I tried Apple's most ambitious Vision Pro feature yet, and it let me down in the best way

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Spectrum Front Row emulates the experience of sitting courtside.
• Best, closest thing to sitting in the VIP row of an NBA game.
• It’s everything you can imagine – the good, bad, and ugly.

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I’ve been let down by the Los Angeles Lakers hundreds of times. But never has it happened the way that it did this weekend.

Following a toiling week at CES, there was nothing more captivating to me than the opportunity to watch a full, hours-long Lakers game in the Apple Vision Pro by the time I got home.

See, I’m based in New York, so my best chance of catching the latest Spectrum Front Row in Apple Immersive experience — which puts you courtside, effectively on the scorer’s table — is by watching a replay a few days after the live broadcast.

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As of right now, it’s the best, closest thing to sitting in the VIP row of an NBA game without having to spend $10,000 (and literally flying to Los Angeles). For Apple, this may well be the most premium feature it can offer to users who have invested in the $3,500 Vision Pro.

So, what is it like to experience NBA action from previously untapped dimensions? Everything that a fan can imagine — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Warming up for the broadcast

Loading into the immersive experience is fairly straightforward. 

If you’re based in a regional broadcast territory for Spectrum, such as Hawaii, Southern California, or parts of Southern Nevada, you can tune into select Lakers games live through the dedicated Spectrum SportsNet app. If you reside outside of those areas, you can catch a replay through the official NBA app, which requires a free ID to access.

I watched the game with an M5 Vision Pro, equipped with a dual-knit band for enhanced comfort and fit. Compared to the original Vision Pro headband, the dual-knit variant reduces the “front-heaviness” of the headset, with tungsten inserts within the back fabric that act as a counterbalance.

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With a bit of adjusting and lifting the Vision Pro to the proper eye level, I eventually found the best positioning for the hours-long broadcast.

Tip off

While Spectrum Front Row emulates the experience of sitting courtside, it’s also a fully produced broadcast, featuring dedicated commentators, an announcer on the floor, and multiple camera angles, so you don’t miss any of the action. For the Lakers-Bucks game, and what I assume will be the case for future immersive NBA games, it was a thoughtful sequence of behind-the-backboard camera angles, a center court view, and commentary during timeouts.

Unlike Apple’s previous immersive sports content, such as the 2023 MLS Cup Highlights, I found the pacing of the three main camera changes in the NBA broadcast to be much easier to follow and comprehend. By the second quarter, I’d mentally prepare for the shift from center court to behind the backboard whenever something was happening in the paint or a shooting foul was called.

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Then there was what I’ll call “the magic” of immersive sports streams — the subtle moments of camaraderie and unity that you either miss on a traditional broadcast or simply never see. In the case of this weekend’s Lakers game, it was hearing bench players help call out plays and hyping up teammates, and seeing Jaxson Hayes dap up Jared Vanderbilt after his valiant effort on the glass. 

My eyes lit up the most during those moments.

Now, if only Apple (or Spectrum) gave us the option to toggle off commentary so that you only hear the sounds of the court and stadium, like how you would at a live game. Isn’t that the whole point of this?

What’s missing (for now)

Compared to a conventional sports broadcast, I mainly missed the social side of things. Usually, I track games through the lens of social media — scrolling through hot takes and commentary from beat reporters, analysts, and other fans, as the action unfolds. Integrating a similar information feed into the immersive player would have made the experience feel much more complete. 

Who doesn’t want to see how others are reacting when Luka Doncic throws a full-court pass to LeBron? There may even be a future where sports betting is more woven into such video streams.

If I had to nitpick, there were moments during the stream when a player would have the ball in the corner. From the center court angle, you can’t see a thing, and it has nothing to do with lack of resolution or bandwidth. I blame the physics of the 180-degree camera.

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I also couldn’t get used to staring so far down to see the scores and clock, as that information is typically shown to me on TV without requiring any head tilting. All I could do was pray that the Lakers were winning.

Post-game takeaway

I’ve always believed the Apple Vision Pro, like the many immersive headsets that came before it, is primarily a content consumption device. With live sports viewing, the potential of such technology feels more realized than ever, and I’m excited to see how things evolve over the years — even if it means watching your favorite team fumble the game-winning play right before your eyes.