I just watched WWDC 2023, Apple’s yearly presentation to show off their new hardware. They finally announced their new VR headset. It’s called: Vision Pro. The headset features two 4k displays, a display on the outside of the headset, an external battery, lidar sensors, and a “limited field of view”. You control the headset with eyesight, voice, and hand gestures. My favorite part of the presentation was when they told us about this “innovative” new idea called “eyesight”. While, it was mentioned, you can play games on Apple Arcade, it is not the focus of the device. They advertise this device as another computer. It seems like a true consumer XR device that’s intuitive and easy to incorporate in your day to day computing shenanigans. That is if your day to day computing shenanigans includes an iPhone, iPad, or Mac PC.

We will have to wait and see what happens, but I have no doubt that Apple will have incredible software running behind this. They are really good at making things fast and intuitive. While all their devices run on their ecosystem of software, everything works together seamless. Usually. I am not someone who uses their products, so I imagine I will have a tougher time using this device to it’s fullest potential. It’s possible this VR headset is the headset that allows people to replace their other hardware. I’m very interested to see how people respond to it, especially with how much the headset costs.

The starting price for this headset is $3500! That’s an expensive headset! I am interested in their VR headset, but I learned my lesson after buying the Quest Pro. The Quest Pro didn’t really deliver on what Meta was pushing and I’m concerned this may have the same fate. And this headset is 3x the starting price of the Quest Pro. I’ll wait for this item to be out for a while before I buy it (if I buy it). Since I don’t use Apple hardware, I wonder how non Apple Apps will end up working on it. What other messaging apps will I be able to use? Will I be able to connect to my MSI laptop? What will Zoom look like on this?

I want an XR headset to replace my PC. I want to do all my work in VR! I mean it, I really want that. I doubt the Apple Vision Pro will be the device that lets me accomplish that, but maybe it will do it for someone else. I’m very interested to see how people respond to it. I guess we will see next year.