Everything we know about Apple’s Vision Pro headset

Apple, Adobe, Pixar, Nvidia, and Autodesk are teaming up to promote open standards for interoperable 3D tools and data. In a press release, the companies announced the formation of the Alliance for OpenUSD, which will drive the “standardization, development, evolution, and growth” of Pixar’s Universal Scene Description (USD) technology.

Pixar describes USD as the “first open-source software that can robustly and scalably interchange 3D scenes” while incorporating various assets, sources, and animations. The animation company calls it a “fundamental requirement” for people creating metaverse content.

Apple’s new Vision Pro headset, which is coming later this year, will use hand-tracking and eye-tracking for control, but at one time, Apple considered a finger-worn input device, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter.

Gurman said that early in the Vision Pro’s development cycle, Apple tested third-party virtual reality controllers from companies like HTC. Later, it looked into the finger-worn device — indeed, in 2015 a smart ring patent from the company emerged, though at the time seemed more intended as a general wearable device, not something specific to a mixed reality headset.

Apple’s revealing that its new Vision Pro mixed reality headset is outfitted with displays that have a 90Hz refresh rate. The new detail comes in an online WWDC session for developers where Apple shares how 2D video and stereoscopic 3D video work in the headset.

It’s common to see 90 to 120Hz screens on tech from smartphones to PC gaming monitors, as it provides quicker responsiveness and smoother motion than slower displays. Apple has generally used 60Hz displays on everything it makes other than some of its “pro” devices like the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro that have 120Hz ProMotion displays. For a screen directly in front of your eyes, that added speed will make a big difference.

An Apple developer session has offered an in-depth look at the many ways users will (eventually) control its new Vision Pro headset, including a virtual keyboard that you’ll be able to type on in mid-air. It comes to us thanks to the “Design for spatial input” session, in which two members of Apple’s design team walk prospective developers through best practices for designing apps for the new platform.

Apple seems keen for users to mainly interact with the headset by simply looking at UI elements and making small hand gestures with their arms relaxed on their lap. But in its developer session, Apple designer Israel Pastrana Vicente admits that “some tasks are better suited to interact directly,” which can involve reaching out and touching UI elements (a feature Apple refers to as “direct touch”). There’s also support for using physical keyboards and trackpads or game controllers.

I still remember using the iPhone 4 for the first time in 2010. That was when Apple shipped its first-ever Retina display and Steve Jobs said that, once you use it, “you can’t go back.” It was something I couldn’t unsee, like looking through prescription glasses for the first time.

That’s exactly how I felt after a demo of the Apple Vision Pro yesterday at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. A computer you strap to your face should be primarily judged not only by what you can do with it but also by the quality of what you can see through it. The Vision Pro blows away every other headset in this regard. It’s the industry’s Retina display moment. There’s no going back.

The year is 2025. I’m sitting on the couch next to my husband, who appears in my field of vision whenever we talk to each other. When we aren’t talking, he fades out of view so I can focus my attention on the screens in front of me. I’m editing a presentation for work, FaceTiming with my family across the country, learning Spanish, and watching cooking demos on YouTube at the same time.

I get a notification — it’s time for my daily meditation. The screens darken, and the room around me fades away completely so I can focus on a calming animation and count my breaths. When I’m done, the session is automatically logged in my journal, along with my daily mood: pleasant. Just like yesterday. The FaceTime call comes back into focus just as my family members’ photorealistic personas are laughing at something funny my mom said. I’m not sure what it was, but my avatar laughs along with theirs anyway.

From a purely technical perspective, I had the same experience using the new Apple Vision Pro that most others who have tried it seem to. This headset is remarkably polished for a first-generation product: its screen looks much better; the field of view is much wider; and the gesture control is much more natural than any other headset on the market. The Vision Pro did get a little heavy on my face after a while, and obviously, all we’ve seen so far are controlled demos in a controlled situation, but there’s no doubt this is a remarkable piece of hardware.

Which brings up the other, much more interesting question: what is this thing for? Apple has a few answers: it’s for taking super-immersive videos of your kid’s birthday; it’s for adding more monitors to your office setup; it’s for staring at a 3D human heart while it beats quietly in your living room.

Apple has acquired Mira, a Los Angeles-based AR startup that makes headsets for other companies and the US military, according to a post from the CEO’s private Instagram account yesterday seen by The Verge and a person familiar with the matter. Apple confirmed the acquisition.

The news comes just one day after Apple unveiled the Vision Pro, a $3,499 mixed reality headset that the company has billed as a new “spatial” computing platform. It’s unclear how much Apple paid for Mira, which raised about $17 million in funding to date. Jony Ive, Apple’s former design chief, was an advisor to the startup at one point, according to two former employees who requested anonymity to speak without the company’s permission.

The first bar has been cleared — critics agree the $3,499 Apple Vision Pro is an amazing tech demo. But is it a new computing paradigm with limitless possibilities? That’s not quite the impression I got from the company’s marketing, which has remarkably strong ideas on where and when you’d use this technology.

Let’s take a look, shall we?

What does the Apple Vision Pro look like? Imagine a pair of ski goggles. The fanciest, most sci-fi ski goggles you’ve ever seen. There, you’ve got it.

Apple just announced the Vision Pro headset at its WWDC developer conference, during which executives spent a long time detailing both how the hardware works and how you’re meant to use it. After the event, we were able to take a brief look at the $3,499 Vision Pro itself — we couldn’t use it or even touch it, but we could gaze upon its metallic wonders in a demo room at the Steve Jobs Theater.

Apple is introducing Optic ID, its latest biometric security authentication technology and the first from the company to be based on the details of your iris. Optic ID will be used to unlock Apple’s new Vision Pro mixed reality headset that was introduced today at the WWDC 2023 event.

According to Apple, Optic ID works by analyzing a user’s iris through LED light exposure and then comparing it with an enrolled Optic ID stored on the device’s Secure Enclave. During the WWDC keynote, Apple’s VP of technology development group, Mike Rockwell, said the system could detect iris differences even with identical twins.