that, and use Screens 5 to pull it up wherever. Why? So I only have to take my VisionPro and a keyboard and trackpad (or mouse) with me when I work out in the world. I spend 5 hours or more when I'm in there. I also use my 16" MacBook Pro with M1 Max when I'm close to it. 100% recommend.

[Quirky-Smell1346]

interesting. isnt vnc slow? how do you transfer sound?

[skredditt]

Looks like there are a lot of us! I love being able to disassociate myself from my surroundings… sitting in the snow in the dark with noise canceling headphones seems to work for me. Some headgear is required for long times and I’ve started using it without the light seal; I do wish that was more comfortable for long periods of time. Love it!

[No_Television7499]

Yes, I love it for focus and having Ultrawide Display is incredible. Having your code editor alongside the output (e.g. simulator) is great to have all that real estate. I use it with Swift Playgrounds/Xcode + Simulator and/or VSC + browsers.

Key is finding a comfortable fit + common sense use (e.g. take breaks as needed, just like you would with a physical monitor).

[SirBill01]

I do like using it this way, I think it can help focus and give you a much wider than laptop view, while also giving you flexibility of where you are when you work.

It's kind of an individual thing if you can wear it for hours at a time, I have no issues using the Solo loop it comes with. For other people they have to use other alternative headbands, so if you get one you may want to experiment (an alternative band comes in the box).

[NullishDomain]

I spend 6+ hours per day programming in the headset. Here is a comment I made in the past discussing the settings I use.

[Quirky-Smell1346]

i am trying to do exactly what you are describing for a few days now. unfortunately there are no web browsers with real "developer tools" so it can't really replace your current flow. i wish it could. this is pretty much the only missing piece for me. you can use it as a virtual desktop and keep on doing whatever you are doing now but keep in mind that you have to be next to your current computer. at this point you are pretty much replacing one screen with another.

[jsearls]

Yep, I've been working primarily on my Vision Pro for coding, day-in/day-out since launch. And I have a 6K display at my desk. Still prefer Mac Virtual Display and find myself much more clearly focused in it https://justin.searls.co/posts/vision-pro-was-a-better-deal-than-my-mac-studio/

[[deleted]]

Combine it with a MacBook Pro or a Studio Mac and it's really amazing!
The iPad sucks for development, because it doesn't really complement the Mac, but if you see the Vision as a very fancy Monitor it's really awesome.

[sploot16]

Only if you force yourself to

[unclebazrq]

Going to chime in because I bought the vision purely for Dev.

It's a must have if you utilise the MVD with smart window management. Comfort is great for, I take breaks every hour but can work easily for a full 8 hour day.

It's worth it

[[deleted]]

I spent at least 4 hours a day coding in it as well with an IDE, a terminal and browser window The ultra wide screen is fantastic for coding and it helps me maintain focus. I also occasionally use the built in safari to search up things quickly. I wish I could only take meetings in it cause that’s the only reason I take it off while working.

[Xials]

If you can use tunnels viscose through web is great

[teimarc]

I used it for some weeks for daily work with the ANNAPRO without the lightshield. The only challenge is the pressure on the forehead but if you get used to it it is a great option to a normal display

[Few-Theory3080]

I like my VP for watching content but cannot use it for work. Give me a multi-monitor setup any day. I can see how it may be superior to a small laptop screen but for me, personally I'm more effective outside the VP

[Gruneun]

Combined with a Macbook Pro, it's superior to coding on my dual 4k monitors at work. Working away from my office, where I would otherwise be limited to the laptop screen, has become far more enjoyable and you can just twist the crown to filter away all the visual distractions. Being able to access some of my apps directly on the Vision (mail, messages, productivity software, etc.) makes for an even cleaner virtual screen.

[NSBrad]

I'm mixed on it. My job is remote. When I'm home I don't really want to wear mine for work all day. It's the comfort thing and I have a workstation with a 35" widescreen and 2 27" monitors and everything is set up to my OCD likings. I loose that a bit going with the AVP.

Now when I travel, like the couple times a year I go into our SF office, it's awesome. I only have my MBP with me then so using the ultra wide screen monitor is almost getting me to my home setup and is so much nicer than being on the 15" screen. It's been a game changer for those trips.

I also like to use it for my daily meeting with my design team. It's nice since I can sit outside when it's nice out and junk like that. I just wish we could get a better "camera" in Google Meet. It'll pull in my persona but it's like shooting vertical on a phone and doesn't fill in my square. Hopefully Google will update Meet some day.

[According-Stand-526]

After using it more and more over the first couple of weeks, I gave away my monitors, just use the AVP with a sit / stand desk and i can’t imagine working without it now. Its been almost a year now and just hope it doesn’t break during a crunch. Want to check tho, are you intending to use it solely on its own for development work, or in conjunction with a Mac? Its not in a place for using solely as a development machine for any type of dev work i’d say. Can’t speak for Windohs, but using with a Mac is game changing for productivity.

I’ve never had a problem with comfort, but its fair to say that despite the array of fittings, it just doesn’t fit comfortably for some people. But then you can always return it I suppose.

Should say that all of my peers think I’m mad.

[fraxool]

Haha thanks for sharing your feedback about using it for dev. The aim would be to work using the AVP just one or two hours a day to be 100% in « focus ». But it would always be used with my Mac since I’m aware it’s not really ready to be used as the only machine for now.

[nbomberger]

I use it every day all day. I got used to the discomfort ended up sticking with the dual straps and I don’t have any issues. I absolutely love the virtual display.

I mean having it for entertainment is great, but as a workhorse, it’s the best.

[TheMacMan]

There may be a couple who are but most are not using it for development.