Apple Vision Pro owners haven't had an awful lot of immersive content to enjoy, but a new series is on the way. Elevated, a series that was announced in July, will no debut on September 6 with a second episode arriving at a later date.

Elevated will be a 3D experience that will give viewers a new way to enjoy some of the world's most impressive landscapes via cinematic aerial tours.

Owners of the Apple Vision Pro headset can now check out a teaser for the show while they wait for the main event to become available.

Immersive video

Immersive content is available to Apple Vision Pro owners around the globe and offers a 3D experience the likes of which people simply cannot experience elsewhere. However, the production of such experiences means that they aren't all that easy to create — perhaps explaining why content has not been plentiful since Apple's mixed reality headset debuted earlier this year.

Immersive experiences that are already available include Boundless, a series that focuses on a variety of activities including Arctic surfing and more. Sporting content and an impressive behind-the-scenes look at the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend.

The Apple Vision Pro launched in the United States initially with a starting price of $3,499 for the 256GB model. Options with 512GB and 1TB of storage are also available, while the headset is now also on sale in more countries. Apple is also thought to be working on a cheaper version of the headset for those who find the current price point too high.

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Retro gaming emulators on Apple’s App Store have been gaining traction ever since the company began allowing them back in April. The latest addition to this category is an emulator that brings back a failed console from Nintendo’s past — and it’s available on Apple Vision Pro, too.

VirtualFriend, developed by Adam Gastineau, is available to download for free on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, and lets you play Virtual Boy games on Apple's devices. The emulator has been in development since December, and Gastineau revealed that the app spent three weeks in Apple’s App Review process before being made available. VirtualFriend is straightforward to use — the first screen prompts you to find a game on your device through Apple’s Files app. Once you do, the game loads into the emulator, ready to play.

For those unfamiliar, Nintendo’s Virtual Boy was a table-top 32-bit console, which was a pet project of Gunpei Yokoi, creator of the Game and Watch and Game Boy handhelds. After four years of development, it was released in 1995 for Japanese and U.S. customers to overwhelmingly negative reviews and poor sales. These were mainly attributed to its red-monochromatic display — more likely to provide motion sickness than enjoyment as you played one of the 22 games released during the console's 18-month lifetime. The Virtual Boy was quickly scrapped so Nintendo could shift focus to its next console, the Nintendo 64.

Unlike Delta and Gamma, two popular emulators on the App Store, VirtualFriend lacks features such as taking screenshots and using save states, which allow you to save your progress at any point. However, it does offer the option to change the standard red color palette if it’s causing eye strain. In our brief time playing the emulator, VirtualFriend plays Virtual Boy games like Wario Land and Mario Tennis very well.

Although VirtualFriend is great, it also highlights why Virtual Boy failed — iMore’s take

If you had told me a year ago that I’d be playing a Virtual Boy emulator on my iPhone after downloading it from the App Store, I simply wouldn’t have believed you. Yet here we are — I’m playing Wario Land, one of the best games on the console, without issue, and it’s fantastic.

I’ve used a Virtual Boy before, thanks to a friend who’s a retro game collector. He bought one for a high price back in 2012. Even then, I found it awkward and heavy, with a controller that had one of the strangest button layouts I’ve ever seen — two D-pads and extra-long handles never made sense to me.

There’s a certain irony in seeing VirtualFriend be made available on Apple Vision Pro. You can see some of the 3D effects in all their glory within visionOS, and I’m sure it’s a great experience playing Wario Land with Apple’s headset. Yet it only proves why the Virtual Boy failed. Its lack of games, gimmicky 3D effects, and its default bright-red display make it difficult to enjoy these games for long periods. Nevertheless, it’s still an amazing feat to have an app like this freely available on Apple’s devices.

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Apple Vision Pro has been around for a few months now and recently went on sale in new countries for the first time. But the $3,499 spatial computer hasn't been a universal success thanks in part to that price as well as concerns over its long-term usefulness. But a lackluster response to the Apple Vision Pro seemingly hasn't been enough to dissuade a long-term rival from getting into the AR/VR headset market.

According to a new report, Apple has new competition on the way with Microsoft said to be working on its own spatial computer. Called mixed-reality headsets by everyone other than Apple, the devices offer a combination of augmented and virtual reality applications and Microsoft is thought to have designs on a headset of its own.

To bring the headset to market Microsoft has reportedly tapped Samsung Display to help out, a company that will provide the high-end Micro-LED displays required to produce the pin-sharp images required when placed so close to the headset wearer's eyes.

A new mixed-reality headset in the works

The Elec reports that Microsoft has signed a contract with Samsung Display to produce "hundreds of thousands" of Micro-LED displays for the unnamed, unconfirmed headset.

It's reported that the Microsoft headset will be designed with media consumption and gaming in mind, pitting it squarely against the Apple Vision Pro. However, with Apple thought to be working on a cheaper successor to its own headset, this mystery Microsoft device is unlikely to launch before that product arrives.

The report suggests that Microsoft and Samsung Display are aiming to announce the headset in around two years' time, meaning it'll be 2026 or 2027 before Microsoft's Apple Vision Pro competitor is ready for prime time.

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NVIDIA has revealed that mixed reality devices like Apple Vision Pro can be used to help developers accelerate the development of humanoid robots. 

NVIDIA unveiled project GR00T in March, “a general-purpose foundation model for humanoid robots, designed to further its work driving breakthroughs in robotics and embodied AI.” 

The “moonshot” initiative is an attempt to build a universal AI brain for humanoid robot platforms that definitely won’t rise up, take over the world, and kill us all. ‘What could possibly go wrong?’ aside, NVIDIA has revealed how devices like Apple Vision Pro can help power its new synthetic data generation pipeline to turn human movements simulated commands a robot can follow. 

iRobot 

In a video, the company has revealed how a new set of tools for developers in the humanoid robot ecosystem will help them build their AI models better and more efficiently, thanks to the aforementioned new synthetic data generation pipeline. 

NVIDIA says that the new platform can collect human demonstrations of movement using a device like Apple Vision Pro — making toast, for example. Once gathered, the data can be multiplied by “1000x or more” using NVIDIA’s simulation tools. 

Once the data is gathered, it can then be reapplied and used to train a humanoid robot that definitely won’t turn on you and your family. NVIDIA says it’s “one step closer to solving the AI brain for humanoid robots,” and Apple Vision Pro is part of the solution. 

It’s not the first time NVIDIA has leveraged Apple Vision Pro to give us a glimpse of the future. Earlier this year it unveiled its OpenUSD-based Omniverse enterprise digital twins for Apple Vision Pro. IT demoed a full-fidelity digital twin of a car streamed directly to Apple Vision Pro, letting a designer toggle paint, choose trim, and even sit inside the vehicle, using spatial computing to blend 3D photorealistic environments with the physical world. 

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When Apple announced the Apple Vision Pro at WWDC of 2023 it brought an end to years of rumors and expectations. The headset closely matched the rumors, including a key feature that Apple was apparently keen to offer — controller-free, gesture-based controls. While similar headsets used controllers, Apple's relied simply on hands and fingers. Some see it as a feature, some as a liability that will limit the Apple Vision Pro's gaming capabilities. A bit like it or not, the gesture-based controls might be on their way elsewhere.

The iPhone is touch-first, as is the iPad, while the Mac is cursor-based which requires a mouse or a trackpad. But Apple is clearly working on a potential input change that will see the Apple Vision Pro technology used across the rest of the company's lineups, and a new patent proves that even if the headset doesn't hit the mark with consumers, they could soon be using its technologies instead of mouse or a finger.

It's still very early days for the Apple Vision Pro and it's expected to set the foundations for Apple's spatial computing initiatives for years to come. But even if the headset never captures the public's imagination the way the iPhone did all those years ago, Apple will want to take as many learnings and technologies from its development as possible. And where best to use those things than its most important products?

Touch-free computing

A new patent, first spotted by AppleInsider, hints at such a move to a touch-free world. Titled "Devices, Methods, And Graphical User Interfaces For Using A Cursor To Interact With Three-Dimensional Environments," the patent suggests that Apple's future plans are all about waving hands and fingers around as a form of input.

There are of course similarities between the iPhone and Apple Vision Pro already. The technology behind Face ID can already bring eye-tracking to the iPhone, but the Mac doesn't have such a thing just yet.

Apple's patents are always as broad as possible which means they can be read in a variety of ways. But if the Apple Vision Pro brought a Minority Report-like experience to those who bought one, there are now hints that we could be controlling more devices using similar gestures in the future. Could we one day wave our hands at the TV to interact with tvOS, for example? Microsoft already did something similar with the ill-fated Kinnect, but the tvOS Home Screen is already suited to such a control scheme.

Expand that to the rumored Apple TV-turned-HomePod device and we could one day control an Apple smart display without touching it.

All of this could be a little way off becoming reality, of course, and there is always the usual caveat with these things. Apple patents a ton of ideas each and every year, and not all of them turn into products that we can buy at Apple Stores. But some do, and I'm absolutely here for a future where I don't have to ever touch a Siri Remote again.

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A new report claims LG and Samsung are working on prototypes of tandem OLED displays, and that they could feature on the next generation of Apple Vision Pro.

The report from Sisa Journal, claims the tandem OLED technology found on the M4 iPad Pro is currently being tested by LG and Samsung. There are no indications of when the technology could go into mass production but the display tech would mean increased brightness and longer longevity with less risk of burn-in compared to a regular OLED panel.

While it would be exciting to see tandem OLED technology on the spatial computing headset, this doesn’t necessarily line up with rumors that Apple’s next generation will be a more affordable model.

Tandem OLED Vision Pro

Tandem OLED tech is expensive and the current Vision Pro’s 4K micro-OLED displays supplied by Sony are likely to cost less to produce than this new evolution in display technology.

The Ultra Retina XDR display found on the best iPads uses tandem OLED technology. Apple says its “two OLED panels [...] combine the light from both to provide phenomenal full-screen brightness.” Compared to a regular OLED, this new advanced technology provides brighter pictures, better highlights, and more responsiveness — it’s truly a marvel to behold.

Apple Vision Pro was released in January in the US and has recently come to more countries around the world. The $3,499 VR/AR headset has yet to take the world by storm, however, with many feeling the huge cost doesn’t warrant the functionality of the product. An Apple Vision Pro 2 could cut costs and bring the price point down to fit a more mainstream market. This could be achieved by removing the external display used for EyeSight. That said, with new OLED technology on the horizon and the next generation of Vision Pro rumored for 2026, we’ll have to wait to see if Apple goes the cost-effective route or the high-end display one.

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Apple Vision Pro launched earlier this year and, though its main focus is on everyday productivity for working and lounging, one use case has just been discovered, that may revolutionize care for those with paralysis. 

In a press release, brain-computer interface company Synchron announced this week that a 64-year-old man with ALS has managed to control Apple Vision Pro with his brain, to do things like watch Apple TV and play solitaire. As he is unable to use his upper limbs, he has previously not been able to use the hand gestures necessary to control the device. 

He said “Using this type of enhanced reality is so impactful and I can imagine it would be for others in my position or others who have lost the ability to engage in their day-to-day life. It can transport you to places you never thought you’d see or experience again.”

Synchron, the company responsible for the innovation, has invented a “BCI integration” that is implanted on “the blood vessel on the surface of the motor cortex of the brain via the jugular vein.” It can then translate “motor intent” from the brain to control Apple Vision Pro. 

What else can Apple Vision Pro do?

It’s important to note that, while playing solitaire and watching the best shows on Apple TV Plus is a great use of the headset, you can also call friends on FaceTime, reply to emails, and do your grocery shopping. For someone with ALS, this could give a level of freedom to do some everyday chores. 

The founder and CEO of Synchron says “We are moving towards a new Bluetooth standard for Human Computer Interactions that don’t require touch or speech. This is a critical unmet need for millions of people with paralysis.”

This is only the start of the innovation and, if it is adopted en masse, it could give those with paralysis more control over their digital life. 

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Apple Arcade developers claim that working with the company to put their games on its subscription platform is akin to being in an “abusive relationship,” with developers suffering at the hands of poor tech support, bad communication, and late payments. 

The revelations come by way of a new report from Mobilegamer.biz’s Neil Long, who revealed this week that despite good money, “many” developers are unhappy with their treatment at the hands of Apple. 

Grievances listed by sources include studios waiting up to six months to get paid, with one indie dev nearly going out of business as a result. 

There were also woes reported when it comes to communication and support. 

“The Apple Arcade team do not respond to routine emails for weeks or even months if they respond at all,” the report states. One developer involved in a “semi-regular” meeting with Apple said, “half the Apple team won’t turn up and when they do they have no idea what’s going on and can’t answer our questions.” Another described Apple’s tech support as “miserable” and “the worst I have ever seen anywhere.” 

Apple Arcade agony 

Apple Vision Pro got a kicking too. Developers bemoaned that the spatial computing headset struggles with “complex games” and said developing for the platform is “like going back in time 10 years” because of a lack of tech support. 

“Apple engineers are ‘unable to offer any insights’ into how Vision Pro’s hardware or software works, or ‘how essential middleware is meant to work with it,’” the report states. 

Another developer claimed that the discoverability of games on Apple Arcade was “like their game “was in a morgue’.” Finally, one quoted developer likened working with Apple to being in an “abusive relationship.”

The experiences, while certainly eye-brow-raising, don’t seem to be universal. According to the report “most developers” thought Apple paid developers well “particularly in the first few years of Arcade,” especially early on in a title’s life cycle. One said that it was now a “very difficult and long process to sign a deal with Apple” and lamented the “the lack of vision and clear focus of the platform.” 

While one developer said the advances on their game were “fantastic” and “off the charts compared to what we’re used to being paid,” they noted that payments had gone from being prompt to “a five-month backlog.” 

The report contains expanded insight from some of these developers venting their frustrations, but was summed up by one developer who said it feels as though Apple “treat developers as a necessary evil.” 

Launched in 2019, Apple Arcade is the company’s gaming subscription service available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV, as well as Apple Vision Pro. For a small monthly fee (or as part of the Apple One bundle) gamers can get access to a wealth of titles including popular games like Temple Run and Stardew Valley. It’s pretty excellent value for customers, but clearly some developers don’t feel like they’re getting much out of the platform.

Apple faces growing pressure from other burgeoning game subscription offerings, perhaps most notably Netflix, which offers games to subscribers at no extra cost. It recently added one of the best puzzle games of the year, and includes other great titles including the Grand Theft Auto series. 

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Two prolific fashion brands have launched immersive apps for Apple Vision Pro, enabling users to browse the latest products for the upcoming fashion season.

Rimowa, the German luggage brand, offers a free visionOS app that allows you to view its wide selection of suitcases within your current environment. You can look at these products up close, customizing them with different colors and more, which can change in real time to help you see which product suits you best.

Balenciaga is a high-end fashion brand known for accessories such as bags and purses, as well as jewelry, fragrances, and more. The company’s app is also free to download for Vision Pro, which initially looks like an iPad app, with a navigation bar at the top as well as featuring multiple windows to view Balenciaga’s fashion range. However, one aspect that makes it stand out from Rimowa’s app is the ability to “Revisit the Spring 25 show” augmented with “stereoscopic footage and an interactive lookbook feature [and] watch Balenciaga’s previous iconic shows in an entirely new dimension.” This allows you to get up close and personal with past fashion events held by the company, giving you the best seat in the house through your spatial computing headset. Balenciaga hints that this app is “the first phase of its spatial computing application for the Apple Vision Pro.” This may suggest that we’ll be seeing more updates soon that will further take advantage of Apple’s spatial headset.

If you’re a fan of these brands or you’re looking to change up your wardrobe for the coming seasons, these apps offer a great way to see what’s hot, whether you’re preparing for Autumn and Winter, or the Spring and Summer seasons if you live in countries like Australia.

Other apps that bring the shopping mall to your Vision Pro

Rimowa and Balenciaga aren’t the only fashion brands to launch immersive apps for Apple Vision Pro. Mytheresa specializes in clothing and accessories, such as bags, shoes, jewelry, and more. The company released its own app for Apple Vision Pro in March 2024, which allows users to travel to the top fashion destinations in the world, such as Paris and the island of Capri in Italy. You can also browse Mytheresa’s full range of products, as well as being able to purchase its products with Apple Pay.

SYKY offers another fashion-focused app available for Apple Vision Pro, enabling users to watch certain fashion pieces being made. The app also features an extra window where designers of certain dresses describe the process behind the product you’re viewing.

All of these apps are fantastic examples of the potential of Apple Vision Pro. Instead of viewing flat images of products on websites, Vision Pro users can now experience these products in immersive ways that weren’t possible before. Instead visualize how certain types of furniture and luggage can fit their own style, digitally rendered in their own homes.

Since its launch in February 2024, Apple Vision Pro availability has expanded to countries such as China and the United Kingdom, beyond an initial US launch. With the potential for a wider international user base, we’re hoping to see more fashion brands plan to develop apps for the spatial computing headset in the coming months.

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The first scripted immersive video short film for Apple Vision Pro has finally been revealed and it looks terrifying. 

Set on a sinking World War II submarine, Submerged “showcases the unique storytelling capabilities that are only possible with Apple Immersive Video” according to Apple’s latest press release. It follows a group of sailors trying to survive a torpedo attack and it is set to premiere this fall.

That’s not all

In addition to this, the press release shows off a whole host of other immersive video experiences coming to Apple Vision Pro this year. This includes Boundless, an experience set on a hot air balloon above Cappadocia, Turkiye. It is out today if you are lucky enough to own Apple’s $3,499 spatial headset. 

Premiering in August, Wild Life, a nature documentary exploring Kenya’s Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, is also coming to the headset. This is all about the baby elephants there, from how they live, to how they are cared for. 

Much like Boundless, new experience Elevated is all about seeing the world from up high and the first episode focuses on Hawaii. You can watch this in September. 

If you’re more of a sports fan, 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend is a short film focused on the NBA All-Star Weekend that happened in Indianapolis this year. It is due to release in the fall. 

From one weekend to The Weeknd, an immersive experience from the popular pop artist is due to launch later this year but very little is known about it thus far. 

Finally, Red Bull: Big-Wave Surfing is also coming out later this year and focuses on high-level surfers, riding the “heaviest wave in the world off the remote coast of Teahupo’o, Tahiti”. With so many interesting experiences, they are sure to really show off the power of Apple’s headset. 

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Meta might have to adjust its AR and VR hardware ambitions, just at the moment it faces its biggest ever competition from Apple and its Vision Pro headset.

Mark Zuckerberg’s company has been ploughing billions of dollars into the development of a ‘metaverse’ digital world and associated hardware, but will have to rein back its spending, according to a new report from The Information.

Meta’s Reality Labs hardware team, responsible for the development of the company’s Meta Quest hardware, has been asked to cut spending by close to 20% by 2026. And in a wake up call for staffers (who have endured mass layoffs) Meta’s Chief Financial Officer Susan Li has told teams that they should be targeting a $1 trillion dollar opportunity in the augmented and virtual reality markets. It’s a considerable shift from the previous money-no-object spending approach at the company, which has lost over $55 billion via its Reality Labs’ ambitious plans since 2019.

A new challenger emerges

It’s a tough spot for the Meta VR/AR team — which legitimized the space under the Oculus banner before being purchased by Zuckerberg’s then-Facebook company — to be in, as it fends off competition from its first major competition. Apple’s Vision Pro has itself got off to a slow start after launching this year in the US in February, but has just expanded its availability to markets including European and Asian territories.

Though significantly more expensive than Meta’s Quest 3, the Vision Pro is considerably more technologically advanced, and Meta is now expected to find a response to that. It’s hoping to do so with an assault on the market into (and beyond) 2026, with the launch of a new Quest 4 headset (currently set to ship in standard and premium configurations), and a high-end variant of the Quest line a year later.

For its part, Apple is expected to take the opposite tact, holding fire on a Vision Pro 2 headset in favour of a more affordable, stripped back take on the existing Vision Pro (which costs a whopping $3,499).

Both companies are ultimately targeting a release of augmented reality glasses however, with differing prototypes in the works, expected to have more mass market appeal than a vision-encompassing headset. 

With VR still waiting for its mass-market moment, the race will be on to deliver the most compelling tech in a glasses-like form factor, though the elephant in the room will be investor pressure to refocus around artificial intelligence projects, generally seen to be the ‘next-big-thing’ in not just consumer tech, but the wider worlds of business, manufacturing and healthcare, too.

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Apple's Metaverse-touting rival Meta has not one but three new virtual reality headsets in the pipeline, as well as a pair of AR glasses due to be released next year, according to a new report. 

Apple and Meta are rivals in the space to capture customers in what was once seen as the next big thing in tech, virtual reality, and the metaverse, the latter a term shunned by Apple but embraced by Mark Zuckerberg. 

Apple finally gave us Apple Vision Pro in early 2024, but now Meta is planning to strike back with a series of new headsets, including a high-end quest to compete with AVP. 

Meta’s next metaverse move 

According to The Information, Meta “is working on a range of new Quest headsets and AR glasses with displays for release over the next three years.” Meta’s augmented reality glasses are apparently going to be released next year, likely expected to be a big leap on its current Ray-Ban offering. 

After new smart glasses, The Information reports that the new Meta Quest 4 is coming in 2026 and that there is a “standard” and a “premium” version in the works. Further down the road, in 2027, Meta apparently “plans to release a high-end Quest headset… to compete with Apple’s Vision Pro.” 

Likewise, Apple isn’t resting on its laurels when it comes to the next iteration of Vision Pro. The most recent rumors indicated that Apple has halted Vision Pro 2 plans in order to focus on a cheaper headset, designed to broaden the mass appeal of the $3,499 first iteration. A cheaper Vision Pro would likely come with a significantly nerfed display, however, reports indicate that even a cheaper version could still cost $2,000. The cheaper Vision Pro probably won’t surface until 2025 at the earliest, but it’s possible Apple could beat Meta’s new VR offerings to the market. 

Apple Glass, the company’s own rumored smart glasses project, remains nowhere to be seen. 

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Apple Vision Pro is Apple's first foray into the future of computing, spatial computing to be exact. It can be used for work and play, productivity and communication, and now for customers of the UK bank NatWest, it can be used to check in real-time just how much money you don't have now you've shelled out for Vision Pro. 

"From today NatWest’s retail banking app will be available on Apple’s new device, where customers will be able to access day-to-day banking needs through spatial technology," the company announced Thursday. 

NatWest is one of the first banks to have an app featured on Vision Pro, and says that "Through extensive testing for performance and usability, NatWest has enhanced the user experience, optimizing it for eye tracking in Apple’s VisionOS and made security changes, to keep customers safe and secure when banking on the new device." 

Apple is banking on Vision Pro, and now so are you

NatWest says that its spatial app is an opportunity "to build on the new technology and gather insights into how spatial computing could allow customers to visualize their finances in a more immersive and informative format." Insights from the app will power improvements to its product and service design.

NatWest, the subsidies of which include RBS and Ulster Bank, says that its banking app now has 10 million users in the UK. "It’s great to be a first-mover with such exciting new technology.  We’re very pleased to offer our excellent retail banking app through an immersive new experience," said Chief Digital Information Officer at NatWest Group Wendy Redshaw. "It will be interesting to take learnings, understanding how customers use the app in this new technology to deal with their finances, and to understand how we can create bespoke propositions to serve them even better. It’s just one insight into how the future of banking could look in the future – watch this space.”

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• Superstar DJs and globetrotting slam dunks: The Apple Vision Pro experiences that made me a spatial computing convert

Despite my best efforts to convince the world otherwise, I am, surprisingly, not a superstar DJ. These hands were made for scratchin’, but do you think I could find someone who’d let this novice loose on their vinyl collection? Nope.

But I went to bed last night with a new core memory unlocked — that I had dropped a banging mix at the decks, beat-matched and all, that the faders had been at my fingertips, and that I had brought a taste of Balearic sunshine to gloomy London for a short few minutes. 

How? Via an augmented reality DJ-ing session with Apple’s Vision Pro headset. It finally rolls out internationally today. I’m not sure where I’m going to find the £3,499 ($3,499) to buy one, but if I was ever in any doubt that I want one, that doubt has been quite literally scratched out of my mind.

As customers in the UK and other territories get ready to take home the Apple Vision Pro (or book a demo of their own, now open to all), here’s a rundown of the experiences that most convinced me Apple’s new headset is a must-have item.

• Apple Vision Pro international launch: what you need to know

Getting comfy with the set-up process

Let’s just step back a moment first and talk about the set-up and fit of the Vision Pro. Though it’s been several months now since Apple Vision Pro launched in the US, it’s only just reached me here in the UK, so this was the first time I’ve been able to give the spatial headset a whirl myself.

First up, for a glasses wearer like myself, I needed to make sure my prescription would work with the Vision Pro. You can’t squeeze your specs inside the headset, and instead Apple encourages you to purchase Zeiss magnetic optical inserts for Vision Pro which are sold separately, ranging from £99 / $99 to £149 / $149 depending on your needs. I’d brought a copy of my prescription from my optician along with me for the fit setup, but that wasn’t necessary — Apple has created a bespoke machine that can scan your existing eyeglasses, and match them up to a pair of prescription inserts for the headset. 

Finding a 98% match for my prescription, it was on to the headset fit itself. For anyone who’s used Face ID before, the next step will feel very familiar — an iPhone camera captures your head scan from a few different angles, and you’re then paired with a light seal that will give the snuggliest fit and keep as much external light as possible from getting in under the headset.

Since launch, there have been lots of varying reports around whether or not the Vision Pro is comfortable to wear — depending on the light seal you’re using, and whether or not you opt for the over-head dual-loop band or the Solo Knit band that sits at the back of your head, you’re looking at between 600g and 650g balanced on your head. But the distribution of weight is really well considered, and I didn’t feel fatigued during my demo session of 45 minutes or so. Longer than that? I’m confident it would have remained comfortable for me, and certainly no less so than competing headsets like the Meta Quest 3. As for the battery, which sits in a separate pack, connected to the headset by a cable, it wasn’t a concern — it’s small enough to fit in a pocket when moving around with Vision Pro, and I’m glad the extra weight it adds is external rather than foolishly trying to fit it in the headset itself.

Calibration is snappy — with much of Vision Pro’s interface based on eye-tracking, there's a short sequence of dots to train your eyes on, and then the onboard cameras take a look at your hands in order to track them, too. And that’s it! With no external controls (aside from a Digital Crown on the top of the headset for pulling up the menu and dialing in immersive environments, and a shutter button for taking Spatial Photos) it’s over to you, your eyes and hands to navigate the OS. It’s almost too intuitive — it took me a moment to settle on the fact I didn’t have to turn my entire head to focus on an interface selection option, just my eyes, and my initial hand waves and taps were more exaggerated than needed to cycle through Vision Pro’s screens and windows.

Set-up complete, I was let loose. And the experiences that followed were mind-blowing.

The system-selling experiences

At this point, you’ll already know lots about Vision Pro via its US release. You’ll have heard about the roar-some dinosaurs, the Disney Plus Star Wars streaming environments, the FaceTime digital personas. So, after an expansive demo test that took in dozens of similar experiences, I’m instead going to focus down on the ones that hit me hardest.

The feeling that struck me most was how Vision Pro has the potential to bridge the gap between digital experiences and lived memories. Now, of course, using Vision Pro is a lived experience — you’re physically moving around 3D space, with the AR elements interacting with the real world through the visor’s screens. You’re not dreaming it, it’s happening. But the point I’m getting at is the sense of physicality and immersion that Vision Pro presents can give the impression that even its digital elements have a tangible presence.

Going back to the DJ experience, inside the DJay app from Algoriddim, I felt physically connected to the digital elements presented to me. The app puts a full-size digital DJ booth in your environment, which you can then stand up against and play with. Just like a real mixing deck, there are turntables to scratch on, faders to slide, and loop buttons to hit. They aren’t there in the real world, and you’re not going to get haptic feedback from tapping your hands against thin air — but my memory is that of using a real-world turntable setup.

A lot of that comes down to the quality of the Vision Pro’s screens. Each eye gets a 3,660 x 3,200 resolution display — that’s more pixels than if you were to dedicate a 4K screen to each eye. The clarity is incredible — text is pin-sharp, videos have stunning detail, color, and contrast. But pertinently, with experiences like DJay, that clarity helps to blur the line between the real world and the digital. It’s been attempted by headsets from the likes of Meta, Valve, and HTC in the past, but the giant leap in clarity here makes a huge difference.

This leads me to the second jaw-dropping element — Apple Immersive Video. Again, you’ll have heard lots from Vision Pro owners waxing lyrical about settling into an IMAX-like viewing experience in their living rooms. And indeed, a short clip of Avatar: The Way of Water in Vision Pro and stereoscopic 3D was more impressive than even a giant IMAX screen could create, such is the clarity on display. 

But I think not enough is being made of Vision Pro’s video potential from an events perspective via the 8K, 180-degree Apple Immersive Video presentations. Apple could in theory offer every owner of a Vision Pro the best seat in the house not only at a cinema, but at a Taylor Swift gig, the World Cup final, the Super Bowl, or from the heart of the Coachella mainstage crowd. As someone who’s only real sports interest is soccer, I was floored by Apple’s sporting sizzle reel that put me courtside for a Lebron James slam dunk in the NBA, and a worm’s eye view of a PGA tour golf putting green. That’s before getting an intimate performance from Alicia Keys or bringing a safari into your living room. 

Apple is the only company in the world with the scale to not only make hardware of the quality of Vision Pro, but with the money, connections, and media clout to get high-quality 3D cameras where the action is, too. If Apple can consistently get an events and performance schedule together for sports, music, and the arts with Vision Pro, it could bring a world of entertainment to your home, with a money-can’t-buy view.

The interesting thing here is that neither of these sorts of experiences are the productivity-focussed workflows that Apple primarily launched the Vision Pro’s marketing around. (Well, a working DJ might be able to argue a virtual deck space could be useful professionally!). While an international launch will expand the user base of Vision Pro significantly, reports around first-year sales tallies paint a worrying picture. I can’t help but think that Apple may have misunderstood what makes Vision Pro so exciting in the first place — it’s not about blowing up a spreadsheet to the size of a house in your office, but putting the Foo Fighters stadium show in your living room.

Heck, go one better — how about letting you join the Foo Fighters onstage? I’d settle for the DJ decks, but Apple is the only company in the world that can make that headline slot happen for the masses, and Vision Pro is the only headset I’d want to experience that with.

More from iMore

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• Where to buy Apple Vision Pro
• 50 things you need to know about Apple Vision Pro

CEO Tim Cook has been doing press rounds this week to mark the availability of Apple Vision Pro in the UK, and he’s mainly been talking about what he uses the spatial computing headset for.

In a chat with The Sun, Cook spoke about how he’s been using Vision Pro to watch a bunch of Apple TV shows, something he has said previously. “I began to use it to screen entertainment. I watched the third season of Ted Lasso on the Vision Pro,” Cook explained. “I just screened a new show – that's coming out this week – last night on Vision Pro. So the ability for me to get in the position that I want to get in – including lying flat and putting the screen on the ceiling – is an incredible kind of experience. And of course, it's a 100ft screen. I mean, it's amazing the level of entertainment that it delivers.”

He’s not wrong. In our hands-on with Vision Pro back in January, Britta O’Boyle spoke about how watching a clip of Avatar 2 impressed her. “During my demo of the Vision Pro, I watched a short clip of Avatar 2 in 3D and it was exceptional. Whatever you might expect that experience to look like, multiply that by at least 10 and you might get a fraction of the experience of watching movies on Vision Pro.”

When it comes to doing work on the headset, Cook also highlighted its productivity benefits. “So I use it in that way. In terms of productivity, when you're working on multiple screens, like so many of us do, the multitasking is so much more efficient on Vision Pro. Because you can take various windows and put them around your physical space.”

If you’re keen on buying an Apple Vision Pro now that it’s launching in Europe today (July 12), we’ve created a guide to lay out how you can buy the headset, and find some great accessories for it so far.

What’s coming in visionOS 2?

The interview was conducted before WWDC 2024, so there was no mention of visionOS 2, the upcoming software update for the headset. This will bring a big improvement to the Mac Virtual Display feature. You can make your screen look like an ultrawide display once you’ve connected your Mac to the headset, making the equivalent of two 4K displays side-by-side in visionOS.

More gestures are coming to visionOS 2 too, such as the ability to show the headset’s battery status by flipping your hand over, as well as tapping your thumb and finger to open Control Center.

Apple says that visionOS 2 is set to arrive later this year as a free update for all Vision Pro users.

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As Apple Vision Pro launches in Europe, one industry tracker claims that Apple’s spatial headset will struggle to hit half a million sales this year, suggesting Apple has a more drastic plan for spatial computing. 

According to the IDC, a marketing and research firm, and reported by Bloomberg, Apple Vision Pro is yet to sell 100,000 units. The headset originally launched exclusively in the U.S. in February and the international launch is expected to help sales somewhat. According to Bloomberg, “The unimpressive start has spurred a rethink among Apple’s management” and a budget version of the headset is said to be in the works for a launch next year. According to IDC, this budget headset is not the only hurdle Apple needs to cross for better sales. 

A content problem

The vice president of IDC, Francisco Jeronimo said “The Vision Pro’s success, regardless of its price, will ultimately depend on the available content.” Continuing, he claims, “As Apple expands the product to international markets, it’s crucial that local content is also made available.”

This follows on from a problem that was spotted back in February. Many major App publishers, like Netflix and Spotify, refused to make their apps available on Apple Vision Pro, claiming that it doesn’t have a big enough install base to justify the extra effort to get an app working. As a workaround, users could open those apps on their best Macs and project them to the headset. However, this slow start has negatively affected the headset and, even now, some app creators are slow to adopt it. The launch of a more budget headset could help sales but users need a reason to stick around after the initial awe of seeing its rather impressive screen and processing power.

More from iMore

• The Vision Pro is the most underwhelming Apple product of my lifetime
• The Apple Vision Pro: When technology can't keep up with ambition
• I'd buy Apple Vision Pro just to watch sports, and I will

Apple Vision Pro rolled out to the U.S. at the start of 2024, while the rest of the world patiently waited for its turn. Now, Apple Vision Pro is going global. But where exactly is Apple Vision Pro now available? How can you buy one and how much does it cost? 

We're here to guide you through everything you need to know about the global rollout of Apple Vision Pro, with plenty of tips and tricks in tow from our experts. 

Apple's spatial computing headset offers revolutionary apps, hand and eye controls, premium materials, and advanced hardware. It's all powered by visionOS (soon to be visionOS 2), and comes replete with support for accessories including the Magic Keyboard, Trackpad, and soon the Magic mouse. Here's everything you need to know about buying one abroad.

• 50 things you need to know about Apple Vision Pro

Where is Apple Vision Pro available?

As of July 12, you can now buy Apple Vision Pro in 10 countries:

• U.S.
• Canada
• Australia
• France
• Germany
• UK
• China
• Hong Kong
• Japan
• Singapore

How to buy Apple Vision Pro?

To buy an Apple Vision Pro in the U.S. or any other country, you can go to the Apple Store online, the Apple Store app, or an Apple Store near you. We'd recommend going online, as you can start some of the process for getting the right fitment for your headset without leaving the house. That's also the only way to get the right ZEISS Optical Inserts if you require either reader or prescription eyeglasses. 

• Where to buy Apple Vision Pro — Apple's latest innovation is in stores now

Apple Vision Pro Accessories

You can score an Apple Vision Pro travel case from Apple, as well as peripherals like the Magic Keyboard. But you might also want to consider looking at Amazon, where we've found some great third-party accessories. 

• You can't buy Apple Vision Pro on Amazon Prime Day, but you can score these 11 accessories instead

Apple Vision Pro games

Apple Vision Pro is for play as well as work! Here are all the spatial games you can play on Apple Vision Pro right now:

• Every Apple Vision Pro Spatial game we know about so far
• Apple Vision Pro's first multiplayer spatial game is here 
• Here's your first look at Apple Vision Pro Spatial gaming
• Someone recreated one of the iPhone's most iconic games for Apple Vision Pro
• Apple Vision Pro might have just got its best game yet

Apple Vision Pro tips and tricks

• Complete guide to Vision Pro streaming: When to use Apple TV, Safari, and apps
• Apple Vision Pro essentials: How to update, turn off, or reset the headset
• How to use cloud gaming services on Apple Vision Pro
• How to use other input methods to control Apple Vision Pro — keyboards, trackpads, pointers, and more
• How to create a Persona on Apple Vision Pro
• Having eye or hand tracking issues on Vision Pro? Here's how you can recalibrate
• Apple Vision Pro EyeSight: Everything you need to know about the mixed reality headset's outward display
• Apple Vision Pro sensors: What they all do, and where they are on the headset
• How to use Travel Mode with Apple Vision Pro on an airplane
• How to start a Guest User session on Apple Vision Pro — let someone else experience spatial computing on your mixed-reality headset
• How to safely clean an Apple Vision Pro headset and accessories
• How to set up Optic ID on Apple Vision Pro — troubleshooting tips and more
• This Vision Pro app turns your shortcuts into buttons that float before your very eyes and it's available now
• 50 things you need to know about Apple Vision Pro
• Apple Vision Pro — Can you import one from the U.S., and is it worth it?
• Environments on Apple Vision Pro: What they are and every location announced so far
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

For a device that Apple is hoping will become the next big thing in computing, the Vision Pro is one of the most difficult-to-acquire gadgets on the market right now.

Though it’s now on the cusp of an international rollout, it’s spent the first five months of its shelf life as a US exclusive. The AR / VR hybrid wearable is also one of the priciest bits of consumer tech gear a person can purchase at the moment, with an eye-watering price tag of $3,499 / £3,499, putting it out of reach of many would-be buyers.

• Where to buy Apple Vision Pro

Those two factors combine for a difficult scenario for the device’s app development scene — Vision Pro needs apps in order for it to be successful… but how can you make a great app without access to the device it’s going to be launching on?

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I sat down with Dudley Denman-Rees, the solo developer behind D Digital Creative, and the company’s debut app offering, There Is No Spoon. A quick-fire AR experience exclusive to the Vision Pro, it takes inspiration from the mind-bending, spoon-warping scene from The Matrix film. Even more mind-bending? Denman-Rees built the app without access to a Vision Pro, without ever having built an app before, and all within just a few short months.

Here’s how he did it — and some top tips for those who would similarly like to try their hand at Vision Pro app development.

An idea, intensive study, and a growing community

An early admission here — though Denman-Rees had never put out an app before, his background was in development, skilled in Javascript, HTML, CSS, and the React library.

“I was working as a front end developer, building websites and apps. That's my expertise,” he explains over a coffee. Denman-Rees is animated and confident in conversation — unsurprising, given the sort of career leap he’s made that many would find daunting. 

“Like with many technology companies, redundancies came to our office. This is back in February, and I'd only been there nine months. And so I just felt a little bit like, well, maybe I'd like to be doing something else.”

That something else was app development for the newly launched Vision Pro. With a five-month-old baby at home, Denman-Rees took the redundancy and embarked on an “intensive” period of study to get up to speed with the requirements of Vision Pro development. Most notably, learning Apple’s own Swift development language, something Denman-Rees had previously “put on a pedestal”.

“It's been an interesting experience, because I think to go in and properly learn Swift will take a really long time,” says Denman-Rees.

“I've had to be a bit more ruthless than that. I've had to go, 'I want results in my app'. So I need to learn the specific bits to make my app. There are definitely times where I've been looking at my code and I'm like, I know that this could be a lot better, but I just need to be practical here.”

With the free XCode developer tool downloaded, and its built-in ‘Simulator’ simulation environment letting him visualize how a Vision Pro app might actually work on real hardware, Denman-Rees got to work. There Is No Spoon was designed to tap into the “cinematic” and “emotional” potential Deman-Rees saw in Vision Pro, looking to tap the “wow factor” of the hardware with some trippy visuals, but on a scale achievable by a solo dev.

Denman-Rees took advantage of the opportunity to take part in a developer lab session at Apple’s Battersea HQ in London, UK (the only time he’s even had an opportunity to fleetingly touch the Vision Pro headset), but that support aside, he’s been more or less on his own. The virtual exception? The growing number of Redditors and Discord server users dedicated to sharing tips and educating each other around the complexities of Vision Pro development.

“Discord was really good. On the server I’m active on there are people who own Vision Pro in the UK — I think they own them for their companies. So that was really nice — going from working in a company and obviously being on Slack every day to being freelance can leave you feeling a little bit adrift. And so to suddenly be in a kind of Slack-like environment where people are posting memes to each other and chatting was a great way to connect and learn.”

That connection to the wider community proved vital for getting around the simulator’s limitations — without a Vision Pro, the simulator couldn’t account for the hand-tracking moments required for Denman-Rees’s app, and also wasn’t useful for testing against the upcoming VisionOS 2 launch that was breaking There Is No Spoon. Those overseas owners and UK early adopters become Denman-Rees’s TestFlight guinea pigs, with TestFlight allowing the developer to distribute early versions of his app among the few with access to the hardware.

Just a few short months after taking the plunge, There Is No Spoon is up for purchase on the Vision Pro app store. But in a wild twist… Denman-Rees still hasn’t been able to try his completed app on a Vision Pro headset. Based out of the UK, he’s had to wait for this week’s international rollout for the chance to try out the completed app. But the accomplishment has been worth the hard work.

“I feel an immense sense of pride, an immense sense of pride,” says Denman-Rees. “It's great, it's delightful for it to be there as the first app I've launched. And it feels like I'm getting in on Vision Pro development early. And that's really exciting.”

6 top tips for first-time Vision Pro app developers

Looking to get started? Here’s what Dudley Denman-Rees says you’ll need to consider to get off to a great start with your Vision Pro development journey.

Have a great idea:

​​My angle is to think of what you would like to do in spatial computing specifically. Why 3D? Why immersive? I think that for me is the first thing — and people would disagree with me about that. I was speaking to somebody on Reddit who said, “What is the point? Why spoon bending?” I think in spatial computing, it's got to be about immersion. And so I think you should ask yourself, what would I like to do in 3D space?

No Vision Pro? Xcode simulator and YouTube are your friends:

100% the first thing you should do is download Xcode for free and run the simulator. Because when I started, I had no idea what anything even looked like in Vision OS, beyond a few screenshots of the icons. But like, how do you go into an app? How do you come out of an app? You've got no idea. So definitely get Xcode with the simulator — it's free! 

Beyond that, try and watch walkthroughs of people using Vision Pro apps on YouTube. For instance, if you've got an app that conveys three pieces of information, you’ll have no idea how somebody might go from one piece of information to another, just some really basic UI interface stuff. You can learn a lot just by watching walkthroughs and then experimenting with your findings.

Understand state management:

Getting a little bit technical, there's a thing known as “state management”  that I had from running web apps that was really relevant. It's quite a simple idea — it's just changing the state of something basically. So for example, “the spoon is in the distance” would be state one, and then “the spoon is in front of you” is state two. I was really grateful that it was part of the process when coming into Swift and Vision Pro development — so, “the person's head is upright” is state one, “the person's head is tilted his state two”. 

TL:DR? Make sure you’re able to define and understand the different steps and interactions a user may make with your app, and the journey and parameters needed to go from one stage to the next.

ChatGPT and Stack Overflow might be just as useful as Apple’s developer tutorials:

During the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple runs a lot of little lessons and workshops. You can watch the videos and you can download code snippets as you go along, and paste those into your own app to test it. That's really helpful, because you can go through them in your own time carefully and go, “Well, what does that do? What does that do?” 

And then there’s also Stack Overflow. There's a small number of Apple Vision Pro developers there who are putting up answers that are really helpful and offering code blocks. And again, you can take those, put them into your app, go through them really carefully.

But ChatGPT these days is my number one colleague. Maybe people will hate that, but honestly, it's so useful, even if just for talking dev theory with it. I haven't found it as knowledgeable in Swift as I have in other languages, so it often gives you errors. And it won't write the code for you. But you can talk theory with it. But you can ask basic questions like, where do I put my files? What do I call the folders, the directories? ChatGPT is really helpful for that sort of thing.

Recruit some Vision Pro-owning testers:

Go back to Reddit, go back to Discord, be nice about it and try to recruit some testers. Ask somebody to be kind to you and to give their time up to test your thing. And I think because people are excited about their device, they want to help something that’s new, so that's cool. People are excited to see what developers are working on. And I think with the international launch, there will be many more people interested in testing. There'll be more devices, particularly in the UK. So you, this time next week, we may know somebody who owns one or a company that owns one, so go speak to people!

Be prepared for plenty of paperwork:

Getting your app on the App Store is hard work, whether you're building an iOS app or a Vision Pro app. If you're registering a developer account as a company for the first time, you have to have a company website, which I didn't have. You have to have a page for your app. You have to have a privacy policy for your app. So suddenly, you go from just developing an app to having to roll out a website too — and you don't want it to look like complete crap! Then you have to do some fairly intimidating paperwork, about selling the app in America, and a treaty that we have here in the UK with America about tax. YouTube comes to the rescue, where you’ll find some helpful, but not particularly charismatic, accountants who walk through the process.

One of the things that most impressed early adopters of the Apple Vision Pro was the ability to place virtual apps anywhere in 3D space using the headset's augmented reality capabilities and then lock them into position. Multiple windows are supported, making for quite the futuristic computing experience. Now, owners of the Meta Quest 3 headset can experience something very similar.

New movable windows for multitasking have been added to the entire Meta Quest lineup, but it's the Meta Quest 3's AR capabilities that make for the most Apple Vision Pro-like experience.

The result is a huge upgrade for Meta Quest 3 users that will be immediately familiar to those who have seen what the Apple Vision Pro can do.

Movable panels for multitasking

Meta announced the new software update in a blog post that detailed just what users can expect from version 67.

"The v67 update adds experimental support for moving and rearranging 2D apps in your Home environment," the blog post explains. "Replacing Meta Quest’s default three-panel groupings, you can now grab and move panels around your space to create the most comfortable (or the most optimal) experience for whatever you’re doing, whether idly watching a video on YouTube while folding laundry or listening to music while knocking out some work."

Meta says that users can arrange up to three panels in a new "hinged" layout before placing an additional three more panels anywhere they would like "creating the ultimate multitasking setup."

The new features are rolling out gradually, we're told, and Quest users should hang fire if they don't see anything new just yet. For those who would prefer an Apple Vision Pro, the headset is finally rolling out beyond the United States for the first time after launching in Apple's home country in February.

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• I have no problem with a cheaper Vision Pro having a worse display

Apple has patched a nightmarish Apple Vision Pro bug that allowed websites to render 3D models of bats and spiders in Safari. 

As reported by our friends at PC Gamer, the bug was discovered by Ryan Pickren, who uncovered a bug in visionOS that "a malicious website to bypass all warnings and forcefully fill your room with an arbitrary number of animated 3D objects." According to Pickren, while Apple has done plenty of work to ensure apps and websites can't randomly spawn objects in your personal space, it forgot about its old web-based 3D model standard Apple AR Kit Quick Look. 

As such, Pickren found a hack that meant "any website could instruct mobile Safari to treat the link as an in-place 3D model," even adding Spatial Audio sounds to the models too. The crux? "This means that we can launch an arbitrary number of 3D, animated, sound-creating, objects without any user interaction whatsoever... If the victim just views our website in Vision Pro, we can instantly fill their room with hundreds of crawling spiders and screeching bats! Freaky stuff."

Apple Vision Pro nightmare

As you can imagine, this is quite a problematic bug for users of Vision Pro, especially any who happen to be arachnophobes. Findings in hand, Pickren reported the issue to Apple in February, and Futurism reports it was patched in the June visionOS 1.2 update. What a relief. 

Also in June, Apple unveiled visionOS 2 at WWDC 2024. The update features new tools including tech that can turn any photo into a spatial photo, new gestures, and a big upgrade to Mac Virtual Display that brings ultra-wide display support. 

visionOS 2 is expected in September alongside iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, iPadOS 18, and Apple Intelligence, the company's new AI tools baked into its software. 

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Last year with Apple Vision Pro still very much unknown, I postulated about some of the things Apple could learn from its metaverse-cavorting rival Meta. While I had the Quest 2 plastered to my face, I thought about some of the things that could inspire Apple and some of the things Apple should try and avoid. Now, we have Apple Vision Pro live in the flesh, and a newer Meta Quest to have fun with. 

Apple Vision Pro has been out for several months now, and after a few weeks of intense hype, it has slowly faded into relative obscurity. This was to be expected, given the Vision Pro’s immense price tag, but the market remains exciting, ripe with potential. So how can Apple bring its spatial computing erm… vision… to the masses? What does it have to learn from mainstream rivals like the Quest 3? I’ve been spending time with the latter ahead of Apple’s UK Vision Pro release. With rumors of a cheaper Vision Pro taking precedence over a second generation, what changes can Apple make to give its headset more appeal and buoy interest? Here are five things I think it could learn, with one eye on making the headset cheaper overall.

 Hand controls are fun 

I get it, controlling visionOS by waving your arms around like Stephen Strange is cool I really do. But hand controls are fun. There’s something fantastic about gripping a physical tool as you battle the notes in Beatsaber or even just navigate a simple menu. 

Apple Vision Pro boasts a plethora of cameras and sensors, which in part power its futuristic hand and eye-tracking gestures. There are four cameras for the latter alone and a further six world-facing tracking cameras. You have to imagine that jamming all of those cameras is pretty expensive, and I wonder if a cheaper Apple Vision Pro of the future could adopt actual, physical controllers rather than gestures to keep costs down. Apple has plenty of patents to that effect, including a set you can wear as gloves and finger controllers, too. 

Beyond cost, there’s something very satisfying about holding controllers and waving them around in VR, particularly while gaming. It evokes shades of the Nintendo Wii or an old arcade shooter — think Duck Hunt, but it's 2024, and the screen doesn’t flicker when you press the trigger. Hand controllers are tactile and accessible, and I’d love to believe Apple hasn’t closed the door on them just yet.

Gaming is fun, too 

Apple Vision Pro is an incredibly serious bit of kit. By that, I mean it’s stern-faced and corporate. Vision Pro marketing is all about desks, working, and conference calls. There’s not a lot of fun or whimsy, and while Apple does have a burgeoning list of great spatial games for Vision Pro, gaming remains something of an afterthought whenever it talks about the headset. 

Apple has been wrong about products before in this manner. The first Apple Watch was all about communication, yet in its ten iterations the Watch has evolved into a primarily fitness-focused device. Could it be that Apple has missed the mark and that there’s more untapped gaming potential here? I’d say yes, as while using the Meta Quest 3, I’ve absolutely loved playing games like Beatsaber, Assassin’s Creed: Nexus, and Asgard’s Wrath 2. Apple does have some cool spatial games, as I mentioned, but there aren’t many knockout VR titles available on the platform (although Job Simulator is a notable exception). 

I would love a cheaper “Arcade” version of the Apple Vision Pro to focus on spatial and fully immersive VR titles, perhaps even to the detriment of some other features. Perhaps the solution isn’t a totally different headset (I’ll get to that in a moment), but I think Apple might have missed at least some of the point of Vision Pro’s gaming potential. The Meta Quest 3 might be a bit too unserious for some, but I bet there’s a balance to be found in between. 

Let me plug this thing in 

From where I’m sitting, the Meta Quest 3 boasts one major advantage over the Apple Vision Pro, USB connectivity. You can plug your Meta Quest into any compatible PC with a USB 3.2 cable and enjoy AAA PC VR gaming. I would love to see a future Apple Vision Pro model that supports tethering with some of Apple’s other products. 

Of course, the Mac is an obvious candidate and would let users leverage Apple silicon in Apple’s best MacBooks and desktop Macs for gaming or productivity. I can see that Apple Vision Pro has a big advantage when it comes to wireless connection, its Mac Virtual Display feature now provides users with a wraparound ultra-wide display equivalent to two 4K monitors. However, this is still limited by the Vision Pro’s battery life, and I can’t help but think there’s a gap in the market for wired connectivity here too. Heck, if Apple really wanted to blow the market wide open, it could try to incorporate support for other platforms, such as Windows PC. This is, of course, a pipe dream, but wired, tethered connectivity could be a big boon to Vision Pro.

Multiple models for the win 

Apple Vision Pro is barely six months old, so this isn’t a criticism. However, the company currently only offers one Vision Pro model, compared to Meta’s three. In fact, Meta has taken a leaf out of the Apple Watch playbook here, offering a very cheap option (the old Meta Quest 2), the mainstream Quest 3, and the premium Meta Quest Pro. That’s three different headsets with different budgets and capabilities that vastly increase the lineup’s appeal. Indeed, the Quest Pro is arguably a much more serious offering more akin to the thrust of Vision Pro, showing a multi-model lineup could offer something for everyone. I’m heartened by rumors that Apple has put Vision Pro 2 on hold in favor of a cheaper option, but even a vastly reduced option could still cost as much as $2,000. Here’s hoping one day we’ll get a more comprehensive Vision Pro lineup and favorable pricing to match. 

Apple needs a franchise VR title 

As I’ve hinted at a lot so far, I think Apple needs to do a lot more to emphasize just how cool gaming on a spatial headset is. To that end, hours of Beatsaber have convinced me that Apple needs a franchise VR hit. Most people probably haven’t heard of the Meta Quest, or wouldn’t know its exact name or features, but I guarantee that most people have seen a viral video of someone playing Beatsaber. It’s an iconic title that has really catapulted VR gaming into the mainstream, and I think Apple needs to pull off something similar. I don’t know which title is the answer, but Meta has seen success with unique VR spinoffs like the aforementioned Assassin’s Creed: Nexus. As such, it doesn’t need to be an all-singing, all-dancing AAA port to be a success, but Apple needs to find a developer that can deliver a hit title with viral potential and mass appeal. This last one is much subtler and won’t really matter if Apple can’t figure out how to make Vision Pro cheaper and more appealing, but right now Vision Pro doesn’t have an iconic title, and I think it needs one. 

Conclusion

There’s plenty to like about both the Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro, but that doesn’t mean Apple can’t learn a thing or two from a more popular, mainstream device. At the very least, all signs point to Apple’s plans to bring the price of Vision Pro down. Who knows, maybe one of these ideas will make the cut! 

Apple is looking into a more affordable Apple Vision Pro that could feature lower-resolution displays.

According to The Elec, Apple has requested information from Samsung and LG about 2.1-inch OLEDoS (OLED on Silicon) displays with 1700 PPI (Pixels Per Inch). This is a significantly lower standard than the Micro‑OLED displays in the current Apple Vision Pro headset supplied by Sony, which are 1.42 inches with a pixel density of 3391 PPI.

OLEDoS (OLED on Silicon) is a relatively new display technology that combines Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) with silicon wafers. Ultimately, this can result in fantastic image quality, such as an ultra-high contrast ratio of 100,000:1, as well as a higher refresh rate than the current Apple Vision Pro’s 100Hz.

The leak of a cheaper Apple Vision Pro is not new, with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reporting in his ‘Power On’ newsletter recently that he expects this headset to sell between $1,500 to $2,000 However, we’re not expecting this lower-cost version to launch until at least 2025.

The spatial computing headset was recently launched in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore. A July 12 launch is also set for Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK after pre-orders opened up in the countries on June 28.

Following a different path

In the past, Apple has announced new products and brought down the price of previous-generation models. Apple's best iPhone in 2024, the iPhone 15 Pro, ushered in a price drop for the iPhone 14, for example.

However, Apple seems to be planning a different approach with Vision Pro. Instead of waiting for certain components to come down in price, Apple is planning to release an entirely new cheaper model within the next 18 months. This could suggest that the company wants to make the spatial headset as accessible as possible to more users.

This new strategy could position the Vision Pro to go against Meta Quest Pro and other headsets priced around $1,500. That price point could make the spatial headset an alluring purchase, especially with the features that visionOS offers, such as Mac Virtual Display and Immersive Environments.

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If you own Apple Vision Pro or you're thinking of buying one, Amazon has a bunch of accessories you can score for the headset right now.

Perfect timing too, as Apple Vision Pro has finally been made available in countries outside of the U.S., such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore. Pre-orders have also gone live for users in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK with a July 12 launch.

Currently, Apple’s spatial computing headset can only be bought directly from its website or at Apple Stores in certain countries. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t find great accessories on other vendors like Amazon. While some are best avoided, there are plenty to choose from that will enhance how you use Vision Pro.

With this in mind, we’ve gone through the accessories currently available on Amazon and compiled the best ones to help complement your future Apple Vision Pro purchase. With the Prime Day Apple deals already kicking off, here are some savings we've found so far.

Best Apple Vision Pro accessories

The Apple Vision Pro has been on sale in the United States since February and has today gone on sale in new countries for the first time. But the global expansion of Apple's spatial computing vision won't stop there, with the headset now also available for preorder in a host of additional countries.

Apple announced the international availability of the Apple Vision Pro during the WWDC event on June 10, putting an end to months of speculation about when people outside the United States would be able to buy the headset. As of today, Apple Stores in China mainland, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore are now selling the device.

Starting today, that same headset can also be preordered in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Coming soon

Those who place an Apple Vision Pro preorder today can expect to receive their new headset on July 12, assuming they get that order in quickly enough. It remains to be seen just how popular the headset will be and how quickly the expected delivery window will extend beyond that initial launch date.

“The enthusiasm for Apple Vision Pro has been extraordinary, and we are thrilled to introduce the magic of spatial computing to more customers around the world,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a press release earlier this month. “We can’t wait for more people to see the impossible become possible, whether working and collaborating with an infinite canvas for apps, reliving treasured memories in three dimensions, watching TV shows and movies in a one-of-a-kind personal cinema, or enjoying brand-new spatial experiences that defy imagination.”

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Juno, an unofficial YouTube app for Apple Vision Pro, has been updated to 2.0 with some huge improvements.

Developer Christian Selig announced on his blog that Juno 2.0 can be downloaded on the Vision Pro App Store for $4.99 for new users while existing users can update for free. Some major updates include a revamped user interface with a tab bar, making it easier to switch between Subscriptions, Playlists, and more. Users can now watch any 360- and 180-degree videos with Juno through YouTube, similar to the Environments feature that Apple Vision Pro offers, which ‘transports’ users to different places. A ‘back’ button has been added throughout Juno 2.0, simplifying browsing between different videos and menus. In addition, improved resizing allows users to pinch in and out to adjust the size of their videos as they wish.

Although Selig has made great strides with Juno in the four months that Apple Vision Pro has been available in the U.S., YouTube has yet to release its own app for the spatial computing headset, despite confirming in February that it plans to.

As of today (June 28), Apple Vision Pro has launched in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore. A July 12 launch is also set for Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK. With all of these countries receiving Apple’s newest product, the release of Juno 2.0 is perfect timing for those who want to watch YouTube in the best possible way.

What else is there to look forward to with Apple Vision Pro?

Although Juno is a great way to watch YouTube on Apple Vision Pro, it’s not the only reason to consider buying one. visionOS 2, announced at WWDC 2024, improves Vision Pro’s navigation, such as showing the battery status by flipping your hand over so your palm is facing the ground or tapping your thumb and finger to open Control Center. You can also make your Mac’s screen an ultrawide display that almost looks like it’s being wrapped around your body.

These features, along with many others, only enhance what you can do with Vision Pro. With the spatial headset becoming available in many more countries by the end of July, it only means that more developers will gain access to visionOS. This will likely lead to even more innovative apps being available for Apple Vision Pro, much like Juno.

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Apple Vision Pro is getting not one but two new spatial games courtesy of Apple Arcade, including a city builder that might be the best game on the headset yet. 

Announced Thursday, Apple has confirmed that Warped Kart Racers and Cityscapes: Sim Builder are both coming to Apple Arcade as spatial games for Apple Vision Pro. Warped Kart Racers, launching today, is a "raucous racing game" that lets you play as 20th Television animated characters from hit shows including Family Guy and American Dad! Tear around race tracks as Peter Griffin, Quagmire, and more all while you enjoy spatially-fixed content such as scoreboards. 

The perfect Apple Vision Pro game?

If you want something a little more laid back and a lot more spatial, Cityscapes: Sim Builder might be your cup of tea. As the name suggests, Cityscapes is a city builder that gives players a birds-eye view of their city. Thanks to the magic of Apple Vision Pro you can law roads, build neighborhoods, and grow your city with nothing but your hands. Cityscapes is an Apple Arcade Game of the Year winner and an Apple Design Award finalist. The new title will be available for Apple Vision Pro on July 3. 

While Apple Vision Pro enjoyed some early time in the limelight, it's been a muted launch since its January rollout. At WWDC 2024, Apple announced the spatial headset was coming to more countries and regions including China, Japan, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the U.K.

Apple says visionOS, soon to be visionOS 2, now has more than 2,000 dedicated apps in its library. 

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The Apple Vision Pro might not be getting a sequel, at least not one with similar high-end features and a huge price tag to match. That's according to a new report claiming that Apple decided to cancel plans for a next-gen Apple Vision Pro spatial computer.

That doesn't mean that there won't be any new Apple Vision Pro releases, however. According to that report, Apple does indeed plan to release a new headset next year, but it won't be the all-singing, all-dancing replacement for the current model that people had been expecting. Instead, this model will be a cheaper alternative for people who would rather not spend the $3,499 required to put the current model on their heads.

That might be a controversial decision for those who are already looking forward to seeing what Apple can do when it pushes the envelope yet further after a reach-for-the-stars launch of the original headset. But for most people, and likely for Apple itself, the decision to ditch plans for a new high-end model is absolutely the way to go. Whether or not mixed reality headsets are the future of computing remains to be seen. But just as was the case when possession of a personal computer became the norm in the 1990s, it will only happen once more people can afford to actually buy one.

A change of plan

The revelation comes via a report by The Information's Wayne Ma Qianer Liu which details Apple's plans based on information that at least one supply chain partner has been told.

Supply chain analysts and industry watchers have long suggested that demand is starting to wane for a headset that was always seen as a luxury product for early adopters. The $3,499 starting price was always going to be a sticking point for the general public though, and many saw the Apple Vision Pro as something of a tech demo crossed with a developer kit — a device designed to show what can be down and to get people (and developers) excited about the future of spatial computing.

But that future of spatial computing still has to happen one way or another, and it appears that Apple has decided that finding a way to produce a cheaper headset is the only way to rekindle interest in the company's AR plans.

"The company is still working on releasing a more affordable Vision product with fewer features before the end of 2025," a supply chain source reportedly told The Information. "Apple originally planned to divide its Vision line into two models, similar to the standard and Pro versions of the iPhone, according to people involved in its supply chain and former Apple employees who worked on the devices."

This news comes as Apple is getting ready to launch the Apple Vision Pro outside the United States for the first time, complete with its high asking price. It will be very interesting to see what kind of demand the headset garners in international markets, especially now that the initial excitement of a new product category has died down following the February US launch.

No matter how the global launch is received by customers around the world, it's increasingly clear that a cheaper price point is needed if sales are to increase. The only real question is how cheap Apple can really make such a device and which features will be removed in order to make it happen.

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Apple Vision Pro sales have been struggling a little since its release, but an international launch is not the only thing that might help turn those sales around — as two important camera makers have both announced special products for spatial video. 

Announced at WWDC 2024, Canon is creating a spatial lens for its popular EOS R7 digital camera line, meaning creators can film videos entirely for Apple Vision Pro. This can shoot in higher quality than the iPhone 15 Pro, which can also record spatial video, meaning professional studios can more easily create films, music videos, and more for the headset. A price for this has not yet been confirmed but the lens will be available for purchase at some point between September 21 and December 20, this year. 

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That’s not all

Blackmagic Design, the company behind Davinci Resolve, professional recorders, and a whole host of studio cameras, is creating a spatial camera specifically for spatial videos. It is capable of capturing content at 8140 x 7200 resolution per eye at 90 fps. No price has yet been announced but the niche use case and super high specs suggest this will be quite a pricey piece of equipment. 

To go with these new cameras, Apple Vision Pro is adopting a more “professional workflow”, which allows you to edit spatial video in Final Cut Pro, and then export it for viewing in the Apple Vision Pro Vimeo app. This means that not only can professional studios make spatial videos but student projects and short films can be exported directly to the spatial headset too. 

Like Tangerine, the indie film shot entirely on iPhone, we can’t wait to start seeing independent movies shot entirely for Apple Vision Pro. More people just need to get their hands on the headset first. 

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Apple's WWDC 2024 keynote is just a few weeks away, and alongside a big push for AI features, Apple is widely expected to showcase where the Vision Pro is going to launch next. And a new report from Apple leaker Ming-Chi Kuo shows that the international launch is getting closer as the headset gets ready for shipments.

According to Kuo, the international rollout is set to kick off before mid-June, with shipments getting ready to arrive in the middle of the month. We expect that the grand reveal might just happen at the WWDC keynote on Monday, with availability later that month.

The company's first mixed reality headset remains a US-only product at the time of writing, although reports have suggested that Apple employees have received specialized training for when it launches internationally. 

Vision Pro goes international

The current lineup for the next phase of Vision Pro currently looks as follows:

• Australia
• Canada
• China
• France
• Germany
• Japan
• Singapore
• South Korea
• UK

Kuo expects the UK, France, Germany, China, Japan, and Singapore will be first in line, with shipments currently being prepared for those locations.

China was one country mentioned as a potential second-wave country, and now it's been confirmed that the country's Quality Certification Center has approved the Apple Vision Pro to go on sale locally. So we can be certain that the headset is coming here. As for the other locations, they're not too surprising given that they're all pretty much in the first wave for any Apple product launch.

At WWDC, Apple is also expected to reveal the next iteration of visionOS, likely visionOS 2. What better way to entice those in other markets to pick up the headset than with a slate of improvements, fixes, and quality-of-life tweaks?

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In February, Apple released arguably its most revolutionary product of all time, Apple Vision Pro. Since its release, the silence around Apple’s new spatial computing headset has been deafening, with consumer and media interest waning faster than for almost any product in living memory. Seriously, can you think of a product that was unveiled with so much hype, and launched with so much intense media coverage, only to fall away in such a short space of time? 

Apple VR, which became Apple Vision Pro, was a product rumored for years. When Apple finally unveiled the headset at WWDC 2023, it felt like the dawn of a new era, as though Apple had introduced a product potentially even more important than its iPhone. Fast-forward to launch, and we spent days watching viral clips of influencers and stooges wearing their headsets on the subway, flying, piloting aircraft, driving (illegally), and more. For a few brief moments, we all basked in the glorious sunshine of a computing revolution. Then, overnight, it was gone. 

You rarely, if ever, see Apple Vision Pro on the front pages these days, which feels like a hilarious thing to say given it was only released a few months ago. We’ve had the occasional launch of a new spatial game, such as Marvel’s What If…? and Job Simulator. That aside, Vision Pro is making almost no waves. WWDC 2024 is just days away, as might be visionOS 2, yet so bereft are we of rumors and leaks that there’s simply nothing exciting to report about its upcoming features. WWDC might well herald visionOS 2, but I can’t think of a single software upgrade that could resurrect Apple Vision Pro and awaken the headset from its slumber. 

So what could Apple do to give Apple Vision Pro a much-needed shot in the arm? Here’s what Apple’s spatial computing headset needs to actually take off.

International launch 

This is an obvious play and an easy win. Apple Vision Pro is only available in the U.S. right now, drastically limiting its appeal. A global release of the headset, or at least a rollout beyond U.S. shores, would help revive some of the interest in Apple Vision Pro. Who knows? Maybe a developer in Sweden or an enterprise in Japan has a killer use for Vision Pro, a transformative app or business application that could catapult Vision Pro back onto the world stage, but they’ve simply not had a chance to try the headset yet. 

Developer relations 

Apple Vision Pro apps are few and far between. The price of the headset and its niche appeal might well be part of the issue, but there’s also a more pressing problem going on. Apple’s developer relations seem to be at an all-time low. Its fervent resistance to antitrust legislation that could make developing apps for iPhone more financially sustainable and flexible, as well as its kicking-and-screaming approach to complying with the DMA has chewed up a lot of good faith Apple had with its developers. When it comes to iPhone and iPad apps, the balance of power is very much in Apple’s hands, so mobile developers need Apple to be successful. However, in its infancy, Apple Vision Pro is crying out for an influx of apps and developers who seem reluctant to develop apps for Vision Pro, despite the clear and obvious technological merits of the platform. A bit of developer goodwill would go a long way to spurring at least some creative minds to develop apps for Apple Vision Pro.  

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Drop the price 

There’s no hope of this happening, but it seems worth mentioning anyway — Apple Vision Pro is far too expensive to generate any kind of mass appeal. Even a marginally cheaper price tag would probably bring some more customers on side, but $3,499 is almost enough to buy Apple’s best MacBook, the M3 Max MacBook Pro, and certainly enough to buy an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and a MacBook Air with money to spare. 

Woo some big guns 

One bright spot in the early days of Apple Vision Pro has been its burgeoning partnership with Disney. Not only is there a fully-fledged Disney+ app for Vision Pro, Disney has also invested in Apple’s environments, and recently rolled out the aforementioned What If…? Immersive story for the headset. Apple needs to build some partnerships with the likes of Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, and more to bring more mass entertainment appeal to Vision Pro. Netflix has already said the headset is “not really particularly relevant” to its customers. Sounds like someone needs to have a sit down with Tim Cook. 

VisionOS 2 

I’m mildly curious to see what visionOS 2 brings to Apple Vision Pro if it's unveiled at WWDC 2024 next week, but I think there are some really deep-seated concerns about the headset that need taken care of if the headset is going to end up anywhere. These solutions are really just the tip of the iceberg, and it could take years for Apple to turn Vision Pro into a mainstream device with mass market appeal and a price tag to match. 

Following its recent announcement, Marvel's What If…? – An Immersive Story is now available on Apple Vision Pro. Described as the "first-ever interactive Disney+ Original story," the new experience is available as a free app from the App Store on visionOS. 

In What If...?, players "step into the leading role" of a one-hour story, meeting variants from across Marvel's Multiverse, playing with Infinity Stones, and making choices. As you might have guessed, it's all connected to Disney's Marvel series of the same name, a series of shows set in alternative timelines around the MCU. 

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Vision Pro gets another exciting game

Marvel says the game will utilize "the revolutionary spatial computing capabilities of Apple Vision Pro" to deliver a "technologically advanced and engaging experience to fans that completely transforms the space around them." As you might expect with Vision Pro, players will use their hands and eyes to interact with the story, delivered in spatial audio and a combination of mixed and virtual reality. 

What If...? is one of the biggest entertainment titles to drop for Apple Vision Pro since its release in January. Disney has been a staunch partner to Apple's spatial computing foray, appearing in early product demos. Disney+ is also one of the few mainstream entertainment apps available on Apple Vision Pro natively, with giants like Netflix not choosing to invest in Apple's niche, and incredibly expensive, mixed reality platform. 

The success of a title like What If...? could provide a small boost to Apple's fortunes, but while the headset remains tremendously expensive, it doesn't stand much chance of mainstream success. 

WWDC 2024 is just around the corner, and Apple is expected to unveil visionOS 2. Rumors are scarce on changes coming to the headset, but more broadly Apple's annual developer conference should have a heavy focus on Apple AI, with big changes coming to the iPhone in iOS 18. 

Carrot Weather 6.0 launches today, featuring a huge redesign that aims to give even more personality and customization options to the weather app.

Developed by Brian Mueller, the headline feature of version 6.0 is the ‘Garden’. This is shown on the main screen of Carrot and grows over the course of a month to add some more personality to the app.

“You'll see cute little robots named Droney, Rover, and Stretch pruning trees, watering plants, and delivering supplies throughout the day,” Mueller told iMore. 

“The garden's growth resets at the start of each month, so you'll never get bored looking at the same static scenery daily.“ Mueller reveals that the Garden will change throughout the month before being reset. 

Existing users of Carrot will be able to keep their customizable layouts of the app regardless of this new redesign — preserving a key feature of the app since its launch in 2015. But that’s not all for this new version. Weather news, sourced from AccuWeather, will now appear on the app’s layouts, tailored to your location. Mueller explains that this addition can help give context to the weather conditions you may be facing in your area at any given time.

Carrot Weather has consistently featured in our best Apple Watch apps and best Apple TV apps guides. The app’s elegantly colorful user interface, as well as its sassy robot that can give you abuse as it tells you the forecast, is a great alternative to Apple’s own Weather app. Version 6.0 promises to be a big evolution with its ‘Garden’ feature — clearly aiming to give more personality to the app than ever before. Although the jury is still out as to whether forecasts can be reliable — some still prefer to look outside for the hourly forecast.

Carrot Weather 6.0 can be downloaded from the App Store for free on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, and Apple silicon Macs. The app also offers optional subscriptions from $4.99/month or $19.99/year that have exclusive features, such as storm notifications.

But wait, there’s more!

A big part of Carrot Weather is how you can customize its layout to fit your needs. In version 6.0 when you go to Settings > Layout, there’s now even more you can do to re-arrange the app’s home screen compared to earlier versions.

New features such as a long-requested line chart for the Hourly and Daily Forecast sections can be used, as well as some visual options you can change here too. You can choose various options here — from deciding if the line intersects with the icon or the data label, to changing the color of the line itself.

There’s also a new toggle on the Minutely Forecast section. This lets you quickly switch between a precipitation chart and a mini-map that shows a radar for the area you’re currently in.

Overall, version 6.0 offers a lot of new features that can help tempt new and existing users alike. If you’ve tried Carrot Weather in the past, these new features are well worth trying out to see if they can replace the default daily weather app you may be stuck with.

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If you’ve been waiting for more traditional VR games to come to Apple Vision Pro, two of the most highly regarded in the immersive format have just launched — and they come with some improved features. 

Owlchemy Labs has taken to X to announce the launch of Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator on Apple Vision Pro. Not only do they have fully immersive environments, surrounding the player rather than the passthrough play you can find in What the Golf?, but they have eye and hand tracking for improved controls. Both are available to purchase right now, with Job Simulator costing $19.99 and Vacation Simulator being $29.99. 

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What are Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator?

Job Simulator places you in the eyes of a worker in a world filled with robots, doing menial tasks like filing paperwork, drinking coffee, and messing with your coworkers. Very tongue-in-cheek, it’s a humorous game filled with tiny secrets, minigames, and more. Standing in one spot, you have to grab things with your hands, move your body around, and look in the right spot to find out a little more about the world you have found yourself in. 

Job Simulator is very popular on Steam not only because it arrived around the same time modern consumer VR headsets started growing in popularity, but also because discovering all the little gags and jokes is still fun nearly a decade after its initial release. 

Vacation Simulator is the follow-up to Job Simulator, with a much bigger area to play around in and a higher price to go with it. After clocking out from your job, it’s time for you to go on a holiday, and all your robot coworkers are coming with you. You can customize your character, go to an assortment of different vacation spots, and explore a tropical island. Like the first game, it’s fun, humorous, and surprisingly replayable. 

These are some of the first dedicated VR games launching on Apple’s mixed reality headset and they come right after the company’s CEO praised Apple Vision Pro for how important it is for VR gaming.

As of the end of April, Apple Vision Pro sales were stagnating and Apple even cut some of its intended shipments to align with expected sales targets. Though you can play Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator on pretty much every modern VR device, Apple Vision Pro is set up to have the best experiences thanks to its incredible tracking functions, great screen, and super powerful chip. More VR games launching on the headset could help cement the headset as a solid gaming headset and further pull those sales around. As it comes to the rest of the world, we hope that more developers continue to invest in Apple’s headset. 

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There are quite a few ways that Apple Vision Pro crushes any Meta Quest headset, but one area where Meta clearly pushes ahead is gaming. Virtual reality headsets have been primarily used for gaming and fitness — or a little bit of both — so far, and no headset does a better job of that than the Meta Quest. 

By comparison, Vision Pro is neither designed for gaming and fitness nor does it have an expansive catalog of games on its App Store. The heavy build and tethered battery pack aren’t conducive to gaming, and there are virtually zero AAA gaming titles on the visionOS App Store.

If you want to get around these limitations, you can use cloud gaming services to play high-quality PC games on Apple Vision Pro. Since all the processing is done on cloud servers, app compatibility isn’t an issue. Furthermore, because cloud gaming services either use a controller or mouse and keyboard for input, you won’t have to fiddle with eye and hand control. Interested in cloud gaming with Vision Pro? Here’s everything you need to know, and how to do it. 

Why cloud gaming isn’t easy on Vision Pro

Unfortunately, using cloud gaming services on Apple Vision Pro isn’t as easy as it is on other platforms. The visionOS version of Safari doesn’t support progressive web apps (PWAs), and that rules out compatibility with cloud gaming services. The workaround is to download a third-party web browser on the visionOS App Store that supports PWAs. Our pick is Nexus+, as it’s specifically designed for cloud gaming, supports PWAs, and has a frameless UI for a more immersive experience. 

To get started, download Nexus+ by searching for it in the visionOS App Store or by following the App Store link here. It’s a free download, so pressing Get is all it takes to download it on your Vision Pro headset. 

Which cloud gaming service is best?

If you want to play cloud games on Vision Pro, there are two main options: Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now. Both services have their pros and cons, but Xbox Cloud Gaming is preferred simply because of its value and accessibility. If you are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Xbox Cloud Gaming is included free of charge. The service costs $17 monthly and well over 30 million people are subscribed to Ultimate already. As such, Xbox Cloud Gaming is ideal for those who already pay for Game Pass Ultimate.

The problem is that Xbox Cloud Gaming is limited to a 1080p resolution. If you plan to play cloud gaming in a giant visionOS window, Xbox Cloud Gaming will look blown out and grainy. By comparison, the “ultimate” tier of GeForce Now unlocks 4K resolution, which will look a lot better on Apple Vision Pro. It costs $20 per month, so it’s more expensive than Xbox Cloud Gaming. You can use either service with the Nexus+ browser on Vision Pro, so you can choose for yourself which cloud gaming provider is best.

How to play cloud games on Vision Pro

After you’ve downloaded the Nexus+ app and have chosen your preferred cloud gaming service, all that’s left is to start playing. For this, you need to pair a Bluetooth controller with your Vision Pro headset. All kinds of controllers are compatible, including those from Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo, so you should have one around that is compatible with visionOS. Here’s how to pair it with your headset:

1. Open the visionOS Settings app and navigate to the Bluetooth page
2. Put your controller into pairing mode. The process for this will depend on what controller you have. It‘s a good idea to turn off other devices that may be paired with the controller already to prevent accidental connections
3. When the controller appears in Vision Pro’s list of available Bluetooth devices, tap the name of your controller to pair it with Vision Pro
4. After that, you should see your controller move into Vision Pro’s list of paired and connected Bluetooth devices when it successfully pairs

Keep in mind that visionOS isn’t designed for controller use, so you may need to manually tell the operating system where you want to use the controller. For example, if the Bluetooth controller isn’t working in your desired game or cloud service, tap the center of the window while looking at it. This will shift your controller‘s input to that window. 

After connecting your controller, it’s time to load up the Nexus+ app. Here’s how it works:

1. Open the Nexus+ app on Apple Vision Pro
2. Tap the pill-shaped button above the Nexus+ window to open a bookmarks menu

3. Open a bookmarked site. Since the app is designed for cloud gaming, Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now are both already there. You can add your own bookmarks, too
4. Log into your cloud gaming service with your username and password
5. Once you’ve logged in, pick a game and start playing it using visionOS eye and hand controls. When you’re placed into the game, use your Bluetooth controller

That’s it. Aside from needing a third-party browser and a controller, the process of using cloud gaming services on Vision Pro is quite simple. 

Is Vision Pro good for gaming?

The experience of cloud gaming on Vision Pro is a great one, and it’s something that every Apple Vision Pro owner should try. Still, it’s hard to call Vision Pro “good” for gaming. While services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now are great for enjoying PC games on the (virtual) biggest screen you own, they won’t replace true VR games. People shouldn’t go out and buy a Vision Pro headset just for playing cloud games, but it does add to the overall usefulness of the device.

Apple Vision Pro enthusiasts may have been disappointed to learn that the headset's best productivity feature, Mac Virtual Display, would only work with one visionOS window. The idea of using Vision Pro to get a triple or quadruple-monitor setup in mixed reality wasn't possible, at least at launch. Luckily, third-party app developers quickly rushed to fill in that gap with alternative solutions. One of them is Splitscreen, a visionOS app that works in tandem with Mac Virtual Display to offer two macOS displays on Vision Pro. 

I was one of the first to try Splitscreen when it was offered as a TestFlight app, but it's now publicly available through the visionOS App Store. After it is set up, the Splitscreen app is easy to use and is sure to be a productivity booster. Here's how you can get around Apple's limitations and use multiple Mac Virtual Displays with your Vision Pro headset. 

How to use a single Mac Virtual Display

Since the Splitscreen app compliments the standalone Mac Virtual Display feature, we’ll need to learn how to use that first. This tool works with an Apple Vision Pro headset and any Mac running macOS Sonoma. To use Mac Virtual Display, there are a few iCloud settings that must be enabled or adjusted for everything to work properly:

1. Both your Mac and your Vision Pro headset need to be signed into the same Apple ID. The account you’re using must have two-factor authentication enabled
2. Make sure iCloud Keychain is enabled on both your Mac and your Vision Pro headset. To do this, open the settings app on each device, navigate to [your name] > iCloud > Passwords & Keychain, and tap Sync this Mac or Sync this Vision Pro. The two devices need to have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled to use Mac Virtual Display  

When the above conditions are met, using a Mac Virtual Display with Apple Vision Pro is quick and easy. On a MacBook, all you need to do is put on Vision Pro and start using your laptop. A Connect button will appear above your MacBook's display, and you can tap it to enter Mac Virtual Display mode. At this point, your laptop's built-in display will turn off and macOS will appear in a visionOS window. 

The process isn't as quick for Mac desktops, but it's still fairly simple. You can start using Mac Virtual Display by opening the Control Center on either your Mac or your Vision Pro headset. The visionOS Control Center has an icon for Mac Virtual Display, so you can tap it and select your Mac from the list to start using it. To initiate Mac Virtual Display from your Mac, open the Control Center, tap Screen Mirroring, and select Vision Pro.

How to add a second one with Splitscreen

Now, onto adding a second Mac Virtual Display using the Splitscreen app. This third-party app works similarly to other methods for virtualizing display output in macOS, like DisplayLink. On the hardware side, DisplayLink software overcomes the display output limitations of base-model Apple Silicon Macs. It does this by tricking macOS into sharing its screen with an app, just like you might share your screen with Zoom or Google Meet. The app then takes that screen-sharing output and sends it to an external monitor, or in the case of Splitscreen on Vision Pro, a visionOS window. 

As you might suspect, this means you'll need to install the Splitscreen app on both your Vision Pro and your Mac to utilize a second Mac Virtual Display. You can download the macOS app here and the visionOS app here. After you've downloaded both apps, you can get started using a second Mac Virtual Display by following these steps:

1. Start a Mac Virtual Display using the native method on your Mac or your Apple Vision Pro (see steps above). Do not try to use Splitscreen until you've started a Mac Virtual Display in visionOS, or it won't work
2. On your Mac, make sure Splitscreen is running in the background. You can open it through the Launchpad or via Spotlight search
3. Open the Splitscreen app on Vision Pro

4. Click the Splitscreen icon in your Mac's menu bar
5. Select Apple Vision Pro from the list
6. A second Mac Virtual Display will now appear

By this point, you should be able to use two Mac Virtual Displays in visionOS. There's the main one that is officially supported by macOS and visionOS, as well as the third-party one enabled by the Splitscreen app. Both will work just like any monitor you might use with your Mac, except they're virtualized in visionOS. As such, they can be scaled to impressive sizes and can be moved around in your real-world environment. 

Tips, tricks, and known issues

To make the most out of Mac Virtual Display and the Splitscreen app, you'll need to know some of its strengths and weaknesses. For starters, the Splitscreen app's display appears in the macOS display settings menu like any other monitor. You can adjust the display's position, scaling, resolution, and more from this page. It can be accessed by navigating through System Settings > Displays > [Your MacBook's Name]. To spot it, look for the display that says Splitscreen #1 under it. 

The limitation is that Splitscreen's virtual display window only supports a 1920x1080 resolution. That's less than the native Mac Virtual Display, which runs at 4K on Apple Silicon Macs and 3K on Intel Macs. Especially when the Splitscreen app windows are blown up to massive sizes, this low resolution is noticeable. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that using the Splitscreen app's virtual display will feel more laggy than the official Mac Virtual Display. It works best for static content that is interacted with less frequently, like notes or web pages. Typing on the Splitscreen app's virtual display shows how much additional latency there is compared to Mac Virtual Display, and it isn't recommended. 

Due to the way Universal Control works between Mac and Vision Pro, there may be an "Input temporarily not working" error message displayed on the Mac Virtual Display window when Splitscreen is in use.

Lastly, it's worth emphasizing that Mac Virtual Display won't launch properly if the Splitscreen app is already open. You need to start the regular Mac Virtual Display first, and then start Splitscreen. If this doesn't work, try closing out both the macOS and visionOS Splitscreen apps and try again. 

The future of Mac Virtual Display

Ideally, Apple will one day support multiple Mac Virtual Displays right out of the box. Until then, the Splitscreen app is the best way to use two Mac Virtual Displays at once on Apple Vision Pro. It's a game-changer for productivity and really showcases the future of spatial computing in visionOS. If you aren't convinced that Apple Vision Pro is a great productivity device yet, trying Splitscreen and Mac Virtual Display together might be enough to change your mind.

If you live in Europe and you want Apple Vision Pro, the company’s revolutionary spatial headset, you can finally pick one up — but only in one airport and for a huge price. 

Seen in an airport in Istanbul, Apple Vision Pro is selling for €4,699, down €160 from the €4,859 it was originally selling for. The original sale price works out to just under $5,300, which can get you an Apple Vision Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and one of the best iPhone 15 Pro Max cases in the United States pre-tax.

Curiously, the store in question, R&D, appears to be an official Apple Authorized Seller, and can even be found as such on the Apple website. However, it seems unlikely this is early stock being let out into the world. It seems far more likely that this was imported during flights from the U.S. to Turkey and then resold for a huge profit at the store. 

Why you should wait for Apple Vision Pro to come to Europe

Not only are you severely overpaying for the headset by ordering it early in Europe, but it won’t even work properly. You need a US Apple ID to download new apps, watch content, and activate subscriptions. You can technically turn it on without a US Apple ID but not much more. You could create an Apple ID to use it, by accessing a friend's address and creating a new one. However, you won’t have your Apple Pay, progress made in any games, or any saved passwords linked to your account. 

By using a new Apple ID on your Apple Vision Pro, you will lose access to all of your subscriptions, which means you can’t play the best Apple Arcade games or watch the best Apple TV Plus shows. Not only is this the case but apps for Apple Vision Pro won’t be localized for you, meaning some phrasing may seem unfamiliar and some languages won’t be supported. We don’t yet have an official release date on the Apple Vision Pro in Europe but we’re hoping to hear more about it at WWDC 2024 next month. 

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The Apple Vision Pro might be the most expensive mainstream mixed reality headset that money can buy right now, but it could also be the most important. That's according to one game developer, at least.

Despite costing at least $3,499 and currently only being available to buy in a single country, Job Simulator developer Owlchemy Labs CEO Andrew Eiche believes that it's key to getting people interested in headsets.

Apple is expected to take the Apple Vision Pro global sooner rather than later and that could well help prove Eiche's point that the spatial computer is "as one of the biggest steps towards mainstream adoption" of such devices.

A big step forward

Eiche was speaking with GamesIndustry.biz when attention turned to Apple's costly first foray into the world of AR and VR devices, and the CEO believes that the Apple Vision Pro has one key thing going for it — the lack of friction.

"I think there's still a lot of things that we have to figure out to get there," Eiche said when discussing the VR gaming industry and the Apple Vision Pro. "But as far as friction [goes], which is one of the biggest things that we fight in XR... It's one of the lowest friction devices," he explained. "You put it on, there's no room setup, it's not yelling at you to draw circles or whatever, it just runs the apps. There's no caveats to it." The CEO also noted that the headset handles its own setup automatically, down to the adjustment of its lenses.

While Eiche is obviously right about the barrier to entry in terms of using the Apple Vision Pro, there is one caveat that is difficult to look past — its price. Thankfully, Apple is thought to be working on a new, cheaper version of the headset but a launch isn't expected to happen any time soon.

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• The Vision Pro is the most underwhelming Apple product of my lifetime ...
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Ever since the Apple Vision Pro first went on sale in the United States this past February there have been plenty of questions about when we can expect the headset to go on sale internationally. Apple has so far only confirmed that a global launch will take place in 2024, but now there are signs that things are finally moving along.

A global Apple Vision Pro launch has been in the cards for some time and a recent report suggested that we should expect more countries to see the launch of the so-called spatial computer after WWDC on June 10. China was one country mentioned as a potential second-wave country, and now it's been confirmed that the country's Quality Certification Center has approved the Apple Vision Pro to go on sale locally.

This step is required for such a headset to be offered for sale and is a sure-fire indication that Apple intends to launch the headset in China sooner rather than later.

China first?

With China now seemingly nailed on for a launch within weeks, all eyes will be on Apple to see what comes next. It's thought that Apple has been training workers to get them ready for the launch with workers from Germany, France, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and of course, China involved.

Two notable absences from that list are Canada and the UK, countries that would normally be involved in either day-one or second-wave launches for big products. We might not have to wait long to find out what's going on there, thankfully, with WWDC now hopefully less than a month away from clearing things up.

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When Apple announced its Apple Vision Pro spatial computer back at WWDC 2023, almost a full year ago, we always knew that the launch wouldn't happen for a good long while. Availability finally came in February of 2024, just a few short months ago. But the mixed reality headset only went on sale in the United States and that's the way things remain to this day. A global launch is in the cards, though, and we might finally be about to get some clarity on the whole thing.

Apple has long said that it intends to take the Apple Vision Pro global in 2024, but so far we haven't been given any firm release window for the headset, nor which countries will be involved. And with 2024 rapidly moving towards its halfway mark, it's time for some answers. Thankfully, they could be just around the corner with WWDC 2024 set to take place from June 10.

According to a new report, Apple will use WWDC as the springboard for a global Apple Vision Pro launch a full year after the headset was first unveiled. And we might even finally get some more information on which countries are on board, too. There might be some surprises, too.

Coming soon?

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple is set to announce cold, hard plans for the Apple Vision Pro's international release at WWDC, putting an end to months of guesses and assumptions. He also believes that he might know which countries will be part of the second tranche of Apple Vision Pro countries, too. But while his list includes some of the heavy hitters that we would expect, there are also a couple of notable countries that are missing as well.

Gurman believes that Apple has been using the last few weeks and months to train people on the new product ahead of a launch in their region, although the company has kept even its own employees in the dark in terms of specifics.

"Apple has maintained its usual secrecy and hasn’t told employees in the training sessions where exactly the Vision Pro will be available," Gurman's Bloomberg report explains. "But the company is training workers from Germany, France, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and China, indicating that those areas will be some of the first international markets for the device." Certification of the Apple Vision Pro has already taken place in China.

China is an obvious addition to this list given its importance to Apple and its bottom line, and Germany, France, and the rest are often part of first-wave launches for most new Apple products so it makes sense that they would be involved sooner rather than later. But there are two countries that are notable for their absence — Canada and the United Kingdom.

Both countries are important ones for Apple, and it's possible that they are still set to be part of Apple's WWDC unveiling. Certainly, people in those countries will hope that's the case.

The Apple Vision Pro launch has already proven to be unusual in a few ways, not least the huge lead time between announcement and availability. It isn't unheard of, especially for a new product category launch, but it's jarring given Apple's slick supply chain and usually precise timings. You only have to look at the number of countries the iPhone 16 will be available in, day one, this September to get a feel for that.

The global launch and the lack of information have also left people in the dark, perhaps more than usual, and I can only hope everyone gets the news they want on June 10.

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The Apple Vision Pro launched to great fanfare back in February of this year and we immediately saw people sharing the cool ways that they were using their new spatial computer to do all kinds of things. They were playing games, getting work done, and generally having a good time. But there was one key aspect of the Apple Vision Pro and visionOS experience that everyone agreed on — it was great for watching movies and TV shows.

Being able to kick back and relax — as much as you can with a headset strapped to your forehead — and watch content on a huge cinema-like virtual display in the comfort of your home is a killer feature. A killer app, if you like. And the fun that someone can have doing such a thing should not be underestimated. Is it enough to drive sales for a device that costs $3,499 on the low end? Probably not, but as I've said before, this headset isn't the end game, it's just the beginning.

One thing that has become increasingly clear as the shine starts to dull on Apple Vision Pros across the United States, however, is that content consumption is the one thing that keeps people coming back. Headsets have found their way into desk drawers everywhere, and the days of people walking around their homes marveling at the pass-through experience are long gone. 

But those times when the dust is blown off and the headset strapped on? It's when people watch movies. And that's perhaps at the heart of a new Disney Plus announcement that brings the popular 'What If...?' Marvel show to the Apple Vision Pro in a whole new "immersive story" kinda way.

AR content for all

Disney announced the news via a press release which went big on immersion. 

"Fans will be invited to step inside the Multiverse like never before and have the chance to dive into an immersive, narrative-driven and innovative story in mixed reality," it explained, adding that "now, fans have been chosen to step into the leading role of an all-new immersive story that transforms the space around them as they traverse across realities." 

The press rleease goes on to say that "throughout their journey, [viewers] will come face-to-face with Multiversal variants of their favorite characters, learn the mystic arts, and be tasked with harnessing the power of the Infinity Stones."

Immersion is very much the order of the day here, and it's no surprise that Disney is the company that's going all-in on Apple Vision Pro. Netflix might have chosen to give the headset a wide berth, but Disney is very much of a different opinion, as the press release is keen to stress.

"Utilizing the revolutionary spatial computing capabilities of Apple Vision Pro, What If…? – An Immersive Story will deliver a technologically advanced and engaging experience to fans," Disney says. 

"They will cross between augmented and virtual reality as they live out their narrative adventure, interacting with the world around them by using their eyes and hands."

There's no denying that this all sounds pretty cool. Fans will be able to "step into breathtaking environments that place them in new and iconic MCU locations, and feel completely immersed with stunning visuals and spatial audio." It all sounds like exceptional fun. And that's exactly what it should be.

Cast your mind back to the iPad's launch and it was sold by Steve Jobs as a content consumption device first and foremost. Apple has been fighting to backtrack on that ever since. With the Apple Vision Pro, Apple has gone the opposite route and tried to sell its headset as a so-called spatial computer instead. When, in reality, it seems to be the iPad of 2024 — perfectly suited to enjoying a blockbuster movie or, in this case, bespoke content the likes of which you can't get anywhere else. And that's fine.

What's less fine is the fact only those in the U.S. of A. can enjoy it. That'll change soon enough. Let's hope that the asking price changes sooner rather than later, too.

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Some modern Apple products forego basic functionality, like a power button or a way to initiate manual updates, for the sake of simplicity. This is the case with the AirPods Max, which can't be completely shut down at all. At first glance, it might look like Apple Vision Pro is the same way. There isn't an obvious way to turn off Vision Pro, and this led early adopters to question whether it was even possible. 

Not only is there a way to power down your Vision Pro headset to save battery life, but there are actually four methods for doing so. However, there's a sharp learning curve that comes with using visionOS for the first time, because it feels both familiar and foreign compared to other Apple operating systems. If you're struggling with the basics, you're not alone. That's why we've put together a complete guide of everything you need to know about updating, shutting down, or resetting Apple Vision Pro. 

When to update, shut down, or reset Vision Pro

Apple Vision Pro will only display content on its inner displays if it detects that a user is wearing the headset. Due to the swath of cameras and sensors within, it's hard for Vision Pro to accidentally turn on while stowed away or resting on a table. However, unlike other Apple products, the standby mode on Vision Pro is not great. The headset will die if it is left turned on for an extended period of time, no matter how much battery life is left.

This is a big problem because Vision Pro takes a long time to turn on after it has gone completely dead. Whereas a MacBook can turn on in mere seconds after it has been plugged into power, our Apple Vision Pro headset routinely takes five to 10 minutes by comparison. As such, we recommend manually shutting off Vision Pro whenever possible. 

The first few visionOS software updates have made Vision Pro considerably better to use, so you'll want to install them as soon as possible after they drop. You can install updates automatically or do so manually, depending on your preference. You should only need to completely reset your headset if something goes wrong, but it's good to know how it is done in case you experience severe bugs or issues. It'll also come in handy if you need to sell or trade-in your Vision Pro headset. 

How to shut down Vision Pro

There are four ways to shut down Apple Vision Pro, and you can choose whichever one is more convenient. The easiest way is to simply twist, unlock, and remove the power connector entirely. It's great for when you plan to store the Vision Pro for a good amount of time, like during travel. Here's the full rundown of all the ways you can turn off the headset:

• Press and hold both the top button and Digital Crown until a slider appears, then drag it with hand gestures to shut down the headset
• Open the Settings app, then navigate to General > Shut Down, and finally drag it with hand gestures to shut down the headset
• Activate Siri and say, "Siri, turn off my Apple Vision Pro."
• Remove Apple Vision Pro, place it on a secure surface, and disconnect the power cable.

When you plug the power connector back in, Vision Pro will start up automatically. Alternatively, you can hold the top button (not the Digital Crown), to initiate the startup process. As we mentioned earlier, the headset can take a while to turn on if it is completely dead. Instead of putting Vision Pro on and taking it off to check if it is ready for use, watch the tiny white power indicator light on the connector. It'll light up when Vision Pro has enough power to turn on. 

How to update Vision Pro

To install visionOS software updates, you can choose to complete them automatically or manually. In order for updates to install automatically, Apple says Vision Pro must be connected to its battery, charging, and connected to Wi-Fi. If all these conditions are met, Vision Pro will automatically download and install updates overnight. This may work well for people who frequently leave their headset charging overnight, but not for others who have a more staggered charging pattern. You can turn on automatic updates by following the steps below:

1. Open the Settings app, and navigate to General > Software Update > Automatic Updates
2. Flip the toggles next to Download visionOS Updates and Install visionOS Updates
3. Now, your headset will download and install updates automatically overnight when charging and connected to Wi-Fi

Otherwise, you can check for Vision Pro updates manually, and choose to install them immediately or later that night. The external display will be used to show the update's progress. 

1. Open the Settings app, and navigate to General > Software Update
2. If there is an update available, select Update Now to download and install the update immediately
3. Select Update Tonight to update Vision Pro when it is locked and connected to power later that night

Remember that your headset won't be functional until the update finishes installing, so don't install an update if you need to use Vision Pro. 

How to reset Vision Pro

If your headset isn't working properly, or you want to completely erase it, you have a few options. There are various "reset" options that will restore Vision Pro settings back to their defaults without affecting your data. Additionally, there is an "erase" option that will completely erase your data and reset settings back to their defaults. To protect your data throughout this process, we recommend backing up Vision Pro before starting. 

Here's how to reset Apple Vision Pro (and keep all your data): 

1. Open the Settings app, and navigate to General > Transfer or Reset Apple Vision Pro > Reset
2. Choose one of the following reset options from the list

• Reset All Settings: This will complete reset all settings back to their factory defaults
• Reset Network Settings: This will reset all network-related settings and change your device name back to "Apple Vision Pro"
• Reset Keyboard Dictionary: This will remove all the custom words you've added to  Vision Pro's keyboard dictionary
• Reset Location & Privacy: This will return location and privacy settings to their defaults
• Reset Surroundings Data: This will remove all saved data about your surroundings

3. After selecting a reset option, follow the on-screen prompts to continue. Your Vision Pro headset might restart during the process

You might need to completely erase your Vision Pro, including personal data if your headset needs to be repaired, sold, or traded in. You can do this via a separate menu in the Settings app. 

1. Open the Settings app, and navigate to General > Transfer or Reset Apple Vision Pro
2. Tap Erase All Content and Settings to erase and reset your headset

Remember, this option will permanently delete your personal data. Be sure to create a backup if there's anything you want to save.

Always remember to turn off Vision Pro

There are plenty of situations where these basic Vision Pro settings will be helpful, like when applying visionOS software updates or when resetting and erasing your headset. However, nothing is more important than turning off your headset. One of the most frustrating parts of owning Vision Pro is sitting down to use it and realizing you have to wait up to 10 minutes for the headset to turn on. You can avoid this by turning it off instead of leaving it in standby mode. For the best experience, make disconnecting the power cable a habit when you're finished using Vision Pro. Or, you can spend $199 on a spare battery pack.

When Apple released its first-ever VR headset this year bringing a $3,499 price tag in tow, the expectation was that it would be a niche product. Still, despite an early surge in sales in the early days of Apple Vision Pro, the headset's launch managed to underwhelm. This week, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that the company cut Vision Pro shipments by about 300,000 units and a 2025 refresh could be in jeopardy.

It's the latest hit to Vision Pro, and would be one of the first tangible indications that the headset is in trouble. Previously, there seemed to be a general lack of public interest related to Vision Pro, with YouTube videos about the device flopping and some stores reportedly selling only a few units a week. But what do declining sales figures and scarce enthusiasm mean for the future of Apple Vision Pro?

As an early adopter, I learned firsthand just how weird Vision Pro was as a first-gen product. Strolling into an Apple Store about eight hours after the location opened on launch day in the U.S., there were no problems buying a headset. Apple employees told me that while Light Seal and Cushion configurations might not be in stock, there were plenty of Vision Pro units to go around. I've had more trouble picking up an iPad mini on launch day than when purchasing Apple's first new product in nearly a decade. 

I purchased Vision Pro knowing that there was one big uncertainty related to the headset: software and app support. That's still my concern, not declining sales. However, Apple won't cruise to a victory in the VR/AR market. Meta is a force, combining affordable hardware with a software strategy that parallels that of Windows. Vision Pro isn't a failure yet, but Apple can't stop making it better and empowering developers to create great visionOS apps if it wants to beat Meta. 

We never expected Vision Pro to sell a ton of units

First, it's important to put our expectations in context. With the headset costing more than a used car, no one thought that Apple Vision Pro would start off putting up iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch numbers. In fact, it was likely that Vision Pro wouldn't sell more than the Meta Quest 3, either — you could buy seven Quest 3 headsets for the same price as one Vision Pro. 

Apple's strategy here was clearly to start off with a premium, high-end device and eventually bring that down to consumer-level products over time. It may be semantics, but Apple Vision Pro would suggest that a standard Apple Vision will come someday.

Still, it's impossible to ignore just how low sales numbers are for Apple Vision Pro have been so far. Kuo's report says that Apple “cut its 2024 Vision Pro shipments to 400-450k units (vs. market consensus of 700-800k units or more)." For perspective, the first-ever iPhone sold roughly 270,000 during launch weekend. While the iPhone wasn't as expensive as Vision Pro, it did cost about $750 after accounting for inflation, which was a lot to ask for a phone in 2007. It still went on to sell over six million units. 

The elephant in the room is Meta, which is unmistakably thriving. An earnings report released in February 2024 revealed that the Quest 3 likely sold between 900,000 and 1.5 million units in its first quarter. Apple isn't one to worry about competitors, but it should absolutely keep an eye on Meta.

As an early adopter, I'm worried about the App Store — not declining sales

Meta is succeeding where Apple is failing, and that's in software. Vision Pro launched with about 600 native visionOS apps, with support for thousands more iPadOS apps as well. However, app development has slowed to a crawl in recent weeks. Just take a look at this chart from Appfigures showing the number of visionOS vs. macOS apps added to the App Store over time:

This is what concerns me as an early Vision Pro adopter. I knew there would be limited apps at launch, but I can't say I expected the situation to be exactly the same months later. I also didn't expect Apple to forget about Vision Pro. More than two months after launch, there are still two visionOS Environments that aren't available and no new immersive experiences have arrived. There are still a handful of first-party Apple apps that don't run as native visionOS apps. If Apple doesn't care about developing for visionOS, why should third-party developers?

Meta isn't far ahead of visionOS in the raw number of supported apps; the Meta Quest Store and the Quest App Lab have over a thousand apps each. That's more than the visionOS App Store, but isn't all that impressive considering the head start Meta and Quest have had. 

However, with Meta's recent announcement that it plans to license Horizon OS — the operating system that powers Quest headsets — to third parties, the company's strategy becomes clear. Meta wants to put Quest headsets on as many faces as possible. And if it can't, Meta will do the next best thing, which is getting Horizon software on third-party headsets. It's the polar opposite of Apple's strategy, but will it work? 

It's impossible to count out Apple this early in the company's mixed-reality push. Remember, Android is an open platform just like Horizon OS will be, and Apple still found dominance with closed ecosystems in iOS and the iPhone. There's no reason Apple can't do it again with visionOS and Vision Pro. 

Apple is in 'Vision' for the long haul

It's easy to get caught up in the negative hype around Vision Pro, but it's far too early to deem the headset a failure. Before buying the $3,500 headset, I used the first-generation iPad and Apple Watch, and both of those products suffered from many of the same issues as Vision Pro does today. Both of those products also grew to become commanding forces in their respective categories.

Apple isn't afraid to cancel projects that it isn't absolutely committed to, no matter the loss. It canned the Apple Car project after a decade and about $10 billion in research and development costs. And yet, Apple Vision Pro made it to launch. That alone should tell you that Apple is all-in on mixed-reality hardware, regardless of how the first generation of Vision Pro goes. 

Have you been thinking of buying Apple Vision Pro but haven’t yet been convinced of that price point? There may now be two reasons to hold off on that purchase.

Just last week, a report from Apple analysis Kuo came out, suggesting Apple Vision Pro shipments were at half of the expected figures and that this meant that an Apple Vision Pro model was not planned for 2025. Instead, this suggested a redressing of how Apple would approach the international market when Vision Pro starts shipping outside of the U.S.

On the back of this, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman now reports that “Apple’s latest Vision Pro road map doesn’t currently call for a second-generation model until the end of 2026”. Unfortunately, while visionOS 2.0 will launch this year, it is expected to be a fairly minimal change. iOS 18.0, on the other hand, is expected to be huge. Both of those OS changes will likely be unveiled at WWDC 2024. As the next major Vision Pro device seems to be two years away, Gurman reports that “the company is trying to figure out a way to bring a cheaper version to market before then”. However, it is “still flummoxed” about how to do this.

A big few years

Apple’s spatial headset has an awful lot to prove over the next few years if Apple wants it to be any more than a niche bit of tech. Designed to be worn about the house as you work, relax, and more, you can grab, drag, and place screens around your home, and the headset will remember where you’ve put them. This means you can set up a workspace with your Mac’s display mirrored above it, and another display with the best shows on Apple TV Plus in your bedroom. It can compartmentalize work to show you cooking videos in the kitchen and video games in the living room.

In Gurman’s report, he claims that “Vision Pro demand has dropped considerably at many Apple Stores” and Apple might need to do something to get some of that hype back. We just don’t know what that will look like yet.

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Just months after the launch of Apple’s spatial computing headset, one of the leads for its marketing has retired.

Announced on his LinkedIn and originally spotted by Bloomberg, Frank Casanova, the Senior Director of Worldwide Product Marketing for Apple’s AR, has retired. This is the end of his 36-year career at the company. Originally starting as a product manager in 1988, he took on the role of Senior Director of MacOS X Graphics, and iPhone Partner Marketing before ending his career with Apple Vision Pro.

Announced in a single paragraph in the experience section of his LinkedIn, Casanova said: “As of April 19, I'm officially retired from Apple and onto the next chapter in life. It's been a great run. 36 years + Apple Vision Pro and I'm done!”.

Where does Apple Vision Pro go now?

Apple Vision Pro is in a bit of a tough spot. Despite strong sales for the headset in early February, Apple Vision Pro figures are reportedly at half of expected shipments and this could mean pausing or canceling the expected refresh in 2025. This is reportedly linked to a lack of applications, a high price point, and the comfort of the device. Casanova played a pivotal role in the launch of the headset, working on its marketing for five years before its release. However, it is worth pointing out that Apple appears to have been working on this headset for almost two decades.

Only available in the U.S. right now, Apple Vision Pro is likely to start rolling out to the rest of the world this year, and expected shipping numbers will be determined by the recent decline in sales. Without any official word on a more budget-friendly Vision headset, Apple has to really prove why consumers should put down the $3,499 for its headset. The next few years could be make or break for Apple’s place in the AR market.

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Despite strong sales on its launch, Apple Vision Pro appears to be struggling to find a foothold in the market, and one top insider reports that it could cause Apple to pause its 2025 refresh.

The Vision Pro, Apple’s spatial reality headset, is designed to be worn with everyday work. Thanks to the ability to create and place screens in your virtual space, you can connect it to the best Macs and work from all around your house. Then, when you’re done for the day, you can watch some of the best Apple TV Plus TV shows without having to take it off. It’s an intriguing concept but, at $3499, it is quite an investment. The headset appeared to do well at launch with rich early adopters and influencers but sales appear to have trailed off since.

What went wrong?

According to Ming-Chi Kuo, a top Apple insider, Apple has “cut its 2024 Vision Pro shipments to 400-450k units (vs. market consensus of 700-800k units or more).’ If true, this means that sales are significantly below expectations, and this could affect the future of the device. With it set to launch outside of the US at some point in the future, Kuo says these shipment figures could make “Apple take a conservative view of demand in non-US markets”.

Not only could this negatively impact future shipments, but it could also result in Apple canceling or delaying the new Apple Vision Pro model that was rumored to launch in 2025. Kuo reports the new model was originally going to launch at some point in the second half of 2025 but “Apple now expects Vision Pro shipments to decline YoY in 2025.” Kuo says that Apple Vision Pro’s central challenges are the lack of applications, price point, and comfort to use. Late last year, it was reported that Apple was working on a cheaper Apple Vision Pro with lower-resolution displays. Hopefully, this can address some of the spatial headset’s biggest problems. It is unclear right now what the shipment decline will mean for Apple’s headset going forward.

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The Apple Vision Pro might only be officially on sale in the United States, but it's already started to pop up in unusual places all around the world. Following the news that a UK surgeon had employed Apple's spatial computer to help him do his job, a Brazilian surgeon has now done something similar.

While the UK surgeon used the Apple Vision Pro to assist his team when carrying out spinal surgery, a new report details how the headset has helped a Brazilian surgeon repair a damaged shoulder. Apple has already suggested that its headset could be of great use in a medical setting and it seems that some hospitals are only too keen to put that to the test.

In this instance, orthopedic doctor Bruno Gobbato and his team at Hospital Jaraguá, in Jaraguá do Sul used the headset to perform a shoulder arthroscopy surgery on a patient with a rotator cuff tear. And it's possible it could make an appearance in other surgical rooms and hospitals around the world, too.

Real-time 3D models

Speaking with MacMagazine, surgeon Gobbato explained what makes the Apple Vision Pro so useful when carrying out surgeries, especially ones like this. The use of real-time 3D models and screen mirroring meant that information was always available when it was needed and in a format that wouldn't normally be possible. Having an adjustable, free-floating display showing what the surgical camera could see was vital, too.

"Shoulder arthroscopy surgery uses a camera inside the joint and surgeons perform this surgery by looking directly at a screen," Gobbato explained. "With this device, it was possible to place the screen in cinema size with high resolution, in addition to being able to count on patient exams and 3D models in real time."

The Apple Vision Pro's own camera also came in for some praise. The surgeon noted that the use of strong lights in a dark operating theater had the potential to cause problems for the headset's various cameras. No problems were experienced, however. That's notable given one of the issues some early Apple Vision Pro reviewers noted related to the cameras and their pass-through performance in darker environments.

All of this is of course very impressive, but the real question on everyone's lips isn't whether or not a surgeon can repair a shoulder using an Apple Vision Pro — it's when they'll be able to get one of their very own to do much more mundane things with. Apple has already confirmed that a global rollout will happen before 2024 draws to a close, but that's all we have so far. And with no firm dates or information on which countries will be included, all bets are currently off.

There's also a question mark over pricing. The Apple Vision Pro currently starts at $3,499 which is prohibitively expensive. Apple is already thought to be working on a new, cheaper alternative but it isn't yet known how it will make that happen — which features will be removed is a key consideration here, as is timing. The cheaper Apple Vision Pro isn't expected to arrive any time soon, although information is currently hard to come by.

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The Apple Vision Pro has now been on sale for almost three months, although it remains an option only for those who are in the United States. It launched with a ton of apps for download via the App Store, although admittedly most of them were just iPad apps that developers allowed to run on visionOS. But more Apple Vision Pro apps are coming, and one of the latest just arrived courtesy of Microsoft, of all companies.

Microsoft OneNote has long been one of the better note-taking apps on the iPhone and iPad, and it's a solid option for people who are already firmly ensconced in the world of Microsoft Office. If that happens to be you, and you also happen to have Apple's spatial computer, you can now use OneNote on your face for the first time.

The OneNote Apple Vision Pro app is available for download for free and brings the same infinite canvas features to the headset for the first time. Microsoft says the app can do everything that you'd expect it to do, which might actually be more than you realize. Because if you can't or don't want to use Apple's Notes or Freeform, OneNote might just be the app for you.

Spatial computing notes

Microsoft announced the new arrival via a blog post, noting that the company had "worked closely with Apple for many years to bring these experiences to iPhone, iPad, and Mac." The company says that it has launched an Apple Vision Pro OneNote app to allow people to use the app "worked closely with Apple for many years to bring these experiences to iPhone, iPad, and Mac."

The OneNote app can be used to take notes, write memos, and more while individual notes can also be secured using a password and other permissions to ensure that private information is kept just that. Notes can also be shared with others, too.

Importantly, OneNote notes can be synced via the cloud so they can be created and edited across different devices. That means that notes created on an iPhone can then be viewed on the Apple Vision Pro, among other options.

Alongside the features that are already available, Microsoft does say that it is working on adding new ones, too. The roadmap currently includes the ability to insert things from the camera and Photos app while Copilot AI support is also on the way. Finally, Microsoft says that it is also working to bring two-factor authentication. Microsoft Authenticator is currently not available on the Apple Vision Pro, but that is going to change, the blog post says.

Some companies have said that they won't bring their apps or services to visionOS or visionOS 2 in the future, while the headset is still available to a limited number of people, including Netflix and YouTube. Apple is thought to be working on bringing its spatial computer to new countries this year, but the timescale and specific countries are yet to be confirmed.

Those in the United States can buy the Apple Vision Pro today with prices starting at $3,499 for the 256GB model. 512GB and 1TB models are also available for those who need extra breathing room. Apple is also rumored to be working on a cheaper version of the headset but again, the timeframe for such a thing isn't clear.

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I’ve never peered directly into a pumping human heart before, much less taken one apart valve by valve with my bare hands. I have, however, blown up human skeletons before … with some help, that is.

Manufacturers of augmented reality devices like the Microsoft HoloLens and Epson Moverio and Toshiba DynaEdge have tried to persuade the business world of AR’s power for years; medical schools have been one particular area of focus. Which is why three years ago, I spoke with surgeons on the cutting edge who were embracing the tech, building HoloLens software that let you walk around human skeletons and truly explore the workings of the inner body. The experiences were magical at first, but eventually, the headset just felt cumbersome. I wasn’t alone thinking so, which may be why the incredibly impressive HoloLens has become a vestigial tech at Microsoft.

But maybe, just maybe, the tech wasn’t ready at the time? Maybe we needed augmented reality hardware and software to make a few more technical leaps? Maybe a different company can build a successful business, for business, upon the strong existing foundation? 

“There’s tremendous opportunity for businesses to reimagine what’s possible using Apple Vision Pro at work,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations and Enterprise Marketing. Today Apple detailed the myriad ways it believes the Vision Pro is the right headset for businesses -- and last week, the company gave me the chance to see for myself.

I was able to play around with a pumping heart thanks to the astonishing new Vision Pro headset from Apple, which promises “spatial computing,” mixed reality, immersive videos, drive-in sized movie screens, and a whole lot more. Apple argues that, beyond the intriguing potential for ordinary people like you and me, the headset opens up a wealth of opportunities for businesses small and large. And to prove it, they’ve let me rip open a cadaver.

Making the case for Enterprise Vision Pro

Microsoft, Zoom, WebEx, and more are already available in the Vision Pro App Store. And there are over a million iPhone or iPad apps (ahem Slack) that haven’t been modified for Vision Pro yet will still run on it, the company notes. This is just the tip of the iceberg, Ross Rubin, principal analyst with research firm Reticle Research, told me.

“HoloLens was able to run UWP apps, a subset of Windows apps,” Rubin said. “In contrast, Apple Vision Pro can tap into a huge library of iOS apps that have a sparser layout that's friendlier to spatial computing.” To dip beneath the waters and see just what he means, Apple brought me to a cavernous white-walled vault deep within the company’s TriBeCa townhouse last week. The luxurious building is the house you’d own if you were Succession-level rich, and Apple uses it to showcase its iPhones, smart home tech, and so on. This time, I was about to experience productivity on a whole new level.

On the table in front of me was a Vision Pro, with the Solo Knit Band and battery attached. Apple had pre-fitted Zeiss lenses to adjust for my terrible eyesight as well. I fitted the knit band around my head, tightened the knob to adjust it to my head, and went through the calibration process: You (predominantly) control the Vision Pro with a pinch gesture using your thumb and first finger. The device also tracks your eyes — hover over an icon and it “pops” out at you — a little 3D animation to indicate it knows where you’re looking. Pinch your fingers together to select a menu, open an app, etc. Pinch and slide left or right, or up and down, to scroll.

By now, you’ve probably heard people gush about immersive photography — “spatial” photographs taken by the Vision Pro or certain iPhones. The hype is real: Click the immersive button and you’re sucked straight into a landscape, a home video, a sunset, whatever, with breathtaking clarity. I immediately wanted every photo I’ve ever taken to capture this detail. And the ability to dial in more or less of an environment — replete with ambient audio — is tremendously neat.

Sure, it’s all incredibly intuitive, but the 25-minute fitting process alone feels like something an IT department might balk at. Regardless of whether a business has to service two dozen or two hundred employees, the time involved is literal money to an IT team. Rolling out new software to a fleet takes time, setting up new hardware takes time, and so on. Can IT afford the effort needed to set someone up for spatial computing success? That’ll hinge on how useful the tools are.

Bring on the Business apps

HoloLens was always positioned as mostly a tool for custom apps, meaning adoption would have necessitated intense development effort and costs. So what can off-the-shelf Vision Pro apps do for a business?

To answer that question, Apple helped me build a workspace: I placed the Safari app over someone’s shoulder to my right side, the photos app behind the woman at my left, and a Keynote presentation dead in front of me. Rather than working in the confines of a 14- or 16-inch laptop screen, the entire room was my desktop, and I could easily position apps feet from me or right up under my nose. And the display was crisp and sharp enough that I could read and work with a spreadsheet, unlike other AR headsets I’ve used.

Then I launched SAP Analytics Cloud, an analytics and planning tool that business tycoons can’t get enough of. The app launched Feb. 2 on Vision Pro, and it rethinks how you can use 3D objects and content to make data more real and easily understandable.

Before my eyes spun a virtual globe, showing the locations of a fictional company’s offices. I pinched my fingers together, opened a random campus, and sat it on the table in front of me (right on top of my cell phone - d’oh!). Without barely any instruction, I made the campus horizontal and scaled it up to fit nicely on the table. I watched with awe as an adorable, tiny helicopter made lazy circles in the sky over the virtual campus.

When I glanced at one of them, it danced out at me, and I easily pulled up a real-time feed of key facts — occupancy, power use, whatever data you might choose to explore. Curious about sales trends in different shops? Visualizations could make it real, and suggest distribution strategies that might otherwise seem hard to comprehend.

I then launched Resolve, a “building design review app” that brings infrastructure to life. Remember the sweating pipes in the nightmarish basement Freddy Kruger lived in? Now imagine having to fix a leak in a given pipe. Resolve opened a world of pipes over my head in Apple’s cavernous space, a virtual overlay that didn’t exist but made obvious what the app could do. Two problem joints leapt out at me, as well as advice on how to repair them. Step aside, Freddy … this one’s an easy fix.

Still, I’ve seen this type of tech before, and so have businesses, I’m sure. Epson in particular has leaned into similar examples, and offered them in headsets designed to be used for hours that cost substantially less. Can Apple somehow succeed here?

“Commercial buyers will need to be convinced of the ROI,” Rubin admitted to iMore. “But Apple's in a better position to seed the market as a catalyst. In fact, it may become a self-fulfilling prophecy: You didn't see the Android camp react when Microsoft released HoloLens. But not long after Apple announced Vision Pro, Samsung, Qualcomm, and Google wasted no time in announcing they were ready to jump into this market as well.”

That gives the category broader legitimacy, he pointed out. A handful of oddball devices is less compelling for a big business than solutions from four of the world’s most valuable technology companies.

So can Apple succeed where others have failed? That’s the gamble here, and it’s certainly a billion-dollar bet. One thing is certain: Vision Pro is spectacular. But will it be a spectacular success? Only time will tell.

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When the Apple Vision Pro first went on sale in February there were a ton of YouTube videos that showed off what it could and could not do. But one that captured everyone's attention was a concept that showed how it could be used to make vacuuming fun. Having people vacuum up gold coins as if they were Mario on cleaning day sounds like a great idea. And it turns out that Dyson would agree.

The company that's famous for its super-sucky (in a good way) vacuums and weird Dyson Zone headphones has announced what it calls Dyson CleanTrace, a new feature that works with your Dyson Gen5detect vacuum to make cleaning fun in a way that we didn't think we needed. But now that it's here, we think we can all agree that we absolutely did.

The new augmented reality app will show people where they have cleaned when vacuuming their floors and, most importantly, where they have not. It's a special slice of magic that might have seemed silly not all that long ago, but now that we're here? We're all for it, and the fact that you won't have to spend $3,499 on a spatial computer to try it out really is just the icing on the cake.

AR cleaning

So what's the story? In a press release provided to iMore, Dyson admits that "cleaning can be a thankless task," and of that, there's no doubt. Its answer? the Dyson CleanTrace, a combination of an app and a clip for attaching your iPhone to your vacuum.

"The Dyson CleanTrace brings together a combination of technologies for the most powerful, intelligent and thorough clean," the press release reads. "LiDAR technology from a user’s phone allows the Dyson CleanTrace to map your room and overlay cleaning pathways using AR, showing you where you have cleaned and what you have missed." Think that you're done? The app can scan the room when you're finished and then help you identify the spots that you missed. Because we all miss spots — it's just a matter of how big they might be.

Dyson says that the "existing technology within the Dyson Gen5detect then acoustically senses and counts the dust particles, showing proof of a deep clean," and then you're all set.

Data reportedly shows that around 80% of cleaning sessions last less than 10 minutes, with Dyson suggesting that people aren't cleaning for anywhere near as long as they think — people claim they vacuum for an average of 24 minutes per session, the company says. So if you're looking to be absolutely certain that you've done what needs to be done, this new app could well be the answer.

If that all sounds cool — and it should — you'll want to sign up for the Dyson newsletter so you know when the whole thing will be available. It'll be June, but we don't know exactly when or how much anything will cost, unfortunately. Hopefully, we won't have to wait too long before we get some details on that front.

The other catch is that you're going to need a Gen5detect vacuum for any of this to work, so keep that in mind before you get too excited.

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The Apple TV 4K streaming box is one of our favorite ways to watch Apple TV Plus and beyond, but it hasn't evolved all that much in recent years. That could be about to change with a new report suggesting that Apple has some changes in store.

That report claims that Apple is working on a new type of Apple TV set-top box that will include a built-in camera for placing FaceTime and other video calls. There will also reportedly be support for gesture controls, while integration with Apple's other platforms can also be expected.

The Apple TV already supports using the iPhone for video calls via Continuity Camera, but this new product would have one built in, we're told.

Seamless integration

The report comes via Mark Gurman, writing in the weekly Power On newsletter for Bloomberg, and he believes that Apple continues to toy with the idea of changing the Apple TV form factor up completely.

"Then there’s the smart home segment, where Apple still has grand ambitions," Gurman explains. "It has discussed automating household functions and offering a revamped Apple TV set-top box with a built-in camera for FaceTime videoconferencing and gesture-based controls." He goes on to say that the new device will also "work seamlessly with both the iPhone and Vision Pro."

The addition of gesture controls could potentially be the most interesting news here, especially if Apple can repurpose some of its hand-tracking technology used in the Apple Vision Pro.

However, it's important to remember that Apple works on many things that never ship, so keep that in mind here — we only need to look as far as the canceled Apple Car as an indication of that.

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