Vision Pro - page 5

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: After pulling the plug on an ambitious project — creating a self-driving car — Apple sets its sights on making … home robots?!? Say it ain’t so, Tim!

Also on The CultCast:

• New iPhone 16 dummy units bring the rumors to life. But as for those long-predicted fancy new iPads, we’re still waiting. Get used to it!
• The next-gen Apple processor could give Macs a serious performance boost. Erfon talks specs and speculation.
• Vision Pro’s new Spatial Personas aren’t creepy at all … 👻
• Griffin serves up some tips on how to take a proper photo during the upcoming total solar eclipse.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Apple will make Spatial Personas, a more lifelike enhancement of the Persona feature for the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, available in the visionOS 1.1 update coming Tuesday.

In beta test versions of the software, Spatial Personas allow Vision Pro users to create and interact with customizable, free-floating 3D digital avatars in virtual spaces. They enhance collaboration via SharePlay while going beyond the limits of a little box on a FaceTime call.

A version of Apple Pencil stylus that can be used with the Vision Pro AR headset is in testing, according to an unconfirmed report.

And there’s proof that Apple is at least considering the idea — it filed for a patent on methods of using a stylus to create virtual objects while wearing a headset.

Apple plans to release the first Immersive Video sports film Thursday at 6 p.m. PT. It’s a 5-minute recap of the 2023 MLS playoffs.

And the 180-degree 3D soccer blowout with Spatial Audio will be free in the Apple TV app for all Vision Pro users.

Apple CEO Tim Cook’s trip to China apparently scored a big win: Tencent will reportedly bring some of its biggest apps to the Vision Pro AR headset. The company developed both the hugely popular WeChat super app plus a wide array of successful games.

Vision Pro has not yet launched in China but the debut is expected soon.

Apple launched Vision Pro on the 40th anniversary of the Macintosh. That’s surely not a coincidence — both are ground-breaking computers that show where the company is headed for the coming decades.

Anyone highly critical of Vision Pro because it appeals only to a niche audience and is very expensive needs to remember that those exact same criticisms were leveled at the original Macintosh in 1984. If the current problems really are proof the AR headset is inescapably doomed — as some have argued — then there never would have been a second-generation Macintosh.

I was around when both computers launched. That gives me perspective on what Apple’s past can tell us about the company’s future.

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook confirmed during his visit to China that Vision Pro will launch later this year in the country. Currently, the company’s $3500 mixed reality headset is only available in the US.

Apple opened preorders for the Vision Pro in mid-January 2024, following its announcement at WWDC 2023. The headset went on sale in the US in the first week of February.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The latest rumors indicate 2024 will bring big changes to the AirPods lineup. In fact, Apple’s ramping up for “the biggest AirPods launch to date.”

But even this fantastic news can’t cheer us up after the Department of Justice files a wide-ranging antitrust lawsuit against Apple. We recorded this episode of The CultCast right after news of the DOJ’s suit broke, and some of us are fuming!

Also on The CultCast:

• So … Apple might lean on Google Gemini to power iOS 18 features? Good luck with that.
• iPhone 17 could bring a major upgrade in the display department.
• The next-gen Vision Pro headset might drop the price to something much more approachable.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Apple made the visionOS App Store available for anyone to look through. The change will give anyone thinking about buying the Vision Pro AR headset a preview at what software is available.

Previously, the list of available app was only viewable by those who already owned the cutting-edge computer that launched in the United States in February.

Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro is only available in the US right now. But this could change soon, with the company purportedly preparing to launch the headset in nine new countries.

As a part of the AR headset’s international expansion, Vision Pro’s virtual keyboard will gain support for 12 new languages.

Vision Pro demonstrated its healthcare chops recently, assisting a surgical team operating on a patient’s spine in the U.K., reports indicated. It marked the first Vision pro surgery in Europe and one of the first worldwide, undoubtedly.

Because a nurse assisting the surgeons wore the device, they could efficiently help prepare for and track the procedure.

iPhone 15 Pro Max Vision is a version of Apple’s premier handset modified so it matches the look of the Vision Pro AR headset. It’s from Dubai-based Caviar, and is actually a beautiful option for someone who uses both devices.

But buyers will need deep pockets. The modification adds tremendously to the cost of the iPhone.

And you have to see Caviar’s crazy mod that turns a Samsung S24 Ultra into a Tesla Cybertruck. Both creations are part of Caviar’s Future collection, designed to reflect “the most prominent futuristic hits,” according to the company.

Powerful new health and wellness apps take advantage of visionOS’s “infinite canvas” to use spatial experiences to improve patient outcomes in clinical settings and at home, Apple said Monday. It seems that Vision Pro health apps are changing medical care.

“We’re thrilled to see the incredible apps that developers across the healthcare community are bringing to Apple Vision Pro,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. “The imagination and drive of our developers, combined with the technical capabilities of visionOS, are igniting new possibilities for physicians, frontline workers, and even students, and we can’t wait to see what’s to come.”

Anyone criticizing Apple Vision Pro as a Meta Quest at seven times the price misses the profound difference between the two headsets. Apple made an augmented reality device, while Meta focused on virtual reality.

And the basic distinction between the two is that AR is the future of computing while VR will always be much more limited.

Both Apple and Meta seem to realize this, which is why their devices support AR and VR. The difference comes down to which one the rivals focus on, and that’s where Apple has the advantage.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Apple pulled the plug on Project Titan, its not-so-secret, decade-long effort to build a self-driving electric car. After spending a reported $10 billion on R&D, the moonshot Apple car project winds up canceled — in favor of generative AI!

Let’s just say we have some opinions.

Also on The CultCast:

• Apple’s FineWoven iPhone cases don’t seem to hold up so well. In fact, a high-profile journo says hers is “browning like a rotten banana.” What gives?
• Apple Arcade’s shifting mission means kids will be winners (but indie devs will be losers).
• Waiting for a second-gen Vision Pro that will be lighter, brighter and less expensive? You might want to rethink that plan.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Vision Pro may be Apple’s only AR headset until 2027. The company has yet to start work on Vision Pro 2 or Vision Air, according to a trusted analyst.

That said, Apple is allegedly working on ways to produce the current Vision Pro more cheaply, which could lead to a price cut next year.

Very few Vision Pro units are being returned to Apple, according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. He pegs the Vision Pro return rate at less than 1%, which flies in the face of previous reports that many of the headsets bought by early adopters would wind up in the refurbished bins.

The reason Kuo states for a large percentage of those Vision Pro returns is even more surprising!

Apple hasn’t released Vision Pro in China yet, but that hasn’t stopped scads of merchants from offering the headset for rent to enthusiasts. Many of them appear to think the AR headset may go beyond typical gaming uses, a new report says. Vision Pro rentals in China have attracted tens of thousands of customers.

Some eager testers think Apple’s pricey Vision Pro bests competitors like Meta’s Quest 3, as well.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The latest iPhone 16 Pro rumor comes with a mockup that looks like a fidget spinner. Will Apple really do that? On the other hand, the latest iPad rumors sound totally believable.

Also on The CultCast:

• There’s an iOS trojan in the wild that steals your face to drain your bank accounts.
• Apple is hard at work future-proofing iMessage to keep it safe from quantum computer attacks.
• We discuss the new Apple Sports app, including one of its weirdest features: betting odds. (Supporting gambling seems like a strange move for the normally vice-averse Apple.)
• Erfon recounts his Vision Pro return experience, with some interesting behind-the-scenes intel.
• Also on the Vision Pro return front, Griffin tells us his sob story about parting ways with the expensive headset. (Don’t miss the surprise twist ending!)
• And finally, Griffin raves about a new wireless microphone in an Under Review segment.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

If you want to get work done on your Vision Pro, you’ll really want a Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad for precision input and pointing. And for gaming, you can connect a controller, too. The Vision Pro officially supports Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch controllers, with support for some other Bluetooth models as well.

Follow these instructions to pair a Bluetooth device with Vision Pro.

The best Vision Pro apps, games, demos and experiences showcase the AR capabilities of Apple’s headset.

If you own a Vision Pro and don’t know where to start, I put together a list of apps and games to try out first. Alternatively, if you can’t afford a headset (or if you live outside the United States), you can live vicariously through me as I show you all of the most interesting Vision Pro apps I’ve found.

I highly recommend you check out the companion video to this article to see these apps in action. Alternatively, you can continue reading below.

Vision Pro is years ahead of its time. Apple’s AR headset lets us see today what using an average computer a decade in the future will be like.

In 2034, being surrounded by physical screens will seem charmingly obsolete. Virtual displays of any size generated by an AR headset from Apple (or its rivals) will take the place of displays connected to our computers, phones, watches, etc. And that’s only the start.

You can experience the coming revolution now because Vision Pro is another example of Apple giving us a glimpse of the future.

I’ve had a lot of fun playing Void-X, a modern arcade shooter game. If you’ve ever emptied a whole pocketful of quarters into Galaga or Zaxxon, then you’ll love playing it, too. And you’ll like it even more if you play Void-X on Vision Pro. (You can play the tame on iPhone and iPad, too.)

The two-week return window for my Vision Pro is fast approaching, so I need to make my keep it/toss it decision in a matter of days. And I desperately want to keep it.

Many publications (including Cult of Mac) are reporting on the mass of people selling their Vision Pros after the two-week return window. A lot of it, I think, is for the drama — Apple is taking a big swing on a brand-new product, people aren’t keeping it, instant controversy. (I bet a lot of these people bought their headsets to produce content on the buzzy device and never planned on keeping it, no matter how good it was.)

Well, here’s the other side of the coin. My Vision Pro has fit into my life perfectly. I use it for hours every day. But justifying the purpose is a financial stretch.

You’d think readers of a website called Cult of Mac would be into Apple products. But a straw poll of Cult of Mac Today readers found a whopping 76% of respondents plan to return their Vision Pro to Apple.

The eye-popping number comes as droves of Vision Pro early adopters say they plan to take advantage of Apple’s generous return policy. Discomfort, the headset’s high price and the lack of a clear use case for the isolating device top the list of reasons cited by disaffected Vision Pro owners.