Apple unveiled its long-awaited Apple Vision Pro virtual and mixed reality headset at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2023 (WWDC). It will be available to customers at the beginning of next year with a price tag of 3,499 USD in the USA and subsequently in other countries. “It’s the first Apple product that you look through and not at,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told the crowd at the conference.
The Vision Pro headset is equipped with 5 sensors, 6 microphones and 12 cameras. Computing power comes from Apple’s M2 chip and its new R1 chip. While Apple says the Vision Pro will run all day when plugged in, you’ll need a secondary battery for on-the-go use, as the battery only lasts 2 hours on a single charge.
Dubbed by Apple as a “spatial computer,” the headset features Apple’s first fully 3D interface, ways to scale apps up or down in space, and a feature called Environments that turns the room you’re in into an immersive natural environment. countries. It will also be able to create 3D photos.
The company also highlighted its existing apps, saying that Apple Vision Pro will change the way you use apps like Notes, Keynote, FaceTime and Messages. The headset is also compatible with Bluetooth accessories, and the company briefly touched on gaming options – 100 games with arcade apps will be connected to the Vision Pro.
According to the announcement, Apple has filed about 5,000 patents related to the headset. However, the price tag of $3,499 is not very appealing to investors. Just after the announcement of the price, Apple shares began to fall slightly and ended trading in the red. Meta’s competing Oculus Quest 2 headset is just $499 and the Quest Pro is $999.
Apple is entering the metaverse
Metaverse was a very inflected term last year. Virtual and augmented reality, in which we will be able to communicate with each other, interact, learn and much more, attracts people. It probably absorbed the thoughts of Mark Zuckerberg the most, who decided to change Facebook’s identity to Meta Platforms to clearly demonstrate that the company’s future is in this industry. But as we can see, the idea of metaverse, augmented and virtual reality has also gained the attention of others, especially large technology companies such as Microsoft, Google and Apple. We covered the topic of metaverse and companies that could be in the new industry in more detail in article about apple.
Apple is entering a market currently dominated by rival Meta, which currently commands 80% of the global AR/VR market share thanks to its Quest line of headsets, according to research firm IDC. Meta isn’t sitting idle while Apple prepares for battle. On Thursday, the company unveiled its own new AR/VR headset called the Meta Quest 3, which will be available later this year for $499. Compared to the Quest 2, it has a thinner and lighter design, as well as twice the graphics performance.
While the potential surrounding the industry can be exciting, there are still concerns about whether virtual reality will become mainstream in the same way that computers and mobiles have. The AR/VR market is also coming off a sharp decline in 2022, with global shipments down 20% year-over-year to 8.8 million units.