Apple is promising 3D movies and spatial experiences in streaming apps without naming Netflix.
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Apple and Disney announced that the Vision Pro will have 3D content from Disney Plus at launch, while Disney Plus subscribers will get special animated screening environments to accompany them. Other apps announced with Vision Pro support include ESPN, MLB, PGA Tour, Max, Discovery Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus, Peacock, Pluto TV, Tubi, Fubo, Crunchyroll, Red Bull TV, IMAX, TikTok, and MUBI. A notable omission from the list is Netflix; however, executives have previously said that the existing app will work unmodified on Apple’s new headset.
The announcement lists some of the movies that will be in 3D, and naturally, Avatar: The Way of Water is among them. But Vision Pro owners will also get 3D versions of movies like Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Encanto.
The movies will be available to rent through the Apple TV app, and the company says that anyone who has already bought the movies will now get 3D versions without paying extra. Otherwise, “more titles, including those available exclusively to Disney Plus subscribers, will be announced at a later date.”
Among the four screening environments for Disney Plus subscribers, one is called the Disney Plus Theater, which the company says takes inspiration from Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre, as well as others based on Pixar’s Monsters, Inc., the fictional Avengers Tower from Marvel Avengers films, and one set in the cockpit of a landspeeder sitting in Star Wars’ Tatooine desert.
Besides Disney content, Apple mentioned the Apple TV app will have some free “immersive entertainment” that includes Alicia Keys: Rehearsal Room and a film from Planet Earth producers called Prehistoric Planet Immersive.
Hollywood studios have been trying to make 3D happen for a long time. The tech has never truly taken off outside of movie theaters, despite TV makers having tried. While the Vision Pro may be able to make it more compelling than the clunky 3D glasses or stereoscopic screens we’ve had so far, it’s not likely that it will do much to move the needle for the format in general given how few of the company’s pricey headsets will be out in the world even a year from now.
