Apple has revealed Apple Vision Pro — the iPhone maker’s first-ever mixed-reality headset that runs visionOS.
Apple Vision Pro, priced at $3,499, blends digital content with the physical world, while allowing users to stay present and connected to others. The headset introduces a fully three-dimensional user interface controlled by a user’s eyes, hands, and voice.
Available beginning in the US next year, Apple Vision Pro brings a new way to interact with apps, watch TV shows and movies, and connect with others in FaceTime in virtual reality.
The headset features EyeSight, a new technology developed by Apple that helps users stay connected with those around them. When a person approaches someone wearing Vision Pro, the device’s display goes into a special transparent state — letting the user see them while also displaying the user’s eyes. When a user is in an environment or using an app, EyeSight gives visual cues to others about what the user is focused on.
Image: Apple
The headset features Optic ID, a new secure authentication system that analyzes a user’s iris under various invisible LED light exposures, and then compares it to the enrolled Optic ID data that is protected by the Secure Enclave to instantly unlock Apple Vision Pro, similar to how Face ID scans a user’s face to unlock an iPhone.
visionOS features a brand-new three-dimensional interface that makes digital content look and feel present in a user’s physical world. By responding dynamically to natural light and casting shadows, it helps the user understand scale and distance. To enable user navigation and interaction with spatial content, Apple Vision Pro introduces an entirely new input system controlled by a person’s eyes, hands, and voice. Users can browse through apps by simply looking at them, tapping their fingers to select, flicking their wrist to scroll, or using voice to dictate.
Apple Vision Pro has an all-new App Store where users can discover apps and content from developers, and access hundreds of thousands of familiar iPhone and iPad apps that automatically work with the new input system for Vision Pro.
Image: Apple
With two ultra-high-resolution displays, Apple touts that Apple Vision Pro can transform any space into a personal movie theater. An advanced Spatial Audio system is core to the Apple Vision Pro experience, creating the feeling that sounds are coming from the environment around the user and matching the sound to the space
Apple Vision Pro starts at $3,499 (U.S.), and will be available early next year on apple.com and at Apple Store locations in the U.S., with more countries coming later next year. Customers will be able to learn about, experience, and personalize their fit for Vision Pro at Apple Store locations.