Apple unveiled the “Apple Vision Pro” spatial computer (essentially an integrated VR headset) in June 2023. Its release date was February 2, 2024 in the USA, June 14th 2024 in Japan, and globally on June 28th, 2024. US price is listed as $3,499.
Vision Pro incorporates a fully three-dimensional user interface through the most natural and intuitive operation method of the user’s eyes, hands and voice. Equipped with the spatial operating system visionOS, Vision Pro enables users to enjoy digital content as if it were physically present in their own space.
Vision Pro features a high-resolution display system with 23 million pixels packed into two displays and a uniquely designed dual-chip that makes every experience feel like it’s happening in real time right in front of you. It also is built in with have a custom Apple Silicon driver.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said:
Today marks the beginning of a new era in the history of computers. Just as the Mac brought us personal computing and the iPhone brought us mobile computing, Apple Vision Pro brings us into the world of spatial computing.
Inheriting the revolutionary technology that Apple has created for decades, a new input operation system that will bring about a major change, and realizing thousands of groundbreaking innovations, Vision Pro is what has been created so far. A product that is several years ahead of its time. Vision Pro delivers amazing customer experiences and exciting new opportunities for developers.
Mike Rockwell, vice president of technology development at Apple, said:
Developing Apple’s first spatial computer required new inventions in almost every aspect of the system. By tightly integrating hardware and software, we have developed a spatial computer that has a compact wearable design yet functions independently. This will be the most advanced and personal electronic device in history.
Apple Vision Pro will bring a new dimension to personal computing. It will transform the way users use their favorite apps, capture and relive memorable moments, enjoy TV shows and movies, and connect with family and friends with FaceTime.
A canvas for your apps at work or at home
VisionOS features a 3D interface that frees your apps from the borders of your display, allowing you to view them side-by-side in any size. With Apple Vision Pro’s endless screen real estate, access to your favorite apps and new ways to multitask, users can be more productive than ever before.
And with support for Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, you can create a vast, private 4K display that sees text clearly and is easily portable, a workspace, or the powerful features of your Mac wirelessly to your Vision Pro.
Entertainment experience
With 23 million pixels spread across two ultra-high-definition displays, Apple Vision Pro supports an advanced spatial audio system and a screen that feels as wide as 30 meters, so you can enjoy your life anywhere. Wherever you are can be transformed into a movie theater for example. An immersive line-up of videos that takes users to whole new places through Apple Immersive Videos, which offers movies, TV shows, breathtaking 3D video, and 180° high-definition recording with spatial audio.
The Vision Pro allows users to focus on content, even in cluttered areas that might otherwise distract them. Also, by rotating the Digital Crown, users can control how much awareness they have in the real world and how much they are immersed in the Apple Vision Pro environment.
Relive precious memories
With Apple’s first camera for 3D photos and videos in Apple Vision Pro, users can immerse and relive treasured memories captured with spatial audio. Spatial reproduction photos and spatial reproduction videos take users back to past moments, such as celebrations with friends or special gatherings with family, and can be experienced again and again. Users can access their entire iCloud photo library and recreate photos and videos in life-size scale, vibrant colors and stunning detail. Panoramic photos taken with the iPhone spread out as if to envelop the user, creating the feeling of returning to the place where the photo was taken.
FaceTime supports spatial experiences
Apple Vision Pro leverages the space around you for FaceTime calls to present a life-size view of everyone on the call, with spatial audio to show them from where they can be seen. You can reproduce the voice as if you were speaking directly. A user wearing an Apple Vision Pro during a FaceTime call will appear as a Persona. Persona is a digital expression created by Apple’s advanced machine learning technology that reproduces the user’s own appearance, facial and hand movements in real time. Users can also watch movies, view photos, and collaborate on presentations with others.
A richer app experience
Apple Vision Pro features a new App Store where you can discover developer-created apps and content, and the hundreds of thousands of apps you know and love on your iPhone and iPad run smoothly, with Vision Automatically works with the new input manipulation system developed for Pro. Apple’s developer community also goes a step further by leveraging the powerful and unique capabilities of Vision Pro and visionOS to design new app experiences and reinvent existing apps for spatial computing.
