Unveiling Nature's Artistry: A Guide to Apple Vision Pro Wonders and the Iconic Beauty of Lake Vrangla

Unveiling Nature’s Artistry: A Guide to Apple Vision Pro Wonders and the Iconic Beauty of Lake Vrangla

The Environments in Apple Vision Pro are 360-degree living wallpapers, complete with ambient sounds and subtle movements that can transport you to another location. All Vision Pro owners are seemingly desperate for more of them and Apple just released Lake Vrangla. Is it the best one? I ranked all of them to see how the latest Environment stacks up.

1 Mount Hood

Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek

Standing on a lake shore, looking at Mount Hood across a serene body of water, while surrounded by a lush green forest of trees is hard to beat. The atmosphere is one of a summer camp during the day and a memorable camping trip at night. The subtle rain that comes and goes only adds to the Environment’s rich texture. Even better is the reflection of the screen off the water when watching a movie at night.

2 Joshua Tree

Maybe it’s because I’m from Southern California and have actually been to Joshua Tree in person, but it’s a great Environment to spend an afternoon. The streaking clouds make the blue sky seem expansive. The rocks and cactuses provide lots of visual texture. Plus, the Environment still feels serene even at night thanks to the full moon.

3 White Sands

I’ve heard other people say they don’t like the White Sands Environment because of the monotony of sand spread out in front of them. I don’t mind the sandy ground, but I do really love the sun breaking through the clouds. White Sands easily has the best night mode too with a brilliantly colored pink sky which helps it rank so high.

4 Haleakalā

This Environment offers a unique perspective of being atop a volcano, above the clouds. Unfortunately, those views mostly include reddish rocks and clouds. This is a fun place to visit virtually (briefly), but since the clouds never clear, the Maui volcano never gets more visually interesting. The night mode also doesn’t shine quite like it does during the day.

5 Lake Vrangla

Lake Vrangla in Norway is the latest Environment and it gives off the most haunting, eerie vibes of any of the current Environments. This is great for people who want a slightly thrilling and darker place to spend time. It’s a great place for the fall and Halloween season. It has a very similar vantage point to the Mount Hood Environment, so it can feel a little familiar—like the upside down.

6 The Moon

Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek

If you ever need to truly disconnect and feel alone, the moon is the perfect place to do that. This Environment is divisive and it’s not for everyone because it’s quiet and can feel lonely. The pitch-black sky on the light side of the moon is a void. On the flip side, all the stars in the night mode dazzle and look amazing. Even if you’re not a space person, it’s quite the view of Earth.

7 Yosemite

My least favorite of the destination Environments is Yosemite. Being in the valley, looking up at El Capitan is tremendous, but the snowy winter season gives the place a feeling of loneliness, unlike some of the other places. It almost feels like I got separated from a group and I’m about to freeze in the wilderness.

There are more Environments for use in the Vision Pro, but the ranked ones are the only locations currently available. The other choices are different lighting moods, like Summer Light, Fall Light, Morning Light, Spring Light, and Winter Light. Selecting one of these puts different color tints on your passthrough view, along with various sounds to match the season or time of day. Stay tuned for the upcoming Bora Bora “beach” Environment in visionOS 2 which should be released in September 2024.

If you need more Environments to surround yourself with, Disney and Max both offer complete, 360-degree spaces to watch movies and shows. Additionally, MLB has all 30 major league ballparks where you can watch a baseball game inside from various angles. It’s my favorite way to watch a game .

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