Apple Vision Pro: Everything You Need To Know

During WWDC 2023, Apple unveiled an array of new features and enhancements for its operating systems. However, the highly anticipated and still astonishing highlight of the event was the introduction of Apple Vision Pro, the company’s first mixed-reality headset. Boasting immensely powerful hardware and an unbelievably immersive experience, Vision Pro presents an impressive spectacle. But what precisely is it, and what does it bring to the table? Discover all the essential details about Apple Vision Pro in our dedicated guide.

What is Apple Vision Pro?

Apple Vision Pro stands as Apple’s inaugural and groundbreaking mixed reality headset, seamlessly merging the physical world with the virtual. Termed a spatial computer, Apple asserts that the Vision Pro stands as the most powerful and immersive personal electronics device ever created.

This innovative device expands and intertwines real-life and the digital realm, constructing a three-dimensional space for user interaction. Diverging from competitors, Vision Pro relies solely on users’ hands, voice, and eyes for operation, omitting the need for additional controllers. The mixed reality headset leverages high-quality hardware, including an advanced combination of Apple Silicon, to achieve this integration.

Apple highlights that the Vision Pro has been years in development, distinguishing itself from other mixed reality headsets or products in the market. The spatial computer effortlessly generates a lifelike virtual environment while keeping users tethered to the real world. Let’s delve into the details below.

Apple Vision Pro: Price and Release Date

The feature-rich Apple Vision Pro stands out as one of the decade’s premier products, and with such advancements, it naturally commands a hefty price.

Priced at a steep $3,499, the Vision Pro headset is set to hit the market on February 2, 2024, in the United States, with preorders commencing on January 19th.

Initially exclusive to the U.S., the Vision Pro’s availability is anticipated in other countries like the U.K. and Canada around July 2024, according to Mark Gurman’s suggestion. However, regions in Asia and other parts of Europe may have to wait until the following year.

Apple Vision Pro: Box Contents

The contents of the Vision Pro box include:

• Solo Knit Band and Dual Loop Band – offering two band options for the optimal fit.
• Light Seal
• 2x Light Seal Cushions
• Apple Vision Pro Cover for front of the device
• Polishing Cloth
• Battery
• USB-C Charging Cable
• USB-C Power Adapter

Apple Vision Pro: Accessories

Apple is committed to enhancing the user experience by offering a comprehensive range of accessories. One notable addition is the provision of specialized optical inserts by Zeiss, addressing diverse visual needs.

Zeiss Optical Inserts

Users in need of vision corrective lenses can choose from two options provided by Apple:

• $99 Zeiss Optical Inserts: These inserts are designed for individuals requiring basic vision correction.

• $149 Zeiss Prescription Optical Inserts: Tailored for those with prescribed lenses, this option ensures precise vision correction when using the Vision Pro headset.

Headband

Beyond optical inserts, Apple is offering customization options for the headset’s headband, allowing users to tailor their comfort:

• Solo Knit Band: Suited for those who prefer a single-band setup, providing a snug fit.

• Dual Loop Band: Ideal for users desiring increased stability and balance, thanks to the dual-band configuration.

Apple Vision Pro Ad

Following the announcement of the Vision Pro’s release date, Apple promptly debuted the inaugural TV ad for Vision Pro, titled “Get Ready.” The ad showcases scenes from various movies where renowned actors sport helmets or goggles. Drawing inspiration from Apple’s initial iPhone ad, it incorporates iconic “Hello-s” from movies and TV shows of that era. Here’s the list of every actor featured in the Vision Pro ad:

• Young Frankenstein (Gene Wilder)
• Carl Fredricksen (Up)
• Hit-Girl (Kick Ass, Chloë Grace Moretz)
• Ant-Man (Paul Rudd)
• Mr. Fox, Mrs. Fox. Badger (Fantastic Mr. Fox)
• Luke Skywalker (Star Wars, Mark Hamill)
• World War I Flying Ace (Snoopy)
• Geordi LaForge (Star Trek, Levar Burton)
• Krabby Patty Burglar (SpongeBob SquarePants)
• Tony Stark (Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr.)
• Emmett Brown (Back to the Future, Christopher Lloyd)

Apple Vision Pro: Design

Apple has maintained its signature level of sophisticated and elegant design in the Vision Pro, aligning with the expectations users have grown to appreciate in their products. Crafted from a combination of glass, steel, fabric, and other materials, the headset boasts a refined aesthetic and quality.

The front of the headset is constructed from a single piece of three-dimensionally formed and laminated glass, meticulously polished to create a lens. This glass serves as the foundation for the headset’s cameras and sensors, allowing it to perceive the real world. Connected to a custom aluminum alloy frame, the glass seamlessly envelops the user’s face, prioritizing both functionality and comfort.

At the top of this frame, there is a button, and on the right side, a crown is provided for controlling the level of immersion. Following the modular design approach common in other headsets, the Vision Pro allows users to attain a custom fit.

The click-like enclosure on the right side of the Vision Pro facilitates this customization. Additionally, to enhance overall comfort, the alloy frame incorporates vents for air intake in the Pro headset.

The headband is crafted from a single piece of 3D knitted fabric, ensuring exceptional comfort, breathability, and stretchiness. This, combined with the well-balanced design, aims to make the Vision Pro an exceedingly comfortable headset.

At the bottom left of the Apple Vision Pro, there is a slot for the battery pack that seamlessly connects to the headset. Based on the provided information, the battery pack is linked through a wire that securely clicks onto the headset using visible light.

Apple Vision Pro: Key Features

Full-Scale Immersive UI with Apple Apps

The Apple Vision Pro departs from the typical mixed reality headset experience right from the start. Instead of a separate digital view, the headset presents a layered combination of your home view and the digital one.

In a departure from other headsets, Apple adopts a lifelike-centric UI design that seamlessly integrates with real environments. The elements feature 3D layering, providing them with dimensions and thickness for a more realistic experience.

The design also reacts to light and creates shadows in the surroundings. It has an understanding of scale and distance, dynamically responding to the user’s environment and movements. Users have the flexibility to position any app wherever they choose in their environment, even enlarging apps for more comfortable viewing.

Similar to the Meta Quest Pro, the Apple Vision Pro enables the concurrent opening of multiple apps, each occupying its own space and adapting to the environment. This affords the Vision Pro an expansive canvas, allowing apps to appear side by side in varied sizes and spaces simultaneously, facilitating seamless transitions between work and play.

Environments Clear Away Distractions

While primarily an MR headset, the Apple Vision Pro introduces what the company terms as “Environments.” These include dynamic and captivating landscapes that swiftly allow users to conceal the cluttered real world. A simple twist of the crown makes the augmented reality vanish, revealing the content on display.

The immersive entertainment experience is further heightened with the Vision Pro. As mentioned earlier, apps can be scaled to considerable sizes, extending to movies and TV shows where users can make the screen feel as expansive as 100 feet. Complementing this, Apple’s Immersive Video features 180-degree high-resolution recordings with spatial audio, and there are over 100 Apple Arcade games available to play on the Vision Pro.

For additional experiences, users can explore the all-new visionOS app store, housing hundreds of familiar iPhone and iPad apps that seamlessly integrate with the headset’s system.

A Full Controller-Less System

One notable surprise with the Apple Vision Pro is the absence of controllers. The headset relies solely on the user’s hands, voice, and eyes for navigation. Browsing through apps is as simple as looking at them, with the headset interpreting intent and directing automatically. Wrist and finger movements are used to select apps, and voice commands are employed for dictation.

This departure from the industry norm, which predominantly utilizes handheld controllers for navigation around headsets, sets the Vision Pro apart. While the Meta Quest series features a capable hand-tracking system, it doesn’t match the Vision Pro’s independence and functionality without the need for controllers.

Apple Vision Pro: Eyesight

The Apple Vision Pro introduces a novel feature called “Eyesight” designed to keep users connected to the real world. When another person approaches a Vision Pro user, the display adopts a transparent feel, enabling both individuals to see each other. Eyesight also provides visual cues to others, indicating what the user is focusing on.

This feature stands in contrast to the passthrough functionality in the Meta Quest, where the headset user can see the outside world but the display is dimmed. Eyesight aims to seamlessly integrate both worlds, offering a detailed and immersive experience, as demonstrated in the previews.

visionOS Brings Apple Pro to Life

Despite the notable hardware features of the Apple Vision Pro, as detailed below, the headset’s software is an entirely new creation. The device runs on a new operating system called visionOS, specifically designed to meet the low latency requirements of spatial computing.

visionOS boasts a fresh three-dimensional interface, as previously mentioned. Although a detailed exploration of visionOS is beyond the scope here, interested users can find comprehensive information about the operating system elsewhere.

Optical ID Brings Privacy up a Notch

In typical Apple fashion, privacy and security are paramount in the design of the Vision Pro. The spatial computer features a novel authentication system known as Optical ID. In essence, Optical ID analyzes the user’s iris and compares the data to the enrolled ID data. This process is facilitated by various invisible LED light exposures, showcasing the sophistication of the technology.

Privacy extends to the general use of the headset, with the Apple Vision Pro safeguarding the area the user is looking at and refraining from sharing that information with third-party apps.

Apple Vision Pro Specifications

Display

While Apple has not disclosed the precise specifications of the displays within the Vision Pro, it has provided a glimpse into the technology. The Apple Vision Pro employs micro-OLED technology, boasting 23 million pixels across two displays. Despite the compact size, Apple asserts that these displays, equivalent to postage stamps, deliver wide color and high dynamic range. The company claims that this results in a visual experience exceeding that of a 4K TV display for each eye.

Complementing this is the utilization of custom catadioptric lenses, contributing to the extraordinary sharpness and clarity demonstrated in the reveal. The entire visual system is powered by Apple Silicon, a topic we’ll delve into shortly. Apple has also addressed the needs of bespectacled users by partnering with ZEISS Optical Inserts to ensure accessibility and clarity.

Audio

Apple has managed to create an immersive audio experience in the Vision Pro without employing an extensive array of speakers. Surprisingly, the Vision Pro utilizes only two amplified drivers inside each audio pod located next to each ear.

These drivers collaborate with the user’s head geometry to provide a spatial audio experience. While it may not replicate full surround sound, users are likely to perceive it as such. Apple enhances the audio experience through ‘Audio Ray Tracing’ technology, which intelligently adapts to the user’s environment, ensuring a consistent and melodious audio output.

Chipset

The Apple Vision Pro relies on a robust spatial computing system that demands substantial computational power. To address potential latency issues, Apple has ingeniously combined the M2 Chip and a groundbreaking R1 chip.

The M2 chip efficiently manages computational tasks while ensuring optimal thermal performance for the headset. In tandem, the R1 chip is dedicated solely to sensor processing. This specialized chip adeptly handles input from the headset’s 12 cameras, five sensors, and six microphones. With an impressive capability, the R1 chip achieves an astonishingly low latency of 12 ms, delivering swift image streaming to the display. According to Apple, this performance is 8 times faster than the blink of an eye.

Vision Pro RAM

Although Apple has not officially revealed the amount of RAM in the Vision Pro headset, reports from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggest it will be equipped with 16GB of RAM. This aligns with the memory configuration in the Vision Pro development kit distributed by Apple the previous year.

Having 16GB of RAM enables users to experience smooth transitions between apps, faster loading times, and the capability to run demanding applications or immersive experiences without sacrificing performance.

Vision Pro Storage

The Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset is equipped with 256GB of storage capacity, providing ample space for storing various types of content and files. Users can save a substantial number of apps, high-resolution videos, an extensive music library, and more directly on the device. The storage capacity ensures flexibility for carrying a diverse range of content while on the go.

Additionally, the device is powered by an external high-performance battery, offering up to two hours of use on a single charge. When plugged in, the Apple Vision Pro can last throughout the day.