Apple Vision Pro – Is It Worth The Hype and The $3,499 Price Tag?

Priced at $3,499, some would say the newly announced Apple Vision Pro is overpriced. Are they right in writing off the Apple Vision Pro as a gadget for the Apple fanboys or are they jumping the gun? Let’s take a look at some of the features announced during the Apple WWDC 2023 on June 5th, 2023, and then everyone can draw their own conclusions.

Apple Vision Pro – The New Device For Spatial Computing

Tim Cook Introducing the Apple Vision Pro at WWDC 2023

Apple Vision Pro is a new device that blends the real and digital worlds through Augmented Reality (AR).

Apple Vision Pro is Apple’s new AR device that users can look through, not look at for a super immersive experience. You can remain in your physical space and blend digital into it.

You can control Apple Vision Pro through eyes, voice, and hand gestures.

Apple Vision Pro is all about Spatial Computing, i.e., you can leverage your surroundings and turn your surroundings into an infinite canvas, with the ability to resize your apps. You can capture photos and videos, watch movies, sports, and shows on giant virtual screens with spatial audio for the ultimate experience.

3D Interface and Gesture Control on Apple Vision Pro

The interface is three-dimensional, designed to respond dynamically to light and provide a sense of physicality. Shadows on apps create a more realistic feel with the perception of scale and distance.

You can open multiple apps, side by side in your space. The apps can be moved around and resized as if they were natural objects in your surrounding.

Apple Vision Pro supports natural and intuitive input methods that include eye, hand, and voice control. The app icons respond to your eye movements. You can tap your fingers to select and flick your fingers to scroll.

Environments use landscapes to create new backgrounds if you want to change the backdrop of your physical space. You can control the level of environment immersion by turning the crown on the device.

EyeSight on Apple Vision Pro

EyeSight technology displays users’ eyes to indicate connection and focus.

In addition to helping create the connection, Apple Vision Pro’s EyeSight also provides information to people around you that you are focussing on something. If you’re immersed in an experience or you’re using apps, the screen indicates it with a mix of colors.

Apps For Work

Vision Pro seamlessly integrates with familiar apps like Safari, Notes, Messages, Keynote, and FaceTime. Even the small text is displayed crisply and is easy to read.

Users can multitask, collaborate, and connect with others in spatial environments. The device is perfect for work, offering a customizable workspace and compatibility with Mac.

You can also interact with 3D images on Apple Vision Pro.

Sync with Apple Devices – iPhone, Mac, iPad

Apple Vision Pro comes with a virtual keyboard in your space. You can use the virtual keyboard or connect your physical magic keyboard and trackpad for long document writing.

You can also use your Mac in your Apple Vision Pro seamlessly, end enjoy a 4K viewing experience.

Facetime on Apple Vision Pro

Vision Pro enhances FaceTime experiences with spatial audio and the ability to share apps. You can view the FaceTime participants in large video tiles. As more participants join, the space expands to accommodate them.

Anyone using FaceTime can join the call – even if they don’t use the Apple Vision Pro.

Photos, Videos, and Entertainment on Apple Vision Pro

The device offers a spatial cinema experience, adjustable screen size, and immersive audio. You can enjoy movies, TV shows, and interactive storytelling with 3D depth and motion.

Panorama photos wrap around you and provide an incredibly immersive experience.

Vision Pro has Apple’s first 3D camera to capture lifelike moments. It revolutionizes entertainment and captures cherished memories in a magical way. It redefines home experiences, allowing users to relive and capture photos and videos in 3D.

Gaming on Vision Pro includes support for Apple Arcade and a large customizable screen with game controller support.

Tim Cook claims that Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary platform that aims to change the way we communicate, collaborate, work, and enjoy entertainment.

Disney Content on Apple Vision Pro

The Walt Disney Company is partnering with Apple Vision Pro to create deeply personal experiences that bring fans closer to their favorite characters and stories.

Disney+ will be available on Apple Vision Pro from day one, offering a range of Disney experiences.

Apple Vision Pro – Technical Specs & Device Design

The design of Vision Pro is a result of decades of experience in designing high-performance products, featuring advanced materials and a lightweight aluminum frame.

The front of the device is a single piece of laminated glass. There is a button to capture photos & videos and a crown for controlling the home view and immersion levels of the environment feature.

The product offers a precise and comfortable fit with modular LightSeal, flexible straps, and a 3D knitted Head Band.

Vision Pro combines an extraordinary amount of technology, including displays, cameras, sensors, and a high-performance computer, all kept cool by an efficient thermal design.

Display

The micro-OLED display system with 23 million pixels delivers a smooth, continuous image with true 4K resolution, wide color, and high dynamic range.

EyeSight technology creates a 3D display that makes the device appear transparent, and a novel solution enables authentic digital communication using advanced machine learning techniques.

Audio

Vision Pro features an innovative Spatial Audio system that creates ambient sound coming from the environment around you using a technology called audio ray tracing.

Cameras & Sensors

The system offers high-resolution video output to the displays, allowing for a clear visual experience. It incorporates precise head and hand tracking, ensuring accurate and responsive interactions.

Real-time 3D mapping capabilities further enhance the immersive experience.

A high-performance eye tracking system utilizes high-speed cameras and LED projections to enable intuitive input. The eye tracking system is exceptionally accurate, eliminating the need for cumbersome hardware controllers and freeing up users’ hands.

Apple Chips – M2 and R1 Chips

The Apple silicon dual-chip design, consisting of the Apple M2 chip and the R1 chip, ensures powerful performance, comfort, and minimal lag.

The chips process inputs from 12 cameras, 5 sensors, and 6 microphones.

The R1 chip is incredibly fast and relays new images to the user in about 12 ms, 8 times faster than the blink of an eye!

Inserts For Those Who Wear Glasses

Apple has partnered with Zeiss and created magnetically attaching inserts for people who wear glasses. The inserts enable full performance of the features such as eye tracking.

Digital Persona For FaceTime

While using the Apple Vision Pro, when you call on FaceTime, there is no camera focusing on your full face. So how do the other FaceTime call participants look at you?

Apple solved this problem by using Machine Learning to create digital personas of users by taking inputs from the front sensors.

The persona looks natural and matches the facial expressions and hand movements and shows it all on the FaceTime video call. Interesting!!!

Usage On Power Supply and Battery

The device can run all day when powered on, and it also can run for 2 hours when connected to a battery that can be connected via a cable and placed in your pocket to keep the weight of the device light.

VisionOS – the Operating System of Apple Vision Pro

The VisionOS operating system provides low-latency support for spatial computing and offers new capabilities for developers, making Vision Pro a unique and powerful platform.

Apple Vision Pro For Developers

Apple Vision Pro offers a revolutionary platform for developers. Vision Pro allows developers to reimagine existing apps and create new ones. Spatial experiences with 3D objects that look and feel real are possible with Vision Pro.

Early looks at Vision Pro resulted in the creation of incredible apps like Complete HeartX, JigSpace, Stages from PTC, Djay, and Sky Guide.

Vision Pro enhances everyday productivity with Microsoft apps like Excel, Word, and Teams, as well as popular video conferencing apps.

Developers can use familiar tools and frameworks like Xcode, SwiftUI, RealityKit, and ARKit to build apps for Vision Pro.

Reality Composer Pro simplifies the preparation of 3D content for spatial apps.

Vision Pro includes the same frameworks available in iPadOS and iOS, making hundreds of thousands of iPad and iPhone apps accessible. Vision Pro will have its own App Store, offering visionOS apps and compatible iPad and iPhone apps. Unity-based games and apps can fully leverage VisionOS features on Vision Pro.

Privacy and Security on Apple Vision Pro

Optic ID, using iris authentication, ensures secure and effortless unlocking of Vision Pro. Optic ID works for unlocking apps, app purchases, password autocompletion, etc., much like Face ID.

With all things Apple, privacy is a priority on Apple Vision Pro with features like isolated eye input and system-level camera data processing. In other words, the app developers and website owners do not get to access your eye-tracking data – they can only see the button-click data.

Apple Vision Pro – Price & Availability

Apple Vision Pro starts at $3,499 and will be available in early 2024 in the US, expanding to more countries later.

Wrap Up

Vision Pro features advanced displays, Spatial Audio, powerful Apple silicon chips, and a stunning design made from aerospace-grade alloys. Apple filed over 5,000 patents during the development of Vision Pro.

Apple Vision Pro replaces the need for multiple monitors, offers infinite screen real estate, and enhances productivity, entertainment, collaboration, and memory capturing.

Based on all the features discussed, the Apple Vision Pro indeed appears to be a unique device. The price might be a deterrent to a lot of people, but who knows – if people start finding utility in it, the device can revolutionize the computing world once again (like Mac and iPhone did in the past)!

Source for screenshots and images: Apple WWDC 2023 Event. Watch the Full WWDC 2023 Video here

The Apple Vision Pro Presentation starts at around 1:20:00 in the video

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