Apple announced Monday its $3,499 Vision Pro headset will be available in the U.S. on February 2 and pre-orders start on January 19, with CEO Tim Cook calling it “the most advanced consumer electronics device ever created”—months after revealing the mixed-reality headset.
Key facts
- The headset, which was first revealed during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June, offers each eye an ultra-high-resolution display with more pixels than a 4K TV, the company said, and users can switch between augmented reality and virtual reality using a dial on the side of the headset.
- Users can control the headset using their eyes, hands, and voice, such as tapping their fingers to select items while using apps.
- Vision Pro is powered by visionOS—an operating system built on the foundation of systems powering Apple’s other products—so users have access to over one million apps for iPhone and iPad, and the headset has its own App Store.
- The headset has 256 GB of storage, and includes a dual-chip design with Apple’s custom M2 chip and its new R1 chip, which “processes input from 12 cameras, five sensors, and six microphones,” to make content seem realistic, Apple said.
- Prescription lenses from Zeiss for the headset are an additional $149, while readers cost an extra $99.
- The headset also includes Apple’s new authentication system, Optic ID, which scans a user’s iris to unlock the device and complete other tasks, but Apple says eye tracking information is not shared with itself or third-parties.
Tangent
Elon Musk replied to Cook’s announcement of the Apple headset on X, saying he looks “forward to trying it out.”
Key background
The Vision Pro headset is Apple’s first new product category since it launched its Apple Watch series in 2015. In 2016, Apple filed patents for headset parts, such as lightweight eyeglasses, but the company hit technical challenges that delayed development, Bloomberg reported.
Reports on Apple’s headset have swirled for months leading up to its announcement in June and now its release date, including those about Apple staff doubting the effectiveness of the device, its ski goggle design and battery pack, and trademark filings for “Reality One,” “Reality Pro,” and “Reality Processor,” which Bloomberg suggested would be the name of the headset.
Other tech giants, including Meta and Microsoft have released their own headsets without much hype from consumers.
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
