At WWDC26, Apple previewed visionOS 27, the next major software update coming to its Vision Pro headset. The biggest new change is the introduction of Siri AI and the suite of new Apple Intelligence features, as is the case for all of Apple’s announcements today.
But there are other great quality of life features coming to the headset. You can turn your own panoramas into immersive environments, view 3D models from your Mac, and use apps with curved windows. visionOS 27 features another redesigned Control Center, a new virtual environment, improved notifications, faster Wi-Fi connectivity, faster Messages sync and much more.
visionOS 27 is available now as a developer beta, with a public release expected in September.
visionOS 27 announcement brings Siri AI and tons of little tweaks
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
visionOS is the software that powers the Vision Pro, Apple’s mixed reality headset, which Apple calls a “spatial computer.” While the Vision Pro is bulky and expensive, it’s seen as a stepping stone towards lighter-weight AR glasses that may come several years from now. In the meantime, there have been two Vision Pro models, and Apple is developing its first pair of basic glasses for sale next year.
While a fully redesigned next-generation Vision Pro may or may not be in development, Vision Pro users — few in number, but passionate about the platform — still expect regular software updates for their headsets.
Apple Intelligence expands on the Vision Pro
Image: Apple
Apple Intelligence features have not previously been very well implemented on the Vision Pro — or other platforms, for that matter. That changes with visionOS 27. Coming to all Apple platforms is the next-generation Apple Intelligence foundation models, developed in a partnership with Google.
Siri AI, the upgraded voice assistant, comes to Apple’s headset as well. Place the glowing Siri orb in your environment. You don’t need to use the “Hey Siri” trigger phrase — just look at the orb and ask your question.
Siri AI is the upgraded assistant we’ve wanted for years — and that Apple has been promising for years. You can continue a lengthy conversation, and it’ll maintain context the whole time, while drawing on everything Siri knows about your life from your texts, browsing history, emails and more.
Pick up a conversation right where you left off using the Siri app. It looks pretty nice — it presents as a bunch of floating panels of glass, without a defined window shape.
Visual Intelligence comes to visionOS as well in a rather intuitive way. Just ask Siri a question about what you’re looking at and it can answer. It’s like taking a picture using the camera on your iPhone, except the Vision Pro already knows what you’re looking at, with its ever-present cameras that power its passthrough video.
Other new AI features
Image: Apple
- Siri AI has merged with the former Writing Tools feature. It can now generate text for you from scratch or give feedback about your writing.
- On the M5 Vision Pro, you can change the voice, pitch, speed, tone and accent of the Siri voice. This feature is not supported on the M2 model.
- Just like iOS and macOS, Safari gets AI-powered organization. It sorts your bookmarks and reading list items by topic, so they’re easier to find.
- If you have insecure passwords saved, the Passwords app can use an AI agent in Safari to update your password for you.
- Image Playground can generate realistic looking images.
Turn panoramas spatial — and use them as an environment
Photo: Apple
Panoramas are an impressive demo in visionOS. You can see your photos completely wrap around your field of view. And now in visionOS 27, you can combine them with another top feature — you can convert them into a Spatial Photo, using machine learning, to experience them in full 3D.
Furthermore, you can use a spatial panorama as an environment. That means you can place yourself inside the scene, with all your apps and windows floating inside, just like Apple’s own virtual immersive environments.
Other minor tweaks and improvements
Image: Apple
- Apple entirely redesigned Control Center (again), with much easier access to playback and environment controls. This looks like a top improvement.
- There’s a new virtual environment based in Iceland called Thórsmörk, with beautiful aurora borealis.
- App windows can be curved, just like the ultra wide Mac Virtual Display. If an app window wants to stretch across your whole field of view, curvature will make it feel more natural.
- If you’re working on a 3D model on your Mac using Mac Virtual Display, you’ll be able to project a preview of the model directly into your Vision Pro.
- In the Quick Look app, you can turn a 3D model into a wireframe or UV map to see its underlying geometry.
- Notifications automatically expand when you look at them, saving you a tap.
- A Mac Virtual Display widget can connect your Mac, even when it’s closed or asleep. A new extra-small widget size is available, too.
- Safari supports immersive experiences, like 360° backgrounds.
- Vision Pro connects to a Wi-Fi network up to three times faster.
- Messages sync faster.
Unfortunately, it seems as though there are still no new Apple apps with a native visionOS port, or any improvements to the Home Screen.
Major new accessibility features
Apple announced a few accessibility features coming to the Vision Pro on May 19, Accessibility Awareness Day.
Vision Pro users will be able to control a compatible electric wheelchair using the headset entirely with their eyes. Users with conditions like ALS, for whom joystick controls aren’t viable, will find great utility in the feature. It will launch with support for Tolt and LUCI drive systems in the U.S., via both Bluetooth and wired connections. Apple plans to expand compatibility over time.
Vehicle Motion Cues also come to visionOS. This popular feature reduces nausea when reading on a screen while riding in a car, bus, plane or train. It places a field of dots in your environment that match the vehicle’s movement, which can reconcile the feeling of motion with your vision.
Coming soon
visionOS 27, like all of the other software updates previewed at WWDC26, is available for developer testing today. Unlike other platforms, visionOS does not typically have a separate public beta track. Apple will likely release visionOS 27 publicly alongside all the other updates in September.
visionOS 27 runs on both the original Vision Pro with M2 and the updated Vision Pro with M5.
D. Griffin Jones is a writer, podcaster and video producer for Cult of Mac. Griffin has been a passionate computer enthusiast since 2002, when he got his first PC — but since getting a Mac in 2008, he hasn’t turned back. His skills in graphic and web design, along with video and podcast editing, are self-taught over 20+ years. Griffin has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and has written several (unpublished) apps for Mac and iOS. His collection of old computers is made up of 40+ desktops, laptops, PDAs and devices, dating back to the early ’80s. He brings all of these creative and technical skills, along with a deep knowledge of Apple history, into his work for Cult of Mac.
