Vision Pro

Apple Vision Pro has officially been announced, and we’re still deep in the hype phase for the highly anticipated mixed reality headset. There’s a good reason for that.

For starters, we’ve been hoping that the past few years would finally be the year of the headset. It’s been in development that long. More importantly, the Apple headset launch is actually happening.

Apple has limited a Vision Pro safe area to 10 feet by 10 feet, when using fully immersive VR experiences. It follows earlier news of a speed limit when using the device.

The limit is likely designed to prevent the sort of virtual reality headset accidents frequently seen in YouTube videos, but some are saying that it might prove too limiting for some types of gameplay, as well as proving a significant limitation for some commercial and industrial uses …

The announcement of the $3500 Vision Pro starting price didn’t go down well with those in the keynote audience, but a company which makes an even more expensive mixed-reality headset believes that Apple’s entry into the field is a good thing for its own prospects.

Varjo’s XR-3 VR/AR headset comes in at an even more eye-watering $6500, but the company claims that it welcomes the competition …

In today’s Power On newsletter by Mark Gurman, he reports that Apple has opened up the Apple Vision Pro headset testing to more employees inside the company following the WWDC unveiling. One issue that has come up in expanded testing is the weight.

The Vision Pro headset is not light, partly because it is made of aluminum and glass rather than plastic materials. To combat this, Apple has developed a top strap that helps mitigate the pressure of the weight on the user’s face. But Gurman says Apple is not currently considering that to be so essential it will be included in the box.

Apple unveiled its mixed reality headset called Vision Pro earlier this month. As of this week, developers have been able to access the necessary tools to create apps for visionOS. Now the latest version of App Store Connect is out with support for visionOS apps.

Apple announced Vision Pro at WWDC 2023. But even so, there are still a lot of details that the company hasn’t revealed about the device since it won’t be available in stores until 2024. But with the release of the visionOS SDK, we were able to find out more about how the platform works. And one interesting detail about Vision Pro is that the headset may not work when the user is at high speeds.

We noted last week that Vision Pro supply will be constrained by the advanced OLEDoS displays used in this device. So far, Sony is Apple’s sole supplier, but Chinese company SeeYa is hoping to change that.

SeeYa has just spent $24M on kit designed to boost its own production of OLED on Silicon (OLEDoS) displays, and the company is reportedly targeting Apple orders …

Apple yesterday released the first SDK for visionOS, and we dived into the Xcode simulator to take a look at what we can expect. The company also released Vision Pro developer guidelines, which provide more clues about the upcoming spatial computing experience.

Third-party Vision Pro apps are likely to play a significant role in boosting the appeal of the device, and Apple is offering developers advice on providing the best user experience …

Today, along with the release of the second developer betas for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and CarPlay. Apple has also released the first SDK for visionOS. The latest Xcode features a visionOS simulator, and I took a deep dive to see what we are getting with Apple Vision Pro next year.

When Apple announced Vision Pro earlier this month, the company also showed off a new authentication technology called Optic ID, based on the irises of the users wearing the device. But what if someone wants to try out your Apple Vision Pro or if you want to share it with your family at home? Thanks to the visionOS SDK, we now know that this will be possible.

When Apple announced Vision Pro at WWDC, the company promised to make a robust set of tools available for developers. That day has already arrived, with Apple announcing in a press release that developer tools for Vision Pro are now available, starting with the visionOS SDK.

With the Vision Pro now revealed, The Information is out with a bit of a status update on what it previously reported about the headset before it was official. In the piece, Wayne Ma deciphers future features from canceled plans while reporting new details about Vision Pro development.

We reported a couple of days ago that a planned new European law could force Apple to make iPhone battery replacement an easier process. The law would also apply to other tech products made by the Cupertino company – indeed, it might apply to all of them.

We noted at the time the lack of any clear definition or guidelines, and a new piece today shows just how many questions the new law could raise …

Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program was the company’s first attempt to turn hardware into a subscription product, but it certainly won’t be the last. To me, there’s a very obvious opportunity here for an Apple Vision Upgrade Program.

In my view, this would be a win for Apple and consumers alike …

Apple officially announced its new Vision Pro platform at WWDC this month, with a release date of “early 2024.” Now, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is out with a new report detailing Apple’s plans to better integrate the iPhone with the Vision Pro ecosystem, starting with the iPhone 15 later this year.

Last Friday, we polled readers to ask how many planned to buy Vision Pro now that the product is real. Naturally, the 9to5Mac audience includes a few early adopters, so all 100% of you signed a legally binding document committing to give Apple $3500 before January 1, 2024. Okay, the results aren’t that skewed, and they may actually surprise you.

It’s been reported in the past couple of days that there’s a problem with the Vision Pro trademark, with some noting that it’s already been registered in China by Huawei.

There have been breathless claims that this might force Apple to change the name of the device – but those reports are based on a very incomplete understanding of the situation …

The Vision Pro display resolution is one of the many benefits of the device over its rivals, and we yesterday explained the technology that makes it possible – and how it differs from AR/VR headset displays used by other companies.

We didn’t know at the time that they would be used in Apple’s spatial computer, but Sony actually showed off the displays a full year ago – and it turns out I was being a little unfair to the Cupertino company…

I had the chance to try Apple’s new Vision Pro spatial computer at WWDC last week, and I quickly published my first impressions that same day. Over the past week, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on the experience and read first impressions from a number of other sources.

How have my thoughts changed? Not really… and I think that says a lot about just how impressive Vision Pro is.

When Vision Pro launches next year, it will be able to run iPhone and iPad apps out of the box. Despite being loaded with cameras, Apple explains that Vision Pro won’t actually expose these cameras to third-party apps that otherwise request access on iPhone and iPad.

In a recent episode of Scott Galloway’s Prof G podcast, the host walks through his view of why Vision Pro will be a net fail for society.

In short, time using Vision Pro is time not being engaged with your community. Go to the office, go to the grocery store, go to the concert, go to the gym. I’m very sympathetic with this area of thinking. As a remote worker and single parent of five- and ten-year-old kids, the opportunity to meet new people ain’t what it used to be. An ad for Peloton followed the segment. Huh. Anyway…

Vision Pro has the potential to connect us in new ways, but the risk of adding to the loneliness epidemic with mass virtual reality usage is equally present.