Apple Vision Pro: Price, VR headset resolution and release date rumours
The future will be spatialised.
The VR space is about to get a heck of a lot more, ahem, spatial, thanks to the incoming Apple Vision Pro.
This brand-new Apple VR headset looks like something out of Ready Player One and could be the bold first step into a future for the medium thanks to fancy new augmented reality technology.
These sci-fi goggles promise to seamlessly blend digital content into the physical space around you. Using ultra-high-resolution displays and new visionOS tech, the wearer is able to use their hands to interact with screens that appear in the world around them.
It’s awfully impressive stuff that needs to be seen to be believed. Seriously, it’s worth checking out this reveal trailer for the new spatial VR headset:
A bit of tech this advanced has got to cost a whole lot, right? Read on to find out everything we know about the Apple Vision Pro release date, price and specs — including its display resolution.
When is the Apple Vision Pro release date?
The Apple Vision Pro release date is scheduled for early 2024 in the USA. Following its release in the States, the new spatial VR/AR device is set to release in more countries sometime later on in 2024.
Unfortunately, that’s all we know about the sci-fi headset’s release date. There is currently no official word on a UK release date, let alone a finalised launch date in the USA. As such, pre-orders are not yet open.
When it does release, it will be available to purchase from Apple Stores and on apple.com in the States and presumably here in the UK.
Apple adds that “customers will be able to learn about, experience, and personalise their fit for Vision Pro at Apple Store locations.” You will likely want to try before you buy considering how much it’s set to cost.
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Apple Vision Pro price: How much does the VR headset cost?
The Apple Vision Pro starts at $3,499 in the USA. Starts at. This is one expensive bit of kit. While a price has yet to be confirmed here in the UK, a conversion based on the exchange rate at the time of writing places a pound sterling price of £2,807.21.
Apple isn't likely to launch it in the UK at that price, though. We’re expecting it to retail at or around £3,000.
Given it’s set to release sometime later on in 2024, you’d best start saving up now if you’re keen to get your hands on a Vision Pro. We will, of course, update this page with official release timings and prices when confirmed by Apple.
Apple Vision Pro specs: Resolution and more explained
With its staggering starting price point, the Apple Vision Pro specs are at least impressive, all made possible by the new visionOS and App Store. There are 23 million pixels stuffed into its twin display, for example, with each eye receiving a resolution that’s over 4K.
The headset’s display system “uses micro-OLED technology to pack 23 million pixels into two displays, each the size of a postage stamp, with wide colour and high dynamic range.” Apple adds that “custom catadioptric lenses… enable incredible sharpness and clarity,” which “delivers jaw-dropping experiences”.
It’s worth noting that for the best visual experience, “users with vision correction needs will use ZEISS Optical Inserts to ensure visual fidelity and eye tracking accuracy.”
It’s all powered by a dual-chip design — the M2 chip is capable of delivering “unparalleled standalone performance” while the second R1 chip “processes input from 12 cameras, five sensors, and six microphones to ensure that content feels like it is appearing right in front of the user’s eyes, in real time.”
This should ensure a user interface that promises quick switches, whether with your hands, eyes or voice, between watching a film (and using your hands to make the screen bigger — up to 100 feet), viewing photos and making use of that cool EyeSight feature — which allows you to see what’s going on around you way more clearly — as seamlessly as possible.
Other impressive specifications include the Digital Crown on the top of the device. A twist of this and you can choose how immersed you are in an environment at any moment. 3D cameras allow you to capture spatial photos and videos, with panorama shots able to wrap around you.
Read more
- Is the Meta Quest 2 worth it? Our verdict on the VR headset
- Meta Quest 3 release date speculation and latest news
Finally, we have Spatial Audio. According to Apple, each Vision Pro headset has “two individually amplified drivers inside each audio pod deliver Personalised Spatial Audio based on the user’s own head and ear geometry.” This should deliver crisp and clear 3D audio.
Of course, there will be games to play on this thing. What good would it be without some kind of gaming available? We can't wait to see what development teams have got in store for us.
Apple is promising up to two hours of Vision Pro use on a full charge. All that power was bound to be battery-draining. Don’t worry, though, it can be plugged in and used at the same time.
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Authors
Toby Saunders is a freelance writer specialising in Video Game journalism. He has a wealth of experience in the field and is published on many different websites including PCGamesN, Nintendo Life and Pocket Tactics. He has a degree in Film Studies (he gets to write about Film and TV occasionally, too).
