Here's What Tim Cook Looks Like Wearing Apple Vision Pro

Tim Cook has been finally pictured wearing the Apple Vision Pro headset. The photographs accompany a Vanity Fair article about the device, which leads on the digital cover of the magazine.

vanity fair vision pro tim cook
This is the first time the Apple CEO has been seen wearing the device since its unveiling at WWDC 2023 in June. Given that Cook is usually keen to model and be seen using Apple devices, particularly during keynote events and speeches, it's interesting that the company appears to have been a little more reticent to take the same approach with Vision Pro, until now.

The article includes interview quotes from ‌Tim Cook‌, Greg Joswiak, James Cameron, Jon Favreau, and others on their experience with ‌Apple Vision Pro‌, how the headset was developed, and more. Here are some select quotes from the piece, which was written by Nick Bilton:

You can actually lay on your sofa and put the displays on your ceiling if you wish," Cook told me. "I watched the third season of [Ted] Lasso on my ceiling and it was unbelievable!" When I got home and hooked up my own Apple Vision Pro, I watched Ford v Ferrari on my ceiling, and with the spatial audio it felt like Ken Miles’s Ford GT40 was in the room with me. "I think meditation is on a different level than anything I’ve ever experienced, and I've meditated for a long time," Cook said. I've always had trouble meditating, and he was right about that too. "And I use it for productivity," Cook told me.

[...]

"I would say my experience was religious," the director James Cameron told me when I asked him about his first encounter with the Apple Vision Pro. "I was skeptical at first. I don’t bow down before the great god of Apple, but I was really, really blown away."

[...]

If there's one consistent grumble about the Apple Vision Pro, it's about the size and weight. It's around 20 ounces, which might not sound like a lot, because you cook with ounces, you don't necessarily wear them. But that's the same as five sticks of butter—imagine walking around with five sticks of butter on your face all day. Carolina Cruz-Neira, a pioneer of virtual reality, told me that the way a device sits on your face really impacts how you respond to the technology. "I’ve been working in VR for over 30 years, and until we can get the scuba diving mask off your face and we make it less noticeable, we’re not going to make this a mass-adoption technology," Cruz-Neira said. "And the size and weight of these scuba diving masks are not going to be solved in a year."

[...]

"There’s nothing we could have done to make it lighter or smaller," Richard Howarth [Apple VP of industrial design] explained. "This is the state of the art." Everyone else I spoke to at Apple proffered a similar sentiment. "It feels like we've reached into the future and grabbed this product," Joswiak said to me. "You’re putting the future on your face." As did Rockwell, who told me: "We packed just about as much technology as you could possibly pack into that small of a form factor."

You can read the full review on the Vanity Fair website.

042024 Apple opener
‌Apple Vision Pro‌ starts at $3,499 and launches in the U.S. this Friday, February 2. Apple has said the Vision Pro will launch in additional countries later this year.

Popular Stories

iphone 16 pro ghost hand

5 Reasons to Skip This Year's iPhone 17 Pro

Thursday July 10, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series in two months, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Apple Says iPhone Driver's Licenses Will Expand to These 8 U.S. States

Tuesday July 8, 2025 11:26 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states, Puerto Rico,...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro to Reverse iPhone X Design Decision

Monday July 7, 2025 9:46 am PDT by
Since the iPhone X in 2017, all of Apple's highest-end iPhone models have featured either stainless steel or titanium frames, but it has now been rumored that this design decision will be coming to an end with the iPhone 17 Pro models later this year. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo today, the account Instant Digital said that the iPhone 17 Pro models will have an aluminum...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

Leaker Reveals Amount of RAM in iPhone 17 Through iPhone 17 Pro Max

Wednesday July 9, 2025 8:08 am PDT by
Three out of four iPhone 17 models will feature more RAM than the equivalent iPhone 16 models, according to a new leak that aligns with previous rumors. The all-new iPhone 17 Air, the iPhone 17 Pro, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max will each be equipped with 12GB of RAM, according to Fixed Focus Digital, an account with more than two million followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo. The...
apple account card feature

Apple Account Card Expanding to More Countries

Tuesday July 8, 2025 7:34 pm PDT by
Apple is expanding the ability to add an Apple Account Card to the Wallet app to more countries, according to backend Apple Pay changes. With iOS 15.5, Apple updated the Wallet app to allow users to add an Apple Account Card, which displays the Apple credit balance associated with an Apple ID. If you receive an Apple gift card, for example, it is added to an Apple Account that is also...
macbook pro blue green

M5 MacBook Pro No Longer Coming in 2025

Thursday July 10, 2025 12:38 pm PDT by
Apple does not plan to refresh any Macs with updated M5 chips in 2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models are now planned for the first half of 2026. Gurman previously said that Apple would debut the M5 MacBook Pro models in late 2025, but his newest report suggests that Apple is "considering" pushing them back to 2026. Apple is now said to be...
iOS 26 Feature

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 3

Monday July 7, 2025 1:20 pm PDT by
Apple is continuing to refine and update iOS 26, and beta three features smaller changes than we saw in beta 2, plus further tweaks to the Liquid Glass design. Apple is gearing up for the next phase of beta testing, and the company has promised that a public beta is set to come out in July. Transparency In some apps like Apple Music, Podcasts, and the App Store, Apple has toned down the...
iCloud General Feature Redux

iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Receive These Five Perks

Wednesday July 9, 2025 9:20 am PDT by
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, did you know that Apple offers you five perks beyond the extra storage space, at no additional cost? Here are the perks included with all iCloud+ plans:Private Relay keeps your Safari browsing history entirely private from network providers, websites, and even Apple. Hide My Email generates unique, random email addresses whenever needed. Hom...

Top Rated Comments

x100vision Avatar
19 months ago
What is this iPad with the Pencil attached on the side instead of top?
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
japanime Avatar
19 months ago
That Vanity Fair cover deserves every laughing emoji imaginable. ??????

Made my day!
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dredd67 Avatar
19 months ago
Religious experience? Come on James, you can do better.

And about the whole product, there's one thing I retain from all the reviews and interviews:

- Lots of good UI ideas (some weird and some really bad as well)
- Incredible hardware
- Having the behemot power of Apple behind this product is the guarantee that this will not be yet another moonshot at the concept
- iPadOS as the foundation gives it a very strong head start.

But my extended time with the Vive at home and other VR headsets at work allows me to make one very concerning conclusion:

This technology IS ISOLATING, whatever the marketing department wants you to believe in.

Since the new rise of VR with Oculus, this and the other concerns I have still not changed at ALL.

- Watching a movie on a giant screen? Great ! But... what's the point of going alone to the movie theatre?
- Working on productivity stuff? Aren't you better served with a couple 4k screens, a mouse and keyboard and a powerful and versatile OS like MacOS or Windows? Yes you can do that with the AVP, but with a brick on your face and a sore neck. Why?
- You're stuck to your chair/couch. Moving with a VR headset is still not a solved problem. Mixed /AR experiences can offset the issue to a point, but as soon as it become too immersive, many people will be prone to sickness (Nilay told that even watching Avatar in 3D made him uncomfortable)
- Interacting with others: as long as you can't share your "world", your own cyberspace, with others, you'll feel forever alone.
-Sharing: the need for customizing the device to your eyesight makes it very difficult to share. Go go go individualism ! Same approach as the iPad: why encourage your customers to share a device when you can upsell a device to each of them ? That's why iOS and iPadOS will never see multi-user implemented, and I suppose that if Apple could, it would do the same to MacOS.
- Getting interrupted during your experience will always be awkward for the person interrupting because they can't see what they are interrupting.

Are we really after this lite dystopia experience? Is this really something solving any issues, or at least more issues than it creates? The first images of that AVP dad filming the birthday was already quite telling, and even if it isn't pushed as strong as before, the people who proposed this kind of ideas are still trying to get you on their coolaid.

I think the main issue is that people working at Apple aren't family guys, they all live alone or in environment far diffrent than what "normal" people live everyday, with kids, significant others, relatives always around the corner, talking to you, showing you a photo,...

Believe me, I tried to use the Vive for somehting else than short experiences, and it is NOT compatible with a family life.

It's not by chance than the Meta Quest is focusing on games and fitness, two activities many people like when they're in their own world.

My bet is Apple will probably have to pivot around and focus on these experiences instead of productivity, for short bursts of adrenaline. Like they did with the Apple watch.

Of course, this is just my opinion, but while I appreciate the technological prowess, I'm really not sold on the concept.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Timo_Existencia Avatar
19 months ago
It's amazing to read all these comments from people who, in their real life, must be about as cool as you can be. I envision them strolling down a tree-lined street, wearing their ever so cool hipster sun glasses and designer clothes. And passing judgement on everyone else who, in their estimation, is not cool.

Thanks for all the cultural help judging the AVP, cool kids.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Someyoungguy Avatar
19 months ago
Breaking: CEO of technology company says he uses latest product (“prawduct”, probably) to consume media from same company in breathless article.

Interestingly, he uses it for media consumption, not AR (he mentions productivity generically, with no specifics), having to watch on the ceiling to mitigate the weight of the device.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G5isAlive Avatar
19 months ago
alrighty then, all those who repeated over and over, "there aren't even any pictures of Tim Cook wearing it" you will need to find a new drum. Was it coincidence the first one is a huge marketing ploy? Tim may not be anyone's hero, but turns out he is almost as slick as Steve in marketing.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)