Apple Vision Pro: Price and Availability
Interested buyers can purchase it through Apple.com and Apple retail stores in the US. The company has not yet announced any details regarding the availability of the headset in other markets.
Apple Vision Pro: Specifications and Design
The headset has a glass front and an aluminum frame, containing five sensors, 12 cameras, a 4K display for each eye, and a computer that’s apparently cooled with a fan. The headset mask (which Apple dubs a “Light Seal”) and strap (which Apple dubs a “Head Band”) are cloth-lined and modular, and Apple says they can flex to fit a variety of face shapes and head sizes. The Head Band is ribbed and fits around the back of your head, and you can swap different sizes and styles of the band.
Zeiss has created custom optical inserts that magnetically attach to the lenses for people who wear glasses. It has an external battery that lasts up to two hours and can connect via a “supple woven cable” so it slips into a pocket, or you can plug it into external power and use it all day. Apple promises that the display will be unprecedentedly sharp and can deliver 4K video.
Apple promises that their headset will not isolate you from others. It uses a system called EyeSight to display your eyes. When you’re fully immersed in VR, a glowing screen covers your eyes to show that you’re not available. The headset also scans your face to create a hyperrealistic avatar, which is like a digital version of yourself. With passthrough video, you can see the real world in color, but you can also project 3D objects into reality. For example, you can take objects from a message thread and bring them into the real world.
When you talk to people online, you can use spatial audio to arrange FaceTime participants like video tiles in a room. You can also use a 3D camera in the headset to capture and watch 180-degree videos. Apple is promoting TV and Arcade content for the headset, including special content from Disney.
The headset has been in the works for years and has reportedly gone through several iterations as well as years of delays. It’s meant to be CEO Tim Cook’s signature addition to the Apple product lineup, and it’s garnered praise from industry insiders, even though it will enter a market that hasn’t taken off. Its primary competitor will likely be Meta, which has enjoyed relative success with its games-focused Quest 2 headset and gotten a more mixed reception to its general-purpose Quest Pro.
