It’s here. After years and years of rumors and speculation, Apple today made the Vision Pro official. It’s the company’s first VR/AR headset, but of course, being Apple, they don’t call it that – instead, it’s billed as the first “space computer “. It’s also running a completely new operating system, dubbed visionOS.
The headset’s “display system” packs 23 million pixels (“more than a 4K TV to each eye”) on two micro OLED screens, “each about the size of a postage stamp,” Apple boasts, in case anyone remembers. what is it about. There are also custom catadioptric lenses to enable “incredible sharpness and clarity” for “stunning experiences” with wide color and high dynamic range. For users with vision correction needs, there will be Zeiss optical inserts to ensure visual fidelity and eye tracking accuracy.
Vision Pro is powered by a custom dual-core version of Apple’s M2 chipset, aided by a brand new R1 chip that processes input from 12 cameras, five sensors and six microphones to ensure content always appears before your eyes. The R1 transmits new images to displays within 12ms, which is apparently 8 times faster than the blink of an eye.
The headset gets two hours of battery life from an external “high-performance” custom portable battery pack, or you can use it all day when plugged in.
You unlock Vision Pro with your retina through a new system called Optic ID, which is a new secure authentication system for analyzing the iris.
The visionOS user interface is controlled by eyes, hands and voice – there are no physical controllers whatsoever. You can browse apps by simply looking at them, tapping your fingers to select, flicking your wrist to scroll, or using your voice to dictate.
Through something Apple calls EyeSight, when a person approaches you while you’re wearing the headset, the device appears transparent — they can see an image of your eyes, while you can see them too. When you’re immersed in an environment or using an app, EyeSight gives visual cues to others that you’re “busy.”
There’s a new App Store for visionOS, where you can access hundreds of thousands of iPhone and iPad apps that will automatically work with the new input system for Vision Pro. The headset lets you make FaceTime calls with everyone in the call shown in full-size tiles, and there’s spatial audio too, so it seems like everyone’s talking from where they’re positioned.
Users wearing Vision Pro during a call are reflected as a “Person”, which is a digital representation of themselves created using Apple’s most advanced machine learning techniques, reflecting facial and hand movements in real time. You can watch a movie together, browse photos, or collaborate on a slideshow.
visionOS’ 3D interface allows apps to appear next to each other at any scale, and there’s also support for the Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad so you can set up a workspace bringing your Mac’s functionality into Vision Pro wirelessly, “creating a huge, private, and portable 4K display with incredibly sharp text.”
Vision Pro can transform any space into a personal cinema with a screen that “feels like 100 feet wide” and an advanced spatial sound system. You can also play over 100 Apple Arcade games on as big a screen as you like, with immersive audio and support for the most popular game controllers.
With a twist of the digital crown on the headset, you can check how present or submerged you are. Vision Pro has Apple’s first 3D camera, allowing you to capture, relive and immerse yourself in your favorite memories with Spatial Audio. You can access your entire photo library in iCloud and view your photos and videos in full size. And panoramas taken with iPhone expand and envelop you, making it feel like you’re right where it was taken.
The glass of the Apple Vision Pro “flows” seamlessly into a custom aluminum alloy frame that curves around your face, with a modular system that allows for a tailored fit. The Light Seal is made from soft fabric in a range of shapes and sizes, flexing to fit your face for a precise fit, while flexible straps ensure the audio stays close to your ears. The headband is attached with a simple mechanism that allows for easy swaps to another size or style. The default one is 3D knitted as one piece to provide cushioning, breathability and stretch.
The Apple Vision Pro will only be available in the US early next year for $3,499. It will later expand to other countries in 2024.
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