It is official. Apple used its annual WWDC application developer conference to unveil the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, an ambitious device that aims to replicate in virtual reality what the iPhone spawned in mobile telephony 15 years ago.
Tim Cook said: “This day will be historic! The CEO of Apple was unusually feverish on stage in Cupertino five minutes earlier than expected on Monday. He called the day “the biggest WWDC conference ever.” A video showing a young man flying into space to conquer a bubble couldn’t better illustrate where Apple stands in 2023.
Only at the end of the 120-minute presentation did Cook return to the stage to unveil his Vision Pro helmet. “I think augmented reality is an amazing technology,” he said. “And that’s why I’m excited to introduce the new Apple Vision Pro platform. »
Apple Vision Pro
Vision Pro is a virtual reality headset that the user can put on to access an immersive digital environment. A crown at the top of the helmet allows you to adjust the transparency of the display, giving you an overview of your surroundings without having to remove your helmet.
This “mix between the digital world and the physical world” is Apple’s card up its sleeve to compete with already existing virtual or augmented reality headsets from Meta, Microsoft and others.
“It will bring a new dimension to personal technology,” says Tim Cook. The Mac gave rise to the mouse. Multi-touch touch screens were introduced with the iPhone. Apple hopes the Vision Pro will do the same for a form of gesture interaction that’s controller-less.
The task of interpreting these gestures is the task of the cameras and sensors integrated in the helmet. You’ll also be able to identify nearby objects, such as other people or the screen of a Mac, to integrate them more or less naturally into the image.
Several small details make the Vision Pro a little more refined than the competition’s helmets. The integration of a technology called “Optic ID”, for example, makes it possible to pay in no time at all. Overall, Apple claims to have created more than 5,000 small innovations on this helmet and to patent them quickly. That probably explains why it will retail for $3,499 when it launches in early 2024. That’s a multiple of the price of a Meta helmet.
“Betting on usage scenarios in a work or productivity context is brilliant,” responded Creative Strategies analyst Ben Bajarin. “The key for Apple is to have positioned its headset in the space computing category. »
Spatial computing is likely Apple’s way of distancing itself from Metaverse, the term coined by rival Meta to promote its own virtual reality technology. The helmet offers many applications “that only Apple can achieve,” adds Ben Bajarin.
To underscore the strategic importance of this new helmet, Apple even invited Disney CEO Robert Iger to the stage. “This platform will allow us to bring Disney to our fans in an unprecedented way,” the American businessman promised.
Premium ecosystem
If a trend emerges from all of the above, it’s that Apple wants to strengthen its position as a maker of slightly higher-end computing devices. It must be said that historically this position has given him quite good advantages. Including on the side of personal computers. A new Mac Pro desktop computer with an advanced M2 Ultra processor was also introduced.
Its performance makes it a gadget for programmers and film and video editors who dream of creating the next Hollywood blockbuster. Its price of $6,999 confirms that the device is aimed at a smaller segment of buyers than the MacBook Air, a laptop that was also updated this spring and costs four times less.
Other innovations continue to concentrate Apple product users in an increasingly closed ecosystem. Apple’s messaging continues to be refined. We’ve added a new Arrival (“Check-in”) feature that notifies your contacts when you arrive at your destination, or issues a notification when you don’t.
Apple also wants to replace business cards. The exchange of contact data should be clearer in the future and take place via a more natural and contactless transmission of the contact card of the owner of an iPhone or an Apple Watch. It is enough to bring two phones side by side to start the transfer.
Of course, Android phones are barred from such interactions. Google will continue to voice its displeasure as it would like to see Apple adopt the RCS industry standard for richer and more secure text and multimedia messaging. It won’t be for this year.
After all, Apple is Apple. And no matter how important the novelties are, that will never seem to change.
Alain McKenna is a guest at Apple.