Apple just revealed its long-awaited mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro, at its Worldwide Developers Conference. The $3,499 headset is the headliner of a string of other product updates, from Macs to Airpods, that Apple announced at the event, which is taking place at the company’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters.
Please follow along this afternoon as we share the company’s latest announcements.
Apple Vision Pro and VisionOS
Apple CEO Tim Cook launched the company’s first foray into a brand-new product category in years with the Vision Pro headset and an accompanying software operating system dubbed the VisionOS.
“This is a day that’s been years in the making,” Cook said, after teeing up the launch with the famous “one more thing” phrase.
“In the same way that Mac introduced us to personal computing,” Cook said, the “Vision Pro will introduce us to spatial computing.”
The $3,499 device, which looks like a pair of ski goggles, will be available “early next year. It’s both an augmented and virtual reality headset—something sometimes referred to as “mixed reality,” but which Apple is calling “spatial computing.”
The Vision Pro overlays apps onto the surrounding environment at any size the user wants. People can watch movies and sports and play games when wearing the Vision Pro, blending digital content into the surrounding space.
Disney CEO Bob Iger made an appearance at the launch, announcing a collaboration between Disney and Vision Pro. Disney+ will be available on Vision Pro on day one, allowing wearers to consume Disney content interactively and in 3D.
The headset does not require any controllers, and is fully controlled by the user’s body. Apple designed the device’s controls to be “as subtle and natural as possible,” with intuitive gestures such as tapping fingers to select an app, and glancing and a search bar and speaking to look something up.
The Vision Pro has a three-dimensional interface controlled by the user’s eyes, hands, and voice. Displays in Vision Pro float in the space around the user and can be placed according to preference. Users can choose to be fully immersed in a photo-real visual environment, or to instead have apps floating to the side, occupying minimal space and attention.
Apple said that a design goal for Vision Pro was to not cut users off from people around them. With a feature called Eyesight, Vision Pro reveals the user’s eyes when it senses another person nearby, then covers them again when the person is alone.
When first setting up the Vision Pro, users will set up a digital avatar created by scanning their face, mapping it, and taking stock of their unique gestures and facial topography. When wearing the Vision Pro and interacting with others also wearing the device, users will see these digital avatars of one another, to avoid interacting with people with their eyes covered.
Apple advertises that “your entire world is a canvas for apps” with Vision Pro, allowing the user to have multiple apps floating before them toggle between tasks.
When FaceTime is used with Vision Pro, callers appear as large as the user wants in video tiles, and multiple callers can use the same app together with SharePlay.
Users can also interact with their photos in a new way, expanding them to fill an entire room or zoom into granular detail. Vision Pro also lets users experience videos in 3D with spatial audio, making it feel like they are “experiencing it all over again.” Apple wanted the headset to allow wearers to “relive your most important memories in an entirely new way.”
Vision Pro also allows new interactive 3D experiences, such as interacting with a 3D dinosaur or watching movies on a larger-than-life 3D floating screen. Unity, which develops the “engine” that powers some of the most popular video games, is also partnering with Apple to allow its games to run natively on the Vision Pro.
New Mac Pro
Apple announced that its new Mac Pro, with the M2 Ultra chip, will start retailing at $6,999. The M2 Ultra is a new chip that has eight Thunderbolt ports and six PCI expansion slots. Apple says the new chip will be up to three times faster than the Pro’s old Intel chip. This is the Mac Pro’s first major update in four years.
The new Mac Pro model will be available for purchase on June 13.
iPhone “Standby” mode
Standby is a new feature that makes use of an iPhone hen it’s not being actively used. Standby activates when an iPhone is propped on its side, showing backgrounds such as the time, weather, sports scores, photo albums, and more, depending on user preference.
“Adaptive audio” for Airpods
A new adaptive audio update for Airpods changes volume and noise-canceling levels according to the environment. Adaptive audio automatically reduces distracting surrounding noises, and uses machine learning to tailor Airpod sounds to the user’s preferences. It also implements new conversation awareness, which senses when the wearer starts speaking and reacts by lowering audio volume.
iOS updates
Apple released iOS 17, which includes updates to the phone, FaceTime, iMessage, and contact apps. The update allows users to create a custom “poster,” a contact photo that automatically pops up for every call made. iOS 17 will also provide a live transcription for calls.
For FaceTime, callers can now record a message, like a visual voicemail for a declined call. Apple is updating iMessage too. Audio messages in the app will now be automatically transcribed, and there will be a “catch up” button to jump to the last read text in a group chat.
Apple also introduced a “check in” notification feature, which allows contacts to track one another when traveling from place to place. You can now receive a notification that your friend got home safely, or that their journey was interrupted.
The stickers app also received an update, adding the option to create personalized stickers of the user completing various actions, such as dribbling a basketball.
macOS Sonoma
The newly released macOS Sonoma, or macOS 14, is introducing improvements such as aerial screensavers. It also allows improved personalization with desktop widgets. As long as the user’s iPhone is nearby or on the same WiFi network, it can share its widgets with a Mac. This allows people to control other devices from their desktop, such as cooling their car from their computer.
