Apple Reveals 'Vision Pro' Headset and visionOS

Apple today revealed the "Vision Pro" headset, its first mixed-reality headset device, and visionOS, an all new operating system for the device.

Apple Vision Pro with battery
Apple describes the Vision Pro headset as "a revolutionary spatial computer that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world." The device features an all-new operating system that features a three dimensional interface. Experiences in Vision Pro aren't constrained to the boundaries of a display, users can make apps any scale, and place apps wherever they wish. Users use a combination of their eyes, hands, and voice to control the device.

Apple's Vision Pro starts at $3,499 and it will be available early next year. It will be sold in Apple retail stores in the U.S. only at first.

Design

The entire front of the headset is made of polished glass that flows into a lightweight aluminum frame. The top of the headset features a button and a Digital Crown that lets a user control how present or immersed they are in an environment.

Apple Vision Pro glass
The headset has a modular system to achieve an optimal fit. Its battery is separate and links via a magnetic connection to the side of the headset.

A singular piece of three-dimensionally formed and laminated glass is polished to create an optical surface that acts as a lens for the wide array of cameras and sensors needed to blend the physical world with digital content. The glass flows into the custom aluminum alloy frame that gently curves around the user’s face, while the modular system allows for a tailored fit to accommodate a wide range of people. The Light Seal is made of a soft textile, and comes in a range of shapes and sizes, flexing to conform to a user’s face for a precise fit. Flexible straps ensure audio remains close to the user's ears, while a Head Band — available in multiple sizes — is three-dimensionally knitted as a single piece to provide cushioning, breathability, and stretch. The band is secured with a simple mechanism, making it easy to change to another size or style of band.

Those who wear glasses must use magnetic prescription ZEISS glass inserts with the Vision Pro headset.

Hardware

Vision Pro features an ultra-high-resolution display system with 23 million pixels across two micro-OLED displays – more than a 4K for TV for each eye.

vision pro headset 1
Vision Pro uses high-speed cameras and a ring of LEDs that project invisible light patterns onto the user's eyes to track gaze. The headset also contains the M2 chip paired with a new "R1" chip, dedicated toward real-time sensor processing.

These groundbreaking innovations are powered by Apple silicon in a unique dual-chip design. M2 delivers unparalleled standalone performance, while the brand-new R1 chip processes input from 12 cameras, five sensors, and six microphones to ensure that content feels like it is appearing right in front of the user's eyes, in real time. R1 streams new images to the displays within 12 milliseconds — 8x faster than the blink of an eye. Apple Vision Pro is designed for all-day use when plugged in, and up to two hours of use with its external, high-performance battery.

It also has a new Spatial Audio system with two individually amplified drivers inside each audio pod, which deliver Personalized Spatial Audio based on the user's own head and ear geometry. It can match the sound to an environment using audio ray-tracing. The headset is capable of running for up to two hours on a single charge.

Features

The headset is controlled by a user's eyes, hands, and voice. Users can browse through apps by simply looking at them, tapping their fingers to select, flicking their wrist to scroll, or using voice to dictate. It also supports Apple's Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad.

Apple Vision Pro lifestyle with battery FaceTime
The headset features passthrough video of a wearer's eyes in a feature that Apple calls "EyeSight," displaying the user's eyes to surrounding people. It uses a lenticular OLED display to show the correct perspective to anyone viewing the wearer.

Vision Pro can transform a space into a personal movie theatre and watch immersive videos. With Environments, a user's world can grow beyond the dimensions of a physical room with dynamic landscapes that can help them focus. Vision Pro also allows users to connect to their Mac and expand its display in a virtual space, including alongside apps running on Vision Pro itself.

In FaceTime calls, everyone on the call is reflected in life-size tiles. Users wearing Vision Pro during a ‌FaceTime‌ call are shown as a Persona — a digital representation of themselves.

Optic ID uses a wearer's iris to authenticate users and unlock the Vision Pro headset. Vision Pro is also "Apple's first 3D camera," showing depth in video with Spatial Audio.

visionOS

‌visionOS‌ offers an infinite canvas for apps and a three-dimensional user interface. Apps react to lighting and cast shadows. Upon putting on the headset, a Home view floats in the world in front of you to feel "truly present" in your room.

‌visionOS‌ introduces an all-new platform for developers to create app experiences. iPhone and iPad apps can run in ‌visionOS‌ to provide a large number of apps upon the device's launch. It will feature a brand new App Store to discover apps built for ‌visionOS‌ as well as compatible ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ apps.

Related Roundups: Apple Vision Pro, visionOS
Buyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Apple Vision Pro

Top Rated Comments

sniffies Avatar
11 months ago
Probably the second biggest day since January 9th, 2007.
Score: 105 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zerlina Avatar
11 months ago
watching adult content is going to be something else
Score: 85 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HiRez Avatar
11 months ago
"One more thing" falls a bit flat without the audience...
Score: 77 Votes (Like | Disagree)
smoothride Avatar
11 months ago
They nailed it ?
Score: 61 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thadoggfather Avatar
11 months ago
Dystopian hellscape LFG
Score: 53 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coachgq Avatar
11 months ago
This is what I see with visionpro

Attachment Image
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone Home Screen Gradient Blank Spaces 1

Sources: iOS 18 Lets Apps Be Placed Anywhere on Home Screen Grid

Sunday March 24, 2024 1:33 pm PDT by
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the update will introduce...
iPad Pro 2024 Landscape Camera Feature

New iPad Pro Again Rumored to Feature Landscape Front-Facing Camera

Monday March 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as "Instant Digital." Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will...
iPhone 15 General Feature Green

Apple Says These New iOS Features Are Coming Later This Year

Sunday March 24, 2024 7:45 am PDT by
Apple has previously announced three new iOS features that it said are coming to the iPhone later this year, as outlined below. The new features include the ability to install iPhone apps on the web in the EU, RCS support in the Messages app, and next-generation CarPlay. Web Distribution Apple recently announced that eligible developers will soon be able to distribute their iOS apps to ...
sonoma desktop wwdc

Apple Releases macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 With Fix for USB Hub Bug

Monday March 25, 2024 10:10 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, a minor update for the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 comes three weeks after macOS Sonoma 14.4. The ‌‌‌‌macOS Sonoma‌‌ 14.4‌.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There's also a macOS 13.6.6 release for those who...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue Face ID Single Camera Hole

Seven Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Tuesday March 19, 2024 5:20 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models concurrently, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
maxresdefault

iOS 18 Rumored to Feature 'More Customizable' Home Screen

Sunday March 24, 2024 7:10 am PDT by
iOS 18 will feature a revamped Home Screen that is "more customizable," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He revealed this information in his Power On newsletter today, but he did not provide any specific details. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple will announce iOS 18 at its annual developers conference WWDC in June. Other features and changes rumored for...
combine images

Top Stories: iOS 18's Generative AI Features to Rely on Google?, Latest on New iPads, and More

Saturday March 23, 2024 6:00 am PDT by
We're getting closer to the launch of new iPad Pro and iPad Air models, while rumors about iOS 18 are continuing to ramp up with this week's surprise revelation that Apple has been talking to Google and others about potentially helping power the generative AI features expected to be a major part of this year's update. Other news this week saw the release of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1...