Apple on Monday announced the Apple Vision Pro, marking the company’s first major product launch in a decade.
Apple Vision Pro revealed at Worldwide Developers Conference
Update 3:50 p.m. EDT June 5: The Apple Vision Pro, Apple’s augmented reality headset, will be available early in 2024 with a starting price of $3,499, Apple announced at Worldwide Developers Conference 2023.
“Blending digital content with the real world can unlock experiences like nothing we’ve ever seen,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said Monday while introducing the headset, which he described as “a revolutionary new product.”
“Vision Pro is a new kind of computer that augments reality by seamlessly blending the real world with the digital world,” he said. “You can see, hear and interact with digital content just like it’s in your physical space, and you control Vision Pro using the most natural and intuitive tools: Your eyes, hand and voice. With Vision Pro you’re no longer limited by a display. Your surroundings become an infinite canvas.”
Apple called the technology “a revolutionary spatial computer,” with the company’s new visionOS serving as “the world’s first spatial operating system.”
It was rumored that the headset would include a FaceTime experience that projected a person’s full face and body. On Monday, Apple announced that FaceTime on Vision Pro will show call participants in life-sized tiles and use technology to make it sound like the person is speaking from the spot in the room where their tile appears.
The headset features 12 cameras, five sensors and six microphones. It is designed for all-day use when it’s plugged in with up to two ours of battery life, according to Apple.
On Monday, Apple also announced a new operating system for the Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad and Mac computer alongside a 15-inch MacBook Air and a new Mac Pro and Mac Studio.
— Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Original report: Apple is set to unveil on Monday a headset meant to enable users to experience virtual reality and digital apps overlaid on the real world, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The announcement is expected to come at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which begins streaming at 1 p.m. EDT.
While the star of the event will be the VR headset reveal, the company will also be announcing new software updates for iPhones and other Apple devices.
According to the Journal, Apple has spent the last seven years developing the headset which is rumored to include at least a dozen cameras.
The AR and VR headset will be a standalone device with Apple silicon chips “that will put performance on par with Apple’s Macs,” according to Mac Rumors.
A last-minute Apple VR and AR headset leak details an extensive collection of external and internal sensors, and claims that the with the device will to use two main chips for processing power.
— AppleInsider (@appleinsider) June 5, 2023
https://t.co/1ki0GooAsg pic.twitter.com/gLlugKA270
“It will have two chips inside that will allow it to perform complex tasks and handle the virtual reality capabilities, plus it will be able to operate independently of an iPhone or a Mac. Pairing will be possible to use the iPhone as a keyboard and to transfer data, but it won’t be required,” the website reported.
Apple is designing an App Store for the headset, Mac Rumors reported, and the content will focus on gaming, streaming video and video conferencing.
A FaceTime experience will use the cameras to project a person’s full face and body into a virtual environment for one-on-one calls, and there will also be other familiar apps like Calendar, Mail, Safari and others.
The new device will not come cheap, however. The list price is expected to be around $3,000. It isn’t expected to be available until later in the year.
Apple will also be announcing an update to the software running on its iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and Macs.
Expect to see new health and fitness features, including a journaling app that will help users keep a record of their daily activities on Apple’s new iPhone operating system, iOS 17.
According to the Journal, Apple is also expected to launch a new 15-inch MacBook Air equipped with its M2 processor.
You can view the announcement at 10 a.m. PST, which is 1 p.m. EST, on the Apple Events website.
