In its quest to build a cheaper headset, Apple has asked manufacturers for technical details needed to develop 2-inch or 2.1-inch displays with a pixel density of 1,700ppi (or about half the Vision Pro’s 3,386ppi), according to an Elec report cited by UploadVR yesterday.
Assuming the same aspect ratio, the outlet pegs the resolution “somewhere around 2600 x 2300,” or just over two-thirds that of the current headset.
The headset is now available to buy in China, Japan, and Singapore, with Apple documenting the international launch via a recent blog post.
The Apple Vision Pro will also roll out to Germany, France, Australia, the UK, and Canada on July 12th, with preorders for those regions available starting today at 5AM PT.
“Every person who I’ve shown it to so far is just like... their reaction is giddy,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg says in an interview. Perhaps at Meta Connect in September?
You can read more about Meta’s AR / VR roadmap in a report from last year by my colleague Alex Heath.
Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter looks at “difficult trade-offs” Apple has to make as it prioritizes a cheaper headset (including maybe relying on a tethered iPhone or Mac) and continues work on a second-gen Vision Pro.
He also described details of Apple’s “renewed” efforts on the wear-all-day lightweight AR spectacles dream that Meta and Google are also chasing:
Though a launch date around 2027 has been bandied about, no one I’ve spoken to within Apple believes the glasses will be ready in a few years.
Meta forms new Wearables group and lays off some employees
Meta’s Reality Labs is undergoing its biggest restructuring in years by separating into two orgs: Wearables and Metaverse. A small number of employees have been laid off as a result.
Called the Logitech MX Ink, it will work on the Quest 2 and Quest 3, and can be used to draw in 2D on surfaces or 3D using “full 6DoF positional tracking,” according to UploadVR.
The MX Ink will have haptic feedback, pressure sensitivity, multiple buttons, and will support a double tap feature. Users will reportedly be able to seamlessly switch between it and Quest Touch controllers.
Previously an experimental feature, WebXR support is on by default for Vision Pro beta testers, RoadtoVR wrote last week. The open standard allows for VR and AR experiences on the web, such as those listed on this GitHub page.
However, the outlet writes that AR experiences do not seem to work quite yet, limiting it to fully-VR ones for now.
From Apple’s post-WWDC 2024 keynote release (emphasis mine):
visionOS 2 also adds mouse support for additional workflow options, and Vision Pro will now reveal the user’s physical Magic Keyboard — even when they are fully immersed in an Environment or app.
I can’t wait to see my keyboard floating in the clouds like Falkor from The Neverending Story when visionOS 2 comes out this fall.
“Even Palmer would rather release a handheld than a VR HMD, just like Valve,” joked Valve watcher Brad Lynch, after seeing Luckey’s new Game Boy. (Valve context here.)
Luckey replied: “I am going to be announcing the fact that I am working on a new HMD at AWE!”
Augmented World Expo starts June 18th in Long Beach, California.
Marvel says What If...? – An Immersive Story will have viewers (players?) casting spells, fighting battles with Marvel characters, and using the infinity stones. Judging from the trailer, that means making Doctor Strange’s magic sparks with your hands.
This edition of What If...? will be “free for a limited time” when the app is available on May 30th.
An Apple “wearable computer” made by the Vision Pro’s manufacturer received the necessary quality and safety accreditation for it go on sale, according to the website of the Chinese product standards body that granted its approval.
The report aligns with recent rumors suggesting the Pro will roll out internationally after WWDC on June 10th, though an exact date is still unknown.
Meta is quietly winning the AI wearable race
It’s a low bar so far, but Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses are proving to be the best implementation of wearable AI out there.
I have finally justified my Vision Pro purchase with the iOS version of the Delta emulator.
GamesIndustry.biz did the math to put it in perspective: Zuck’s Reality Labs has burned a billion dollars every month since June 2022, and plans to spend even more: “We continue to expect operating losses to increase meaningfully year-over-year,” CFO Susan Li said on the Q1 earnings call.
Meta is plenty profitable overall, though: it raked in $12 billion last quarter alone.
[GamesIndustry.biz]
Apple’s headset doesn’t have an official Netflix app, but MacRumors mentions Best Buy’s app has arrived.
Just put on your Vision Pro, open the Best Buy Envision app and scroll through hundreds of options to see them appear digitally, right in front your eyes, in your physical space.
Now, all we need is a Netflix app for those virtual TVs.
With the Vision Pro’s Spatial Personas, you can be lonely with friends
It was nice to have someone to hang out with, but you never really forget they’re not actually there.
