Everything we know about Apple’s Vision Pro

The Vision Pro could gain support for Sony PSVR 2 controllers soon, according to Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter for Bloomberg. Apple and Sony apparently planned to announce support for the controllers “weeks ago” but have pushed back the rollout. Under this rumored partnership, Apple would begin selling Sony’s controllers, which aren’t currently available on their own.

Sony has apparently been working on adding the support for months, while Apple has asked third-party developers if they would take advantage of Sony’s VR controllers. That’s potentially great news for Vision Pro owners who wish the headset had more gaming chops. (There are precious few good, native visionOS games — Thrasher, a mesmerizing game where you fling a giant worm / dragon thing around a psychadelic space using just hand movements, comes to mind.)

The Vision Pro VR headset is such an Apple product — meticulously designed and packed with incredible tech, but designed to be used Apple’s way, whether you like it or not. For many, that means the headset is aggressively uncomfortable to wear due to its weight distribution. For the last several days, though, I’ve been testing a solution Apple now sells that’s so simple, so obvious, that I’m actually miffed at Apple for not including something like it from the very beginning: the Belkin Head Strap.

Belkin’s strap works in tandem with Apple’s Solo Knit Band. The Solo Knit Band wraps around your head with an elastic cushion, clamping the headset to your face but putting a lot of strain on your neck. Belkin’s strap gives you more support by distributing some of the Vision Pro’s weight to the top of your head.

A new report from The Information cites “multiple people” involved in making parts for Apple’s Vision Pro headset to say that production plans have been scaled back in recent months. This follows a Tim Cook interview published this weekend by WSJ. Magazine, where he said, “Obviously I’d like to sell more,” but acknowledged that “At $3,500, it’s not a mass-market product.”

That aligns with The Information’s previous report from this summer, saying Apple has shifted its strategy to focus on making a cheaper headset, which could ship as soon as next year.

Apple just released the trailer for Submerged, the first scripted immersive video for the Vision Pro. The short, written and directed by Edward Berger, is set inside a WWII submarine as its crew deals with “a harrowing torpedo attack.”

The trailer for Submerged consists of behind-the-scenes shots and fisheye-looking clips from the short, along with a voiceover from Berger, who claims that the immersive format will “change the future of filmmaking.”

Apple rolled out updates to all of its major operating systems this week, and the Vision Pro was no exception. With visionOS 2, the company has a chance to show the relative few who bought its spendy headset — and those who might yet — that it’s still committed to the new platform.

After a few months of using it in beta, visionOS 2 isn’t a dramatic change — it’s more like a smoothed-out version of the software the headset launched with. The addition of things like new gestures, better device support, and a couple of splashy features has removed a lot of the friction of using the Vision Pro and should give people who own it a reason to dust it off and take it for another spin.

Apple is launching new “immersive” video content for the Vision Pro over the next few months, including one from The Weeknd, a close-up view of the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend, and “the first scripted short film captured in Apple Immersive Video.” The new series and film will come exclusively to the Vision Pro, allowing wearers to watch 3D video with a 180-degree field of view.

The immersive performance from The Weeknd will arrive on the Vision Pro later this year, while you can expect a short film featuring events from the NBA All-Star Game this fall, such as the Rising Stars Challenge, the slam dunk contest, and the All-Star Game.

The Apple Vision Pro is many things. But for us, and for many other users, it’s one thing in particular: a really, really, really big screen. Since Apple started shipping its spatial computing headset five months ago today, we’ve tested the device as a TV, a computer monitor, a game console, a mega-chill way to relax on the beach, and much more.

On this episode of The Vergecast, we talk about the past, present, and future of the Vision Pro. We chat with The Verge’s Wes Davis and Victoria Song about their experiences with the device, along with what they’ve liked and what they’d like to change. It seems pretty clear that the first version of the device wasn’t a groundbreaking, market-moving hit, so what next? Apple is reportedly working on a cheaper model with significantly lower-res displays, but does that dim the appeal of that really big screen? We have some thoughts and some ideas for Apple.

For all its impressive technical chops, Apple’s all-singing, all-dancing Vision Pro hasn’t set the world on fire. But it’s early yet, and the company continues to throw some weight behind the headset, and reportedly has plans to add AI features to visionOS and is readying an updated approach to in-store demos.

Apple is working through the challenge of incorporating Apple Intelligence into the augmented reality interface of the headset, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported today. That could be a relief for Vision Pro owners who were disappointed that the company didn’t mention it during the AI portion of its WWDC 2024 keynote presentation.

Apple may no longer be working on a new high-end Vision headset amid slowing sales of the Vision Pro, according to a new report from The Information. Instead, Apple has apparently been finding ways to reduce the cost of components for the first model and is working on a cheaper Vision headset that it aims to ship by the end of 2025.

The first Vision Pro came out earlier this year, and while it’s a very good VR headset, it has a lot of flaws inherent to many other VR headsets. It’s also quite expensive, starting at $3,499, and — what I noticed most when I tried the Vision Pro at an Apple Store — pretty heavy.

Apple mentioned a few new features coming to the Vision Pro during its WWDC 2024 keynote presentation on Monday, such as the ability to turn your 2D photos into 3D ones and support for using the headset on trains. But the company glossed right over some of the most sorely needed features that it’s adding to visionOS — and those quieter changes make for a much more exciting update.

After the update arrives this fall, you’ll be able to see a Magic Keyboard while you’re working in a virtual environment, use any Bluetooth mouse you want, and rearrange your homescreen icons — including putting iPad and iPhone apps where you want. These are all features that probably should have been there from the beginning, and they’ll improve the day-to-day experience of using the Vision Pro in meaningful ways.

Much more of the world will soon have the chance to buy Apple’s mixed reality headset. Apple announced today that its $3,499 Vision Pro will be sold internationally with a rollout kicking off on June 28th.

The first countries outside the US to get the Vision Pro are China, Japan, and Singapore on June 28th, followed by Germany, France, Australia, the UK, and Canada on July 12th. The announcement comes after Bloomberg reported in May that Apple has been training its international employees on selling the high-end headset.

Apple is reportedly preparing to launch its $3,499 Vision Pro outside of the US for the first time, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, with the mixed reality headset’s international rollout expected to start shortly after the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference early next month. 

On Monday, Gurman reported that Apple has flown “hundreds of employees from its international stores” over to its offices in Cupertino, California, to show them how to demonstrate the device. Training sessions reportedly started last week, with courses taking up to four days to complete according to Gurman’s sources.

The Vision Pro is about to get what sounds like an honest-to-goodness mixed reality video experience from Marvel Studios and ILM Immersive, something the platform sorely needs. The companies announced What If...? – An Immersive Story, which they say is Disney Plus’ “first-ever” interactive original content. It’ll come exclusively to Apple’s VR headset and use a mixture of augmented and virtual reality.

The hour-long What If...? episode is based on Marvel’s Disney Plus show of the same name. It’s a promising development for starved Vision Pro owners, and not just because it’s far longer than the small library of immersive films Apple has offered to date.

I paid a lot of money for the privilege of getting an Apple Vision Pro brand-new in February. All-in, with optical inserts and taxes, I financed a little over $3,900 for the 256GB version of the headset. A day or so ago, I made a mistake that I’m sure many early adopters are familiar with: I looked up how much it’s been selling for on eBay.

On Wednesday, a 1TB Vision Pro, complete with all the included gear, Apple’s fluffy $200 travel case, $500 AppleCare Plus, and claimed to have been “worn maybe about an hour” sold for $3,200 after 21 bids. The listed shipping estimate was $20.30. Brand new, that combination is $5,007.03 on Apple’s site for me. Another eBay listing, this one with my headset’s configuration (but sans optical inserts) went for just $2,600 — again with most, if not all, of the included accessories. Several other 256GB and 512GB models sold for around that amount this week.