Apple Vision Pro
Apple Vision Pro is a mixed-reality headset developed by Apple Inc. It was announced on June 5, 2023, at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, and pre-orders began on January 19, 2024. It became available for purchase on February 2, 2024, in the United States.[10] A worldwide launch has yet to be scheduled. Apple Vision Pro is Apple's first new major product category since the release of the Apple Watch in 2015.[11]
"Vision Pro" redirects here. For the non-linear editing system, see D/Vision Pro.Codename
Standalone mixed reality headset
US: February 2, 2024
US$3,499
Apple M2 (8-Core, 16-Core Neural Engine), Apple R1 (12 ms photon latency, 256 GB/s memory bandwidth)
16 GB[3]
256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB
Internal: ~3660x3200 per eye[4] (equivalent to WUHD for each) dual micro-OLED (RGBB π subpixel geometry) up to 100 Hz refresh rate,[5] 3386 PPI
External: "EyeSight" curved lenticular OLED[6]
Surround sound speakers, 6 beamforming microphones[8]
6DoF inside-out tracking, photogrammetry, hand gesture recognition through 12 built-in cameras and LiDAR, eye tracking and voice input
Stereoscopic 3D main camera system, 18 mm, ƒ/2.00 aperture, 6.5 stereo megapixels
Wi‑Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3
External battery with 2–2.5 hours of use[5]
visionOS 1.1.2[9]
600–650 g (excluding battery)
Apple markets Apple Vision Pro as a "spatial computer" where digital media is integrated with the real world. Physical inputs—such as motion gestures, eye tracking, and speech recognition—can be used to interact with the system.[10] Apple has avoided marketing the device as a virtual reality headset when discussing the product in presentations and marketing.[12]
The device runs visionOS,[13] a mixed-reality operating system derived from iOS frameworks using a 3D user interface; it supports multitasking via windows that appear to float within the user's surroundings,[14] as seen by cameras built into the headset. A dial on the top of the headset can be used to mask the camera feed with a virtual environment to increase immersion. The OS supports avatars (officially called "Personas"), which are generated by scanning the user's face; a screen on the front of the headset displays a rendering of the avatar's eyes ("EyeSight"), which are used to indicate the user's level of immersion to bystanders, and assist in communication.[15]
History[edit]
Development[edit]
In May 2015, Apple acquired the German augmented reality (AR) company Metaio, originally spun off from Volkswagen.[16] That year, Apple hired Mike Rockwell from Dolby Laboratories. Rockwell formed a team called the Technology Development Group including Metaio co-founder Peter Meier and Apple Watch manager Fletcher Rothkopf. The team developed an AR demo in 2016 but was opposed by chief design officer Jony Ive and his team. Augmented reality and virtual reality (VR) expert and former NASA specialist Jeff Norris was hired in April 2017.[17][18] Rockwell's team helped deliver ARKit in 2017 with iOS 11. Rockwell's team sought to create a headset and worked with Ive's team; the decision to reveal the wearer's eyes through a front-facing eye display was well received by the industrial design team.[19]
The headset's development experienced a period of uncertainty with the departure of Ive in 2019. His successor, Evans Hankey, left the company in 2023.[20] Senior engineering manager Geoff Stahl, who reports to Rockwell, led the development of its visionOS operating system,[18][21] after previously working on games and graphics technology at Apple.[22] Apple's extended reality headset is meant as a bridge to future lightweight AR glasses, which are not yet technically feasible.[23][24] In November 2017, Apple acquired Canadian MR company Vrvana for $30 million. The Vrvana Totem was able to overlay fully opaque, true-color animations on top of the real world rather than the ghost-like projections of other AR headsets, which cannot display the color black. It was able to do this while avoiding the often-noticeable lag between the cameras capturing the outside world while simultaneously maintaining a 120-degree field of view at 90 Hz. The Totem also used IR illuminators and infrared cameras to perform spatial and hand tracking.[25][26]
According to leaker Wayne Ma, Apple was originally going to allow macOS software to be dragged from the display to the user's environment but was scrapped early on due to the limitations of being based on iOS and noted that the hand-tracking system was not precise enough for games. Workers also discussed collaborations with brands such as Nike for working out with the headset, and others investigated face cushions that were better suited for sweaty, high-intensity workouts, but was scrapped due to the battery pack and the fragile screen. A feature called "co-presence"; a projection of a FaceTime user's full body, was also scrapped due to unknown reasons.[27]
Unveiling and release[edit]
In May 2022, Apple executives previewed the device, including CEO Tim Cook.[28] The company began recruiting directors and creatives to develop content for the headset in June. One such director, Jon Favreau, was enlisted to bring the dinosaurs on his Apple TV+ show Prehistoric Planet to life.[29] By April, Apple was also attempting to attract developers to make software and services for the headset.[30] Apple filed over 5,000 patents for technologies which contributed to the development of Apple Vision Pro.[31]
Apple Vision Pro was announced at Apple's 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC23) on June 5, 2023, to launch in early 2024 in the United States at a starting price of US$3,499.[2][32]
On June 6, the day after the announcement, Apple acquired the AR headset startup Mira, whose technology is used at Super Nintendo World's Mario Kart ride. The company has a contract with the United States Air Force and Navy. Eleven of the company's employees were onboarded.[33]
On January 8, 2024, Apple announced that the release date of Apple Vision Pro in the United States would be on February 2, 2024.[34] Estimates of initial shipments ranged from 60,000–80,000 units.[35] Pre-orders began on January 19, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. PST[36] and the launch shipments sold out in 18 minutes.[37] Apple sold up to 200,000 units in the two week pre-order period,[38] a majority of which were to be shipped five to seven weeks after launch day.[39]
Reception[edit]
Pre-release and unveiling[edit]
Before the official release of Apple Vision Pro, Samuel Axon of Ars Technica said that Apple Vision Pro was "truly something I had never seen before", noting the intuitiveness of its user interface in a choreographed demo given by Apple, and praising a dinosaur tech demo for its immersive-ness. Axon said that its displays were dim but "much better than other headsets I've used on this front, even if it still wasn't perfect", and that the personas looked "surreal" but conveyed body language better than a more stylized avatar (such as Animoji or Horizon Worlds).[43] He argued that Apple Vision Pro was not a virtual reality (VR) platform, nor a competitor to Meta Platforms's Quest (formerly Oculus) product line, due to its positioning as "primarily an AR device that just happens to have a few VR features", and not as a mass market consumer product.[43] Media outlets observed that Meta had announced the Meta Quest 3 shortly before WWDC, seemingly in anticipation of Apple's announcement.[66][67][68] Following its release, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated he had demoed the headset and liked its display resolution and eye tracking, but still believed the Quest 3 was the "better product" due to its lower price and Apple's "closed" ecosystem.[69]
Jay Peters of The Verge similarly noted that Apple did not present Apple Vision Pro as a VR platform or refer to the device as a headset, and described it as an AR device and "spatial computer", and only demonstrated non-VR games displayed in windows and controlled using an external gamepad, rather than fully immersive experiences such as games and social platforms (including motion controllers). He suggested that this positioning "leaves wiggle room for the likely future of this technology that looks nothing like a bulky VR headset: AR glasses".[70] App Store guidelines for visionOS similarly state that developers should refer to visionOS software as "spatial computing experiences" or "vision apps", and avoid the use of terms such as "augmented reality" and "mixed reality".[71][72]
After the initial announcement of Apple Vision Pro, it was criticized due to its high cost, as too high to go mainstream;[73][74][75] the three priciest components in Apple Vision Pro are its camera and sensor array, its dual Apple silicon chips, and the twin 4K micro-OLED virtual reality displays. Apple is reportedly working on a cheaper model that is scheduled sometime for release for the end of 2025 and a second-generation model with a faster processor.[76] Apple Vision Pro also faced criticism over its short battery life,[77] appearing distracting to others,[77] and its lack of HDMI input[78][79] and haptic feedback.[77]
Reviews[edit]
Apple Vision Pro received mixed to positive reviews. Nilay Patel of The Verge praised the headset's design as being more premium and less "goofy"-looking than other existing VR headsets, felt that its displays were "generally incredible" in their sharpness and brightness, it had the highest-quality video passthrough he had seen on an MR headset yet (even while having a field of view narrower than the Meta Quest 3), and that its speakers had a "convincing" spatial audio effect. However, he felt that there was "so much technology in this thing that feels like magic when it works and frustrates you completely when it doesn't", citing examples such as the passthrough cameras (which "cannot overcome the inherent nature of cameras and displays"), eye and hand tracking that was "inconsistent" and "frustrating" to use (with parts of the visionOS interface demanding precision that couldn't be met by the eye tracking system), visionOS lacking a window management tool similar to Expose or Stage Manager, and that the personas and EyeSight features were uncanny (with the latter's visibility hampered by a dim, low resolution display covered by reflective glass). Patel felt that Apple Vision Pro was meant to be a development kit for future AR glasses, as the device's current form was—from technological and philosophical standpoints—too limiting for Apple's ambitions, and "may have inadvertently revealed that some of these core ideas are actually dead ends."[80]
Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal echoed this sentiment, arguing that it was "the best mixed-reality headset I've ever tried", and "so much of what the Vision Pro can do feels sci-fi", but that "these companies know these aren't really the devices we want. They're all working toward building virtual experiences into something that looks more like a pair of regular eyeglasses. Until then, they're just messing with our heads."[81]
Public response[edit]
Most reviews from buyers of Apple Vision Pro were also mixed to positive. While many users on Reddit seemed very satisfied with the device and entranced with the concept of a spatial computer, others lamented the small field of view or lack of common VR qualities.[82]
One person attempted to drive while using the device, which Apple warns against in the Apple Vision Pro user manual.[83] Other users posted videos of themselves using the device while walking, a feature not officially supported at launch.[84]
Some have experimented with cooking while wearing the headset, which is not recommended by Apple. This allows users to easily see step-by-step instructions while cooking.[85] Its use has also been documented as a potential tool in the operating room, additional use cases include education, productivity, sales, collaboration and digital twins.[86][87]
