Release date, price and more

After years of anticipation, Apple finally revealed the Vision Pro, an AR headset, during Monday’s keynote at the 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference. Despite the fact that the Vision Pro can deliver immersive mixed reality and VR experiences, the headset is designed to immerse users in augmented reality, not virtual worlds.

We break down details about Apple’s Vision Pro, including price, release date and features.

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What is the cost of Apple’s Vision Pro?

Apple’s Vision Pro costs $3,499, more than three times the price of its main competitor, Meta’s Quest Pro VR headset, which starts at $999. Over 20 million units of Quest Pro have been sold.

When is the release date for Apple’s Vision Pro?

During WWDC23, Apple announced that the Vision Pro will hit the market in early 2024. Initially, the AR headset will only be available in the US, with the product launching in other countries later that year.

Look: In 2022, Apple will reportedly showcase a mixed-reality headset on its board.

What are the main features of Vision Pro?

Vision Pro (Figure A) offers a wide range of features. From virtual meetings and highly rendered avatars to 3D images, AR computing and large-screen movie viewing, Vision Pro is designed to seamlessly blend digital content with the user’s physical location.

Figure A

“It’s the first Apple product you see, not the one,” CEO Tim Cook said during a product presentation. Cook said the Vision Pro will introduce spatial computing similar to how the iPhone introduced mobile computing.

graphic user interface

Vision Pro’s user interface mimics that of a Mac or iPhone, but in 3D. Users wearing the headset will see icons, graphics, websites, photos and movies as floating screens at some distance from their eyes. The displays are the size of a postage stamp, but they deliver more pixels to each eye than a 4K TV. The custom Micro-OLED display system features 23 million pixels, providing excellent resolution and true-to-life colors.

A new computer, apps, and camera

During the WWDC23 keynote, Apple showed how users can seamlessly connect a keyboard and use the Vision Pro as a traditional computer that provides multiple large displays (Figure C,

Figure C

With Vision Pro, users can customize how they view their apps. For example, apps can be organized and increased in size, and workspaces can be designed for individual needs. Whether using apps, browsing on Safari, chatting on Messages or working, users can quickly switch between apps while always being present in the real world.

Another function in Vision Pro allows users to use a three-dimensional camera and a microphone system to take videos and photos in 3D. This is the first 3D camera that Apple has made. This includes panoramas that wrap around the user.

R1 Chip

The Vision Pro experience is made possible thanks to two chips: the powerful M2 and R1, a new and specially developed real-time chip. R1 is responsible for processing all the data from the sensors and cameras in the blink of an eye, as well as real-time 3D mapping and eye-tracking (figure d,

figure d

Navigating Vision Pro: hand gestures and digital crown

The R1 chip takes all the data from the sensors, cameras and microphones embedded in the Vision Pro and creates head, eye and hand tracking. Users can select content inside the glasses with their eyes, tap their fingers together to click, and gently flick to scroll. Using the Digital Crown, users can bring up Home View or control the level of Immersion, a feature that creates a virtual background, when using Ambience.

product design

The design for the enclosure is a single piece of 3D-formed laminated glass that folds into an aluminum alloy frame and curves gently to wrap around the user’s face. The external display of the headset may reveal the user’s eyes to people in the outside world or may go completely dark when the user is immersed in virtual reality (Figure E,

Figure E

spatial audio

Vision Pro analyzes the acoustic properties of the environment, including physical materials, to optimize and match the sound to the space. It is used to create ambient spatial audio, where sounds feel like they are coming from the surroundings.

Apple assures that the Vision Pro’s spatial audio system is its most advanced ever. Dual-driver audio pods are placed close to the users’ ears, mixing the sound generated by the headset with real-world sounds.

AR Facetime

Vision Pro takes virtual meetings to the next level with life-size FaceTime video tiles. The call spreads across the room, and the headset allows users to collaborate with coworkers during meetings or use apps to work on the same documents.

Battery

The Vision Pro has two hours of use with the external battery, which is not housed inside the headset to reduce weight on the user’s head. The device must be plugged into the wall or battery pack.

Home Theater

Although Apple’s new headset is through AR technology, it has many virtual reality features, such as its immersive home theater. Vision Pro can turn any room into a personal theater.

The bottom line about Apple’s Vision Pro

The Vision Pro is one of the most anticipated products that Apple has ever launched. Unfortunately, AR headsets cost a lot more than the alternatives. Additionally, despite the very well-received design, the Vision Pro is clumsy.

However, the new Apple headset proves to be revolutionary in its approach to AR technology and it appears that Apple is well known for this new market.