Apple's Headset Moment
The Vision Pro is a reality, though it'll be a while before we know whether wearing a computer on your face is ever going to be a thing.
It’s hard to imagine that wearing a computer on your face will ever be cool, but Apple may have just made the best argument yet that it’s worth a try. At its WWDC keynote on Monday, the company finally revealed what almost everyone who was paying attention had expected, a mixed-reality headset called Apple Vision Pro.
When I say it was what people expected, what I mean is that the biggest surprise was that Apple didn’t call it any of the names that had been rumored (like Reality Pro or XR Pro). Beyond that, many of the details had emerged in reports, mostly from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
Still, the details are impressive. The Vision Pro includes two “postage-sized” displays that each pack more pixels than a 4K television, 23 million of them in total. It’s also powered by both an M2 system on a chip, as well as a new Apple Silicon processor known as R1, which handles real-time tasks like rendering the environment, and processing information from the device’s cameras.
The Vision Pro is different from previous VR headsets in that it is designed to keep you in your environment while letting you interact virtually with apps, documents, and services. Apple calls it a “spatial computing” device, because it envisions that you’ll use it while continuing to see and interact with the physical world.
It isn’t hard to see how Apple has been building the components that would someday let you put on a pair of what look like normal glasses while having virtual elements augment the experience. The problem, at least judging by what Apple rolled out, is, well, physics. All that technology still takes up too much space to cram into a small space, so Apple is selling a pair of goggles, for now.
I give Apple credit for trying to solve the biggest barrier to wearing a computer on your face, which is that you have to wear a computer on your face. In general, that’s a thing most people only do on their own because if you do it with people around you look foolish.
Apple’s solution is something it calls EyeSight, which involves showing your face on a display on the front of the Vision Pro, as though someone was looking at you through a pair of ski goggles. In the demo, it actually seems far more natural and less weird than it sounds.
It’s also functional. If you’re wearing Vision Pro, and someone walks into the room, they appear in your field of vision so you know they are there. And, that display on the front of the device serves to indicate to the people around you what you’re doing. If you can see them, your eyes appear. If you’re doing something immersive, the display lights up.
There’s no question Apple put a lot of thought into the story that goes with putting a computer on your face. For the most part, I think it succeeded in telling that story in a credible way that will make sense to most people.
That said, this isn’t a device for most people. I mean, it’s $3,499. That’s more than what most people spend on their main computer. It’s more than some families spend on all of the computers they own. For that money, you could buy an M2 MacBook Air, an iPhone, an Apple Watch, a pair of AirPods Pro, an Apple TV, and a pair of HomePod minis, and still have money left over.
My point is this isn’t a device you buy to let your kids play VR video games. It’s the first step in what Apple hopes will be an entirely new way of interacting with the stuff we do on computers.
Remember how Mark Zuckerberg tried to front-run Apple’s big reveal by pre-announcing the Meta Quest 3. The Vision Pro makes that look like some kind of silly toy. It also makes Zuckerberg’s attempt to ride along whatever wave Apple was making look, well, silly. There is no comparison.
To be fair, the Quest 3 will sell for $499 when it goes on sale sometime this fall. That’s a lot less than the Vision Pro, but it’s also a lot less capable device.
That’s because, for the most part, Meta has been building VR gaming devices that also were capable of a few other experiences. Apple, on the other hand, started from the idea that the device should let you control how immersive you want your experience to be. Apple built a device that doesn’t take you out of your environment but adds virtual elements within and around it.
I don’t know if the Vision Pro will end up being a thing people buy and use, let alone become a hit in the way the iPhone has, but there is no question that the Vision Pro is to every other headset what the iPhone was to every other smartphone. Even as a 1.0 version, it is what the headset is supposed to be.
What Else Apple Announced
The Vision Pro was the headline product, even earning a “One More Thing,” from CEO Tim Cook, but it wasn’t the only big announcement. Apple announced new hardware, as well as new versions of its major operating systems, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS. I’ll be writing more about several of these announcements, but here are a few highlights:
A 15-inch MacBook Air, which is exactly as you would expect: it’s a MacBook Air, but bigger. (It’s still VERY lightweight, which is obviously the point).
An Apple Silicon-powered Mac Pro, which has a new chip, the M2 Ultra.
The M2 Ultra is also now available in the Mac Studio.
iOS 17, which includes new features like improved autocorrect, interactive widgets, the ability to leave a message when you make a FaceTime call, StandBy mode for the iPhone, and a new Journal app that can pull in suggestions based on things like photos or music.
macOS Sonoma gets new features including desktop widgets, the ability to share passwords and passkeys, and some very cool new video conferencing features.
watchOS gets widgets, which make it easier to quickly get information by scrolling the digital crown, as well as new watch faces and new workouts and health features.
WWDC Recaps Worth Your Time
Hands-on with the new 15-inch MacBook Air - The Verge
Everything Apple Announced at WWDC - CNBC
First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good. - TechCrunch
Apple Vision Pro: I Tried the New Mixed-Reality Headset - Wall Street Journal
This is the new Mac Pro - ArsTechnica