Apple unveils new Vision Pro Augmented Reality headset, with a $3,499 price tag

Vision Pro will start at $3,499, more than three times the cost of the priciest headset in Meta's line of mixed and virtual reality devices that currently dominate the AR/VR market.

“Vision Pro is a new kind of computer that augments reality by seamlessly blending the real world with the digital world. It's the first Apple product you look through and not at. Vision Pro feels familiar, yet it's entirely new. You can see here and interact with digital content just like it's in your physical space and you control vision pro using the most natural and intuitive tools your eyes, hands and voice,” said Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook.

Apple said that users of the Vision Pro would be able to select content inside the goggles with their eyes, tap their fingers together to click and gently flick to scroll, while also using a three-dimensional camera and microphone system to capture videos and pictures that can be viewed in 3D later.

“Select a photo and watch as the room dims around you. Your library of photos and videos looks incredible on Vision Pro with brilliant colour and spectacular detail. Make it as big as your room or zoom in. Letting you feel even closer to that moment and the panoramas are stunning. In Vision Pro, every panorama you've ever taken on your iPhone now expands and wraps around you life-size. You feel like you're standing right where you took them,” said Senior Engineering Program Manager En Kelly.

The exterior screen goes dark when a user is fully immersed in a virtual world. When a person approaches a user who is in full virtual mode, the headset will show both the user and the outside person to each other.

"You're never isolated from people around you," said Apple's human interface chief Alan Dye. "You can see them, and they can see you."

The Vision Pro has two hours of use with an external battery, which Apple said would reduce the weight on the user's head. However, the device must be plugged into the wall or battery pack and there is no standalone use.

Apple's headset will be available early next year in the US with more countries coming later in 2024.

"I think the expectations were met and exceeded," said tech analyst Carolina Milanesi. "If you just listened to the crowd's reaction, there was a lot of excitement."

In its most visually striking difference from Meta's headsets, the device also has an exterior display that shows the user's eyes to people in the outside world.

The exterior screen goes dark when a user is fully immersed in a virtual world. When a person approaches a user who is in full virtual mode, the headset will show both the user and the outside person to each other, an augmented reality advancement over Meta's devices which show a more basic video feed of the outside world.