Apple has revealed the long-awaited, heavily leaked Apple Vision Pro, the iPhone-maker’s first attempt at an augmented reality headset. Apple Vision Pro will launch in early 2024 with a price tag of $3,499.
Then again, this is by far the most advanced and high-spec VR/AR headset that has been revealed as a consumer product so far. The headset boasts an internal display that features 23 megapixels divided between the wearer’s two eyes – that’s approaching three times the 8.29MP 4K resolution of the PSVR 2, and is more than a 4K screen per eye – and the outer glass face hides an array of cameras to capture and analyse the world around the wearer, as well as an outward facing display. The headset can either fully immerse you in a digital setting or blend to an augmented reality mode.
That outward display and the rubberised band helps make this look more like a pair of ski goggles than a VR headset. The EyeSight feature means that if someone comes close, the headset will insert fade the real world back in if the wearer in a fully VR world at the time, and also display the wearer’s eyes on the outside to help with a human connection and show where and what they’re looking at. Those internal cameras will also scan your iris for security with Optic ID, while the outward cameras allow for 3D photography and spatial capture.
Powered by an M2 chip that is found in the iPad Pro and consumer level Macs, combined with a new R1 chip, the Apple Vision Pro’s visionOS overlays apps and windows onto your real world surroundings. There will be apps designed specifically and enhanced for Vision Pro – so FaceTime, for example with have a special video call mode that can be used for presentations, perhaps, or games can render on a tabletop – but it can also render apps, games and media as a floating window. 100 games in Apple Arcade will be compatible on day one, and No Man’s Sky VR is also promised. While the main headset should be usable with hands, you’ll be able to connect gamepads for gaming.
Outside of the price, one of the main caveats is that the battery is not integrated into the headset, but is instead attached on a cable. It will provide around 2 hours of use, but enable quick switching to another battery. You can also just run it off the mains.
It will be interesting to see how this affects the wider industry. Sony’s efforts are naturally all about gaming, but as Oculus was absorbed into Facebook, the company started on a big push to create a metaverse. Apple’s approach has a lot of similarities – you’re doing lots of smartphone and PC stuff with a headset strapped to your face – but has a main focus on blending it with the real world. The Meta Quest 3 is also promising better augmented reality and for a much lower $499 price point later this year, but will come with significantly lower specs.
Is there a “killer app” for either of them outside of VR gaming? We’ll have to wait and see what 2024 brings.
Source: Apple
Dominic L
The price is insane. I am a fully signed up member of the Apple cabal, but there’s no way this will be appearing in our house at that price.
TSBonyman
I know it’s difficult to convey VR but was that entire presentation CGI? It looks really cool but impractical for AR, which i believe will require a light, spectacle-like build to ever be practical in the real world.
Stefan L
Yeah, it will have been a digital reconstruction around the actors, but people have gone hands on and the experience largely matches what’s shown.
Having it built into glasses is obviously the end goal, but you’ve really got to walk before you can run. It’s totally a novelty for the first couple of generations as Apple and devs figure out what it can really be used for, and as the tech catches up.