Some technologies arrive as a promise about how we will live inside our own rooms, and Apple's Vision Pro is one of these: a head-worn computer that asks us to stop looking at screens and start looking through them. Writing in late June 2023, iMore set out fifty features of a device still months from release, a Spatial Computer whose windows hang in the air around the wearer. What it offers is a new relationship between person, space and machine, and whether that relationship proves natural or merely novel will depend on the software and partners that have yet to fill it.
50 Things to Know About Apple Vision Pro: Specs, Software, and Spatial Computing Ambitions
You're the controller
Mark
Why does it matter that Apple says this isn't VR?
Mimi
Because the design follows from it. Apps blend with your real surroundings, and the headset isn't built for roaming. Past 1.5 metres from the starting point, immersion cuts out, where a Quest allows up to 15m by 15m.
Mark
And the controls? No controller at all.
Mimi
Eyes select, a pinch confirms, and hands can stay in your lap. Siri and dictation cover the rest.
Mark
The external EyeSight screen seems odd for a computer.
Mimi
It shows your eyes to people nearby, and it changes when you record, so others know.
Luke
Worth saying this is a primer ahead of release. Much of it is Apple's stated plan, not tested use.
Mark
Like what?
Luke
Final Cut Pro is described as planned for launch, and the Disney material was a sizzle reel. The two-hour battery is an average figure, and I don't see a price in what we have.
Mimi
The Persona is the one people will argue about. iMore calls it uncanny.
Luke
That's one outlet's reaction. How friends actually respond on FaceTime is unknown.
Mark
So what decides it?
Mimi
Apps, and whether Disney and other developers fill the App Store.
The Pulse
- The headset is still months from release, and every promise about it remains unproven in ordinary hands.
- Its two-hour battery and premium price stand as the first practical doubts hovering over the launch.
- Developers are racing to build the visionOS App Store, with Disney and early third-party experiments showing what might be possible.
- Apple is betting that eye tracking, hand gestures and a mapped room can replace the controller, and the outcome will shape whether the device lands as a breakthrough or a curiosity.
Some technologies arrive as a promise about how we will live inside our own rooms, and Apple's Vision Pro is one of these: a head-worn computer that asks us to stop looking at screens and start looking through them. Writing in late June 2023, iMore set out fifty features of a device still months from release, a Spatial Computer whose windows hang in the air around the wearer. What it offers is a new relationship between person, space and machine, and whether that relationship proves natural or merely novel will depend on the software and partners that have yet to fill it.
Imagine an app that does not sit on a screen at all, but floats in the room around you, resizing to suit your eyes and casting a shadow that matches the light where you have placed it. That is the promise of Apple's Vision Pro, as iMore laid it out in a fifty-point primer published in late June 2023. Apple calls it a Spatial Computer, a workspace freed from the desk and the monitor, and it is still a long way from reaching anyone's face.
Two chips make it work. An M2 handles the computing, while a new R1 chip manages the constant stream of data from the cameras, sensors and microphones. Two micro-OLED displays carry 23 million pixels between them, and the headset is studded with external cameras, infrared sensors inside and a LiDAR scanner that maps the room. The design tries to be personal: a laminated glass front, a mesh head band with a Fit Dial, speakers in the strap so the room stays audible, and magnetic prescription inserts for glasses wearers. Its most unusual feature is EyeSight, a display that shows the wearer's eyes to people nearby.
There is no controller. Eye tracking picks out what you look at, a pinch selects it, and Siri handles much of the rest. It is also not a traditional virtual reality headset: moving more than about 1.5 metres from where an experience began ends immersion, a sharp contrast with Meta's Quest, which allows room-scale movement.
The software, visionOS, grows from macOS and iOS and brings familiar apps alongside cinematic ones, including a Cinema Environment and 180-degree 8K immersive video. Disney has shown Star Wars locations and Disney+ streaming, and third-party developers are already experimenting through the visionOS SDK.
What remains uncertain is whether developers and partners will build enough to justify the device, and whether its battery life and price survive contact with the market at launch.
Through the lenses of Apple's Vision Pro, an app doesn't sit on a screen. It floats in the room around you, resizes to suit you, and even casts a shadow that matches the light where you've placed it. That is the pitch behind what iMore, in a 50-point primer published in late June 2023, calls the most ambitious device Apple has ever made: a head-mounted computer the company believes will change how people interact with technology. It is still a long way from release.
Apple calls it a Spatial Computer, meaning a workspace that isn't tied to a desk or monitor. Two chips drive it. An M2, the same chip Mac users know for its performance, handles the computing. A new R1 chip is dedicated to the flood of data from the headset's cameras, sensors and microphones. Between them, two micro-OLED displays carry 23 million pixels, which iMore compares to a 4K TV for each eye. The sensor list is long: at least 10 external cameras, at least four infrared cameras inside, a LiDAR sensor for mapping spaces, plus accelerometers and gyroscopes.
The design choices are specific. The front is a single piece of curved laminated glass joined to an aluminium alloy frame. A Light Seal blocks ambient light and will come in different sizes. A stretchy mesh head band tightens with a side Fit Dial. Speakers sit in the side strap, over the ears rather than in them, so you can still hear the room, and during setup the headset maps your ear geometry for spatial audio. Glasses wearers can buy magnetic prescription inserts, sold separately and initially made only by ZEISS. A Digital Crown, borrowed from the Apple Watch, returns you to the home screen and dials how much of the real world you see. A Top button takes spatial photos and videos.
The power comes from an external battery pack, good for about two hours on average, though the headset can also be plugged into a wall socket. The most striking exterior feature is EyeSight, an outward-facing display that shows video of your eyes to people who approach you. When you record, the screen changes to signal it.
There is no controller. Eye tracking, using LEDs and infrared cameras, identifies what you're looking at, and a pinch of thumb and forefinger selects it. Flicks scroll. Hands can rest in your lap, since the sensors track gestures there too. Siri opens and closes apps and media, and looking at a mic icon starts dictation. Bluetooth keyboards, mice, trackpads and game controllers can be paired.
It is not, iMore stresses, a traditional VR headset. Developer documentation indicates that moving more than 1.5 metres from an experience's origin point ends immersion. Meta's Quest line, by contrast, allows free movement within a defined area up to 15m by 15m.
The software is visionOS, which builds on macOS and iOS and ships with a dedicated App Store. Confirmed first-party apps include Apple TV, Apple Music, Photos, Messages, Mail, Safari, Freeform, Keynote, Mindfulness and Notes, with Final Cut Pro planned for launch. A Cinema Environment can enlarge Apple TV content to 100 feet wide. Apple Immersive Video uses 180-degree 3D 8K recordings, and the Godzilla series Monarch: Legacy of the Monsters is being filmed with Spatial Video in mind. FaceTime sends friends a digital Persona, a 3D likeness built from a face scan, which iMore calls uncanny. SharePlay works inside FaceTime.
Third parties are arriving through the visionOS SDK, which has already produced a gaming museum and a giant calculator. Disney is the biggest announced partner, having shown Star Wars locations, Mickey Mouse in a living room and Disney+ streaming. iPhone and iPad apps, including Apple Arcade games, will run as flat versions, and Continuity lets the headset add virtual displays to a Mac. On security, Optic ID scans the iris, and that data is encrypted and stays on the headset.
What to watch is whether developers, Disney and the App Store build enough to justify the device, and whether the two-hour battery and the price hold up at launch.
Notable Quotes
Apple is calling it a Spatial Computer, a device that lets workspaces exist anywhere around you.— iMore, summarizing Apple's positioning
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