Every year a ton of speculation goes into hoping Apple would finally introduce X Product until they finally do. And here it is, Apple’s very own mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro – which actually sounds better than the much rumored “Reality Pro” – is here, and it costs $3,499, which is about 195K in our currency.
The Apple Vision Pro looks like a pair of very expensive ski goggles. It has, one could point out, Apple look to it. There’s a cable to the side, linking it to its battery pack, which provides the Vision Pro up to two hours of battery life. But you can plug it directly for an all-day use.
The Vision Pro has Spatial Audio and each of its two micro-OLED screens with 4K – which bring that close to your eyes, sounds like they can burn straight through your retinas.
As for the experience of it, Apple has introduced their ‘spatial OS’ called the visionOS. From the images that Apple has provided, it looks like a macOS desktop, with apps floating in front of you.
The Vision Pro is littered with cameras and sensors, facing the users and outwards. The digital crown allows users to adjust the immersion level – presumably, switching between AR or VR, among other features.
Apple claims the band automatically adjusts to the users wearing it, to give you a more snug fit and blocks out outdoor light, Apple calls this Light Seal. There’s a dial at the back, which allows you to tighten or loosen the band for better fit.
Two chips are powering the Vision Pro. The much lauded M2 processor and the R1. The R1 is the one that deals with all the sensors to lighten the M2’s load. The R1 is also said to provide real-time experience, with no delays.
Personally, I have lost interest in AR/VR/MR many years ago, back when it was all the buzz. There had been predictions about it such as attending virtual sports events among other things, but the experiences never took off. There’s also a lack of games and use-cases. But that’s not to say the tech isn’t interesting itself. Surely, there’s a place for it in the future. We see it all the time in science fiction movies, whose futuristic tech is slowly becoming a reality now.
Apple, being Apple, took their time in developing a MR headset. Clearly, they have ideas and we're eager to see what they are. And now it’s here and we are quite excited to try it out whenever we get our hands on it, and how it will be used.
The Apple Vision Pro will be released sometime next year. And of course, the Manila Bulletin will try its hardest to be the first to bring it over to the country, in line to its old tradition of bringing new iPhones here first.