Apple Vision Pro Explained: All your questions and doubts answered

The Vision Pro is Apple’s first major new product category in eight years. It’s a new type of headset which can be controlled using the wearer's eyes, hands and voice, a major differentiated feature that you won’t get on other headsets. “It’s the first Apple product you look through and not at,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the annual WWDC, adding that Vision Pro represents “spatial computing” and brings “a new dimension to powerful personal technology.”

The Vision Pro is essentially an augmented-reality headset that “seamlessly” blends the real and digital worlds. Nowhere has Apple used the term “mixed reality” and “virtual reality” during the presentation. This might be an intentional move but if you dig deeper, Apple’s focus with the Vision Pro is more on AR and less on VR. 

Resembling a pair of ski goggles, the headset features a glass 23-million-pixel screen which covers the upper face. While most other headsets on the market look heavy and bulky, the Vision Pro looks different. It is encased in "aerospace grade alloys," glass, and fabric, which makes it a high-end headset. Plus, the facial interface is adjustable, which means it should provide a closer, more comfortable fit than other headsets from its competitors. It also contains five sensors, 12 cameras, a 4K display for each eye, and a wearable computer that needs to be cooled with a fan. Although the Vision Pro is pitched as an AR device, it can switch between augmented and full virtual reality using a dial.

Yes. Apple has teamed up with Zeiss to create custom optical inserts that magnetically attach to the lenses for people who wear glasses. That said, we highly recommend people who wear glasses should speak to their optician before considering the Vision Pro. 

Yes. Apple recommends users be 13 years and older to use the headset. This means the headset is not intended for kids. 

The Vision Pro allows users to consume and create content in a new way, in the spaces around them. Users can watch movies, especially in 3-D, with spatial audio as if they were in a cinema hall, view their own pictures or videos, and play video games. For example, one key feature of the Vision Pro is the ability to see apps overlaid across real-world surroundings. All they need to flick to scroll through options and tap their fingers together to select something with gestures. During the presentation, Apple showed off how users will be able to interact with others when using FaceTime, for example. The company highlighted how users will be able to capture “spatial” 3-D videos and photos using the headset.

The Vision Pro runs on the same M2 processor that Apple uses in its Macs. In addition, the headset has a proprietary R1 chip, which allows the device to remain silent and stream images without lag. The R1 also enables EyeSight, a feature that projects realistic graphics of your eyes to those around you while you are wearing the headset and also enables you to see the person you are speaking with through the headset. This makes the Vision Pro miles ahead of other headsets on the market. 

No. The Vision Pro uses custom software, called “visionOS”  which Apple describes as “the first OS designed for the ground up for spatial computing.” At the architecture level, visionOS is similar to macOS and iOS but it adds an additional “real-time subsystem” for processing interactive visuals on the Vision Pro. Apple also promises a dedicated App Store for the Vision Pro. Naturally, the apps on the Vision Pro will be tuned for the three-dimensional (3D) interface and will be free from how they used to behave on the iPhone. visionOS also takes advantage of the headset’s eye tracking and the Optic ID which enables users to use Apple Pay and autofill passwords as they use the device. Apple said it won't share any of that data with anyone without your permission.

As of now, Apple has not provided any information on the headset’s ruggedness. We don’t know if the headset has got any water resistance rating. 

The Vision Pro requires an external battery pack, and that lasts for only about 2 hours before you need to recharge. The idea to go with a separate battery indicates Apple wanted to focus on reducing the weight of the headset as much as possible while also getting the perfect fit. This may seem like a logical move, considering headsets like the Quest Pro include batteries that make them heavy and bulky to wear all day. 

Apple plans to sell the Vision Pro to consumers sometime early next year, meaning the headset is going to be a 2024 product. In the beginning, the headset’s retail availability will be limited to the US but gradually Apple said it will bring the Vision Pro to more countries. So expect the headset to be made available in India only in the middle of next year or late 2024. 

Well, you have to pay close to Rs 300,000 to get your hands on the headset. Just for context, Meta’s Quest Pro mixed reality headset costs $1000. Apple is no doubt charging top dollar for the headset but then the price of the Vision Pro won’t be a barrier for a developer or a content creator.