The launch of Apple’s Vision Pro headset is going to be a little later than anticipated as rumors state it’ll come out sometime in March 2024.
Industry insider Mark Gurman claimed in his recent Power On newsletter that the original plan was for January 2024, but for reasons unknown, things had to be pushed back a couple of months. Forbes in their report suggests two possible reasons for the delay. One: Apple may want further “advanced device testing” before the big day. Two: the tech giant is still hashing out the logistics of how it plans to distribute the Vision Pro. The idea so far is Apple will release the VR headset in the United States first with an international launch to certain countries later on in 2024. We currently don’t know the full list of global regions that’ll receive the Vision Pro although Gurman has said in the past that the United Kingdom and Canada are two possible locations.
According to 9To5Mac, Apple is expected to “sell the device by appointment only” at one of its in-person stores or online on its digital storefront. The company will not partner up with third-party retailers as it aims to “carefully curate the rollout”.
The Vision Pro is slated to offer differently-sized headbands as well as prescription lenses so all users can enjoy the mixed-reality experience. Doing so would’ve required retailers to stock up on hundreds of accessories for a headset they might not be familiar with. It appears Apple would rather do everything itself in order to avoid any errors.
Alongside new iPads
It is disappointing to learn about the delay for the Vision Pro although it does make sense. Not just because Apple wants to do more testing, but also so it can line up the launch with the release of other products. Spring can be a busy time for the company and this upcoming season looks like it won't be an exception. Gurman stated back in October that there will be new iPads in March; however, it will simply be a minor refresh. What constitutes a “minor” upgrade is unknown.
If you want a more substantial upgrade, you may have to wait a bit longer. Other rumors suggest Apple will launch an iPad Pro sporting an OLED screen in 2024. It'll be available in 11-inch and 12.9-inch models. From there, Apple will reportedly continue updating its hardware, such as the iPad Air and MacBook Pro, with OLED tech in the following years. As always, take this information with a grain of salt. Things could change at the last minute.
The Apple Vision Pro hasn't yet made its way to any actual customers, but we're already starting to hear a few whispers about what might be in the pipeline for the second generation of Apple's augmented reality and virtual reality headset.
Sources speaking to MacRumors say that the Apple Vision Pro 2 is actually going to look very similar to the original headset, although there might be changes to the speaker configuration, with a flatter shape on each side.
We might also see variations in the design of the top vents, the report says, with the possibility that clusters of small holes will replace the existing strips. There's also talk of an audio accessory in the documentation, which might refer to an external speaker.
One of the key differences will be to the rear straps, MacRumors says. The 2nd-gen headset apparently has straps that are simpler in design, and “somewhat reminiscent of the flat straps commonly found on laptop bags or backpacks”.
The waiting game
It sounds as though the next model of the Apple Vision Pro is going to retain the external battery pack that the current model has, and MacRumors also says that most of the sensors and cameras will be similar as well.
A compass, ambient light sensor, magnetometer, and gyroscope are specifically mentioned, alongside support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5, and ultra-low latency audio, which is all very much as you would expect.
Based on the information included in this leak, what's known as production validation testing (PVT) is scheduled for 2025, which would mean a release date of late 2025 or early 2026. Of course, all of these details and plans could change over time.
We've previously heard that Apple is working on a cheaper Vision Pro model, but it's not entirely certain if this is it. Other improvements Apple is reportedly considering are to make the next Vision Pro lighter, more compact, and more comfortable.
I’ve had exactly two Apple Visio Pro experiences: one six months ago, on the day Apple announced its mixed reality headset, and the other just a few hours ago. And where with the first experience I felt like I was swimming across the surface of the headset’s capabilities, today I feel like I’m qualified as a Vision Pro diver. I mean, how else am I expected to feel after not only experiencing spatial video on the Vision Pro, but also shooting this form of video for the headset with a standard iPhone 15 Pro?
By now, you probably know that iOS 17.2, which Apple released today as a public beta, will be the first time most of us will gain experience with spatial video. Granted, initially it will only be half the experience. Your iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will, with the iOS 17 update, add a new videography option that you can toggle under Camera Formats in Settings. Once the Vision Pro ships, sometime next year, the format will turn on automatically for Vision Pro owners who have connected the mixed reality device to their iCloud accounts.
I got a sneak peek at not only the new iPhone 15 Pro capabilities, but at what the life-like content looks like viewed on a $ 3,499 Apple Vision Pro headset – and I now realize that spatial video could be the Vision Pro’s killer app.
A critical iPhone design tweak
(Image credit: Apple)
To understand how Apple has been playing the long game with its product development, you need only look at your iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, where you’ll find a subtle design and functional change that you likely missed, but which is obviously all about the still unreleased Vision Pro. It turns out Apple designed the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max with the Vision Pro's spatial needs in mind, taking the 13mm ultrawide camera and moving it from its position (on the iPhone 14 Pro) diagonally opposite the 48MP main camera to the spot vertically below with the main camera, which on the 14 Pro was occupied by the telephoto camera; the telephoto camera moves to the ultrawide's old slot.
By repositioning these two lenses, Apple makes it possible to shoot stereoscopic or spatial video, but only when you hold the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max in landscape mode.
It is not, I learned, just a matter of recording video through both lenses at once and shooting slightly different angles of the same scene to create the virtual 3D effect. Since the 13mm ultrawide camera shoots a much larger frame, Apple’s computational photography must crop and scale the ultrawide video to match the frames coming from the main camera.
To simplify matters, Apple is only capturing two 1080p/30fps video streams in HEVC (high-efficiency video coding) format. Owing to the dual stream, the file size is a bit larger, creating a 130MB file for about one minute of video.
Even though these spatial files are ostensibly a new media format, they will appear like any other 2D video file on your iPhone or Mac. However, there will be limits. You can trim one of these videos, but you can’t apply any other edits, lest you break the perfect synchronization between the two streams.
The shoot
Spatial video capture arrives on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max with the iOS 17.2 public beta update, which anyone can download today (you have to change your settings to accept beta updates). Note that you’ll only be shooting horizontal spatial video (Image credit: Apple)
For my test, I used a standard iPhone 15 Pro running the iOS 17 developer beta. We had already enabled Spatial Video for Apple Vision Pro under Settings in Camera/Formats. In the camera app's video capture mode, I could select a tiny icon that, naturally, looks just like the Vision Pro to shoot in Spatial Video mode.
When I selected that, the phone guided me to rotate the phone 90 degrees so it was in landscape orientation (the Vision Pro icon rotates as soon as you tap it). I also noticed that the image level tool, which is optional for all formats, is on by default when you use spatial video. This is because spatial videos are best when shot level. In fact, shooting them in situations where you know you might not be able to keep the phone level, like an action shot, could be a bad idea. Mostly this is about what it will feel like to watch the finished product in the Vision Pro headset – lots of movement in a 3D video a few centimeters from your face might induce discomfort.
Similarly, I found that it’s best to keep between three and eight feet from your subject, so they don’t end up appearing like giants in the final spatial video.
I shot a couple of short spatial videos of a woman preparing sushi. I tried to put the sushi in the foreground and her in the background to give the scene some depth. Nothing about shooting the video felt different from any others I’ve shot, though I probably overthought it a bit as I was trying to create a pair of interesting spatial videos.
Even though the iPhone is jumping through a bunch of computational hoops to create Spatial Video out of what you shoot, you should be able to play the video back instantly. We handed over our phones and then, a few minutes later, we were ready to view our videos in the Vision Pro.
Hello, my old friend
(Image credit: Apple)
While I was worried that after all these months, I wouldn’t remember how to use the Vision Pro, it really only took me a moment or two to reorient myself to its collection of gaze, gesture, and Digital Crown-based controls. It remains a stunningly intuitive piece of bleeding-edge tech. I still needed to hand over my glasses for a prescription measurement so we could make sure Apple inserted the right Zeiss lenses (you don’t wear glasses when using the headset). It’s a reminder that, unlike an iPhone, the Vision Pro will be a somewhat bespoke experience.
For this second wear session, I did not have the optional over-the-head strap, which meant that, for the first time, I felt the full weight of the headgear. I did my best to adjust the headband using a control knob near the back of the headset while being careful not to over-tighten it, but I’m not sure I ever found that sweet spot (note to self: get the extra headband when you do finally get to review one of these headsets).
There were some new controls since I last tried the Vision Pro – for example, I could now resize windows by looking over at the edge of a window and then by virtually pinching and pulling the white curve that appears right below it. I got this on the second try, and then it became second nature.
I finally got a good look at the Vision Pro Photos app, which was easy to navigate using my gaze and finger taps – you pinch and pull with either hand to swipe through photos and galleries. I usually kept my hands in or near my lap when performing these gestures. I looked at photos shot with the iPhone 15 Pro at 24MP and 48 MP. It was fun to zoom into those photos, so they filled my field of view, and then pinch and drag to move around the images and see some of the exquisite detail in, for instance, the lace on a red dress.
I got a look at some incredible panorama shots, including one from Monument Valley in Arizona and another from Iceland, which featured a frozen waterfall, and which virtually wrapped all the way around me. As I noted in my original Vision Pro experience, there’s finally a reason to take panoramic photos with your iPhone.
Head spatial
This spatial video scene was one of the most effective. Those bubbles appeared to float right by my face (Image credit: Apple)
Inside the Vision Pro Photos app is a new media category called Spatial. This is where I viewed some canned spatial videos and, finally, the pair of spatial videos I shot on the iPhone 15 Pro. There was the campfire scene I saw during my WWDC 2023 experience, a birthday celebration, an intimate scene of a family camping, another of a family cooking in a kitchen, and, my favorite, a mother and child playing with bubbles.
You can view these spatial videos in a window or full-screen, where the edges blend with either your passthrough view or your immersive environment (a new environment is Joshua Tree) that replaces your real world with a 360-degree wraparound image. In the bubble video, the bubbles appeared to be floating both in the scene and closer to my face; I had the impulse to reach out and touch them.
In the kitchen scene, where the family is sitting around a kitchen island eating and the father is in the background cooking, the 3D effect initially makes the father look like a tiny man. When he turned and moved closer to his family, the odd effect disappeared.
It’s not clear how spatial video shot on iPhone 15 Pro is handling focal points, and if it’s defaulting to a long depth of field or using something different for the 3D effect. You can, by tapping your iPhone's screen during a spatial video shoot, set the focus point but you can't change this in editing.
My two short videos were impressive, if I do say so myself. During the shoot, I did my best to put one piece of sushi the chef held up to me in the foreground, and in the final result, I got exactly the effect I was hoping for. The depth is interesting, and not overbearing or jarring. Instead, the scene looks exactly as I remember it, complete with that lifelike depth. That’s not possible with traditional videography.
What I did not do was stand up and move closer to the spatial videos. Equally, these are not videos you can step into and move around. You're still only grabbing two slightly different videos to create the illusion of depth.
In case you’re wondering, the audio is captured too, and this sounded perfectly normal. I didn't notice any sort of spatial effect, but these videos were not shot with audio sources that spanned the distance of a room.
In this sample provided by Apple, you can see how the candle smoke appears to float toward you – it’s a trippier effect when you’re wearing the Vision Pro headset (Image credit: Apple)
What’s next?
Because you’ll have spatial video shooting capabilities when you install the iOS 17.2 public beta you could be shooting a lot of spatial video between now and when Apple finally starts selling the Vision Pro to consumers. These videos will look perfectly normal – but imagine having a library of spatial video to swipe through when you do finally buy the Vision Pro. That, and the fact that your panoramas will look stunning on the device, may finally be the reason you buy Apple's headset.
Naturally, the big stumbling factor here is price. Apple plans on charging $ 3,499 (around £2,800 / AU$ 5,300) for the Vision Pro, not including the head strap accessory, which as mentioned, you’ll probably need. That means that while millions may own iPhone 15 Pros and be able to shoot spatial video, a precious few will be able to watch them on a Vision Pro.
Perhaps Apple will make the Vision Pro part of one of its financing plans, so that people can pay it off with a monthly fee. There might also be discounts if you buy an iPhone 15 Pro. Maybe not. Whatever Apple does, spatial video may make the most compelling case yet for, if not owning a Vision Pro, then at least wishing you did.
That’s because Apple has just launched iOS 17.2 beta 2, and with it comes the ability to record 3D spatial videos. That means you can start prepping videos for the headset using just your iPhone and its main and ultra wide cameras; no fancy equipment necessary.
Of course, you can’t actually see these videos in their intended 3D environment yet, because the Vision Pro hasn’t launched – it’s not expected until some time in early 2024.
But what you can do is start filming videos ready to be used in 3D apps built using Apple’s frameworks, like RealityKit. So, if you’ve got your heart set on building a Vision Pro app that integrates 3D video, you can get started more or less right away.
A taste of things to come
(Image credit: Apple)
To enable spatial video capture on an iPhone, you’ll obviously need to be running iOS 17.2 beta 2. Once you are, open the Settings app and select Camera, then enable the Spatial Video for Apple Vision Pro toggle.
Now, the next time you open the Camera app, there will be a Spatial option for video recording. Just start filming and your iPhone will do all the necessary legwork to make the video 3D-enabled.
As spotted by 9to5Mac, Apple says video captured in this way will be recorded at 1080p and 30fps, and that a minute of spatial footage filmed this way will take up around 130MB of space. Better make sure you have plenty of free storage before you start.
When the Vision Pro eventually makes it onto shelves, you’ll also be able to capture videos using the headset itself, too. For now, though, you’re limited to a recent high-end iPhone, but it seems to be a taste of something greater.
Multiple 3D movies have reportedly appeared on the Apple TV app seemingly in preparation for the launch of the Vision Pro headset next year.
The updated support was discovered by tech news site FlatpanelsHD after digging through the recently released tvOS 17.2 beta. Apparently, there was more to the patch other than introducing a redesigned UI to Apple TV. According to the report, the 3D movies that can be found on the platform include, but are not limited to, Jurassic World Dominion, Pacific Rim Uprising, and Shrek. The full list can be found on FlatpanelsHD, which primarily consists of action films. Each title will have a 3D-compatible icon on their respective details page letting you know of its support.
It’s important to mention that every single title has had a 3D cinema release in the past. There aren’t any original 3D movies or series, at the time of this writing. This leads us to believe that maybe Apple has created a new file format for the Vision Pro. Studio developers could’ve converted the films into said format so they can be played on the headset. However, we don’t know for sure. This is just speculation on our end.
Immersive and comfortable
Obviously, there isn’t a way to actually view these movies in their intended way since the Vision Pro isn’t out yet nor do we know “what resolution and frame rate these 3D movies [will] play in.” Each eye on the headset can output 4K resolution so that’s one possibility. Older titles, like Shrek, will most likely have to be remastered to a higher quality.
Although the resolution remains unknown, we have some idea as to what the experience will be like. Apple has a video on its website teaching developers how to prepare content for visionOS. The 16-minute lesson is pretty complex, but the main takeaway is that Apple is taking care to ensure watching content on the Vision Pro results in an immersive and comfortable experience.
The headset utilizes stereoscopic 3D, a technique where the device creatively uses flat images to produce the illusion of depth. One eye will see one image while the other eye sees a “slightly different perspective”. Overlay the two on top of each other and you get a 3D view.
It’s similar to how our own eyes perceive the world around us as each one sees objects in a slightly different manner. This difference is called parallax and it’s something the tech giant is striving to nail. Rendered elements in a 3D video without parallax can “cause discomfort when viewing.”
Bringing back an old idea
It’ll be interesting to see what else comes from this support. As FlatpanelsHD points out, Apple could invertedly resurrect 3D movies as the new hardware enables the format. Maybe 3D TVs might make a comeback.
They’ve seemingly gone the way of the dodo. There are, however, a few companies out there eager to revive the old idea like Magnetic3D. Now we just need the content, which could be led by the upcoming Godzilla series, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters if the latest rumors are to be believed.
The Apple Vision Pro has become a massive talking point in the tech world, and it promises to become one of the best virtual reality headsets when it's released next year. Now, Samsung wants to get in on the action with a headset of its own, and it could be revealed alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 6 in 2024.
We already know that Samsung is working with Google and Qualcomm to launch an extended reality (XR) headset at some point in the future (extended reality is a catch-all term that covers VR, AR, and MR or mixed reality). While Samsung hasn’t given any indication of a launch timeframe, Korean outlet JoongAng (translated version) claims it will launch by the end of 2024.
Specifically, it says the headset, supposedly codenamed ‘Infinite,’ will be produced by December of next year, and we’ll get our first peek at it during one of Samsung’s Unpacked events. Samsung usually hosts two of these shows every year, but JoongAng’s source says the headset will be revealed at the event held during “the second half of next year,” which is when the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is widely tipped to make an appearance.
The headset might have launched sooner, JoongAng says, but for delays caused by “product completeness” issues. Now, though, it looks like Samsung is closing in on a firm release date.
Seriously limited production
(Image credit: Vrtuoluo / Samsung)
Numerous reports have suggested that Apple has seriously cut back production of its Vision Pro, from around one million units to just 400,000 headsets a year. Yet even that dwarves the number of XR headsets Samsung is set to produce.
According to JoongAng, Samsung will initially limit production of the device to just 30,000 units. This is due to the company wanting to gauge the response to its device, and assess how the industry looks after launch. In other words, Samsung wants to play it extremely safe without having to dedicate itself to a niche device in a fluctuating market.
Part of the reason for Samsung’s uncertainty might be the price. JoongAng’s report didn’t quote an expected launch price, but stated that Samsung aims to engage in a “fierce battle for leadership” in the XR space. If that’s the case, it might be planning a high-end device with a costly price tag to match. And if that’s the case, it may want to see how the industry develops before committing too heavily to its headset.
Either way, it looks as though the XR headset battle might be about to heat up, with both Samsung and Apple working on challengers to the existing incumbents like the Meta Quest Pro. Whether it will be enough for these devices to break through into the mainstream, though, is anyone’s guess.
Well, the Apple Vision Pro isn’t even available yet, and Apple is already looking to the future (well, the further future) to consider how to make the follow-up model even better. Or, in this case, even cheaper: according to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple wants its second headset to cost less.
Apple might get rid of that horrible external display! Yes, the EyeSight feature that I heavily criticized when the headset was first revealed might be cut from future Vision models in order to save on costs. It makes a lot of sense; adding an external screen to show the user’s eyes is a ridiculous feature that no doubt costs a lot of money, adding extra (entirely unneeded) OLED display tech to every single headset. The screen even has lenticular glass to create an illusion of depth.
The feature isn’t even that helpful; it projects the eyes of your uncanny-valley FaceTime avatar onto the exterior screen when you’re looking through the headset’s external cameras, or displays an opaque color when you’re immersed in something that blocks out your surroundings. In other words, it tells other people if a Vision Pro user can see them or not – something that could’ve probably been achieved with a single LED.
Get ready for the Apple Vision… something
Apple is reportedly targeting a $ 1,500-$ 2,000 price range for its more affordable Vision headset, which sounds a lot more accessible than the current $ 3,499 price tag. Given that some other popular VR headsets – like the new Meta Quest 3 – are a lot cheaper, many potential users are likely to give the first-gen Vision Pro a pass.
A cheaper model was likely always going to happen given the name Apple chose for its headset – Vision Pro implies the (future) existence of a standard Apple Vision headset, in keeping with Apple’s naming conventions for its other products. Just look at the iPhone 15 Pro and the MacBook Pro – hey, maybe the cheaper headset will be called the Apple Vision Air?
Apple is also reportedly developing a second high-end version of the headset (a Vision Pro Max, perhaps?), and it’s enough to make me wonder if the first-gen model will even be worth buying at all. The Vision Pro represents Apple’s first step into an entirely new market, and it wouldn’t even surprise me if it gets hit with delays – after all, it’s suspected that issues with chip manufacturer TSMC could delay M3 MacBook Air models until the middle of next year, and the Vision Pro features not just the M2 chip but also a new dedicated R1 chip for mixed-reality workloads.
In any case, I’ll be happy to see a less expensive headset from Apple. I still remember the noise the crowd made at WWDC 2023 when the price was unveiled… and let’s face it, EyeSight is a feature nobody really needs.
Apple is rumored to be considering making changes to the next version of the Vision Pro – still some way off, given the first-gen model is yet to launch, of course – around slimming down the headset’s size and weight.
In Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter (for Bloomberg), the well-known Apple leaker told us that the company is mulling some notable improvements for the next-gen Vision Pro on the comfort front.
Gurman observes that with some feedback from testers expressing concerns about neck strain due to the weight of the headset, Apple wants to make the next-gen device both lighter and more compact.
This may be a key focus for the next iteration of the Vision Pro, as Apple fears that the weight of the incoming first device “could turn off consumers already wary of mixed-reality headsets,” Gurman asserts. The Vision Pro can feel too heavy for some folks, even during shorter periods of use, we’re told.
Reducing the weight of next-gen Vision Pro is the priority by the sounds of it, with any size reduction likely to be much less noticeable (and harder to achieve).
As 9 to 5 Mac, which spotted this, further points out, Apple actually already made the incoming first-gen headset more compact – with a trade-off. Namely, the design doesn’t give room for people who wear prescription glasses to be able to fit those in.
So, that creates a separate issue in catering to spectacle wearers, and Apple’s solution is to implement a system of prescription lenses that magnetically attach to the 4K displays for the headset.
That’s not ideal, though, for a lot of reasons. It’s a headache for retailers in terms of stocking the huge number of lens prescriptions they’ll have to deal with – having to find the right one for a glasses wearer not just if they’re buying, but also if they’re simply wanting to try out the headset.
Another obvious downside is that the owner’s glasses prescription may well change in the future (ours certainly does, repeatedly), so again, there’s the hassle of having to get new lenses for your Vision Pro too.
It seems Apple is mulling the idea of shipping custom-built headsets directly with the correct prescription lenses preinstalled, but there could be problems with that, as well.
Gurman noted: “First, built-in prescription lenses could make Apple a health provider of sorts. The company may not want to deal with that. Also, that level of customization would make it harder for consumers to share a headset or resell it.”
Whether that whole thorny nest of glasses-related issues can be tackled with the Vision Pro 2, well, we’ll just have to see.
(Image credit: Apple)
Analysis: Long-term vision for success
So, it seems like the weight of the Vision Pro might be an issue from early testing feedback. That said, in his try-out session, our editor-in-chief found the headset “relatively comfortable” and so wasn’t critical on that front. But 9 to 5 Mac’s writer observed that while shorter sessions are likely to be fine, they could “absolutely see getting tired of wearing [the headset] after extended sessions.”
This may vary from person to person somewhat, it’s true, but it sounds like if Apple is indeed planning to make the next-gen headset lighter, the firm is recognizing that things in this department are less than ideal.
At any rate, while it’s good to hear this, we’ll only really know how the Vision Pro shapes up on the comfort front when it comes to full review time.
For us, though, the most uncomfortable part of the Vision Pro experience is the price. Even just looking at that price tag makes our hearts heavy, as we won’t ever be able to afford the thing.
At $ 3,500 in the US (around £2,900, AU$ 5,500) – and remember, the prescription lenses will add to that bill, especially if you need multiple lenses for different family members – the Vision Pro is just too rich for our blood. We just can’t see that price flying with consumers when Apple’s headset hits the shelves next year in the US (in theory early in 2024).
It’s not like Apple doesn’t realize all this, of course, and we’ve already heard chatter on the grapevine about how a cheaper Vision Pro model might be inbound – which more than any other improvement, would be fantastic to see.
With the Meta Quest 3 virtual reality headset releasing tomorrow, it seems like Meta is looking to follow in Apple’s footsteps with the Apple Vision Pro. In a race to dominate the VR scene, Meta may have course-corrected earlier marketing and design plans for its follow-up headset (currently codenamed Ventura – a slightly ironic name…) in response to the Vision Pro, possibly even removing the headset controllers to reduce costs.
According to Mark Gurman via his Power One newsletter, a person within Meta suggested that Meta “is in the ‘afraid of Apple stage’” and that Meta is investing a lot of time and effort to improve its VR products as well as shifting focus away from the metaverse.
The Verge notes that Meta’s big goal with the Ventura headset is to cut costs as much as possible and offer a lower asking price for a good headset. The Quest 3 is already much cheaper than the Vision Pro, and according to Gurman Meta may be ditching controller bundling to help cut down the price even further for its next headset.
Does Meta have the right idea?
Gurman suggests that users will be able to decide to use just hand gestures or purchase the controllers separately. For comparison, Apple’s headset doesn’t actually come with dedicated controllers – it relies solely on gesture controls tracked via its external cameras, although you can always connect a third-party controller or another Apple device (like a MacBook Air) for control input.
If you can throw yourself back in time a little and remember the original reveal of the Apple Vision Pro, you’ll probably remember thinking “surely they’re not charging that much for the headset?!”
So, the fact that Meta is prioritizing affordability with the Quest 3 is a smart move to get ahead of the curve. If the company is able to make the Ventura headset (Quest 4? Quest Neo? Who knows) massively more affordable than the Vision Pro – and ensure that it can perform competitively against Apple's offering – then Meta actually has a very good shot at securing the top spot in the VR world.
Apple’s Vision Pro headset is some months away from launching, but already Apple is apparently working on several new versions to fix problems in the upcoming device. While that’s good news for anyone who decides to wait a little longer before pulling the trigger, it suggests there are still unsolved issues with the $ 3,500 Vision Pro.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the mixed reality headset has “caused neck strain in testing due to its size and weight,” which currently sits at around one pound. Apple has been planning to add a supportive head strap to alleviate the issue, Gurman says, but a permanent fix is going to require a more substantial change.
And that’s apparently what Apple is working on right now. Gurman’s report claims that: “A key focus for Apple is making its device more comfortable to wear – with a smaller and lighter design.” This upgrade to the headset could be years away from launching, though, considering the first Vision Pro isn’t slated to be released until some point in early 2024.
For now, Gurman says that testing of the first Vision Pro “has shown that it can feel too heavy for some users – even in short stretches.” It’s something we’ve seen reported before, and Apple will surely be hoping that doesn’t prove to be a serious stumbling block when its headset is released next year.
Fixes in the works
(Image credit: Future)
A lighter weight is not the only way Apple is reportedly planning to improve future versions of the Vision Pro. Gurman believes that the company is working on “shipping custom-built headsets from the factory with preinstalled prescription lenses.” This could make things easier for Apple (it won’t have to keep stocking thousands of different lenses in its stores), but built-in prescription lenses might make the headset harder to share with users who have different vision requirements.
As well as that, there are persistent rumors that Apple will add a cheaper version of the Vision Pro. That’s something that Gurman reaffirms in his latest report, which will come as a relief to anyone for whom $ 3,500 is too much to pay for a mixed reality headset.
But the journalist also adds another interesting tidbit: Apple could also be working on a “more powerful version” of the device that would surely push the price up into the stratosphere. Depending on your outlook (and budget), a more advanced Apple headset could either be an incredibly exciting development or one that’ll make your bank account shake with fear.
What seems to be clear is that Apple isn’t resting on its laurels. With the Vision Pro the company is seemingly working on what comes next already. Here’s hoping it can fix the problems before too long.
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