Yesterday, I wrote my notes about the Vision Pro hardware and its interface. Here are my notes on productivity:

• visionOS has roots in iPadOS, and it shows. You’ll be disappointed if you are looking for a Vision Pro to replace a Mac.
• Instead, I’ve focused on ways Vision Pro is superior to the Mac for productivity, like my writing cabin.
• Vision Pro is very good at keeping me isolated for focused work. I can already be productive with the device where that focus matters.
• We don’t have enough environments to get the most out of that last point.
• I found an attached Bluetooth keyboard a big help. I use a connected trackpad much less, but it also can come in handy.
• That said, dictation is much better than it used to be, and don’t forget to use it with the Vision Pro.
• Fantastical is a stand-out app. Putting up your calendar and make it the size of the wall is pretty damn cool. It works particularly well for the big picture of monthly, quarterly, and yearly use. I’ve got a massive version of my monthly calendar installed on my ceiling. As I think about next month, I can look at the ceiling to see what’s on deck.
• MindNode Next is also an interesting early entry. It’s a mind-mapping app but also a brainstorming app where you can locate ideas in space.
• Ideation development (like MindNode) is an excellent use case for Vision Pro. Apple’s Freeform could also serve in this capacity, but it’s not yet there. My experiments continue.
• If you want to capture a lot of text, try Aiko, an AI-based transcription tool. You just hit the record button, which converts the recording to text with the Whisper AI engine. I checked with the developer, who reports all work is done on-device.
• Mac display mode acts as an escape hatch, but I don’t see it replacing monitors for extended work sessions. It makes tons of sense to have a big display attached to a laptop in a hotel room or to give you the ability to move your desktop Mac display to a different room, though.
• We are in early days for the productivity question on Vision Pro. There are still many workflows to be explored and apps to be released.