Apple is bringing Apple Intelligence and two brand-new applications to Vision Pro owners with a major software update scheduled to roll-out in April. With visionOS 2.4, Vision Pro owners will be able to access many of the same Artificial Intelligence (AI) features that launched on iPhone, iPad, and Mac in the UK at the end of last year.
Not only that, but Apple has introduced a new app to Vision Pro called Spatial Gallery.
It offers a catalogue of Spatial Photos, Spatial Videos, and immersive panoramas taken by prominent artists, filmmakers, and photographers.
Cirque du Soleil, Red Bull, and Porsche have all signed-up to offer exclusive content in the Spatial Gallery app. You'll also be able to take a peek behind the scenes of Apple TV+ shows like Disclaimer, Severance, and Shrinking with Spatial Photos from the set.
When GB News sat down with a member of the secretive Apple Design Team who worked on the Vision Pro, it was the impact of this device on the future of photography that really stood out.
GB News Technology Editor Aaron Brown experiencing the Apple Vision Pro for the first time GBN For those who haven't tried the Vision Pro yet — and there's no excuse, Apple offers free 30-minute demos with no obligation to buy anything in every Apple Store nationwide — the Spatial format adds depth to photographs and videos, like something from Steven Spielberg's Minority Report. Moving and tilting your head lets you peer past the subject and reveals the depth of the image.
Apple Vision Pro lets you view Spatial Videos, which shifts perspective as you move around, like peering through a window. It's possible to capture this unique footage from the Vision Pro headset itself, as well as any iPhone 15 Pro , 15 Pro Max, or the new iPhone 16 lineup launched in September last year
APPLE PRESS OFFICEWith visionOS 2.4, even if you haven't taken the chance to shoot any Spatial Photos or Spatial Videos yourself, there will be a gallery of some of the best examples waiting for you to test out. There's no need to head to the App Store either, Spatial Gallery will appear on your Vision Pro after the operating system update has finished.
The second new app bundled with visionOS 2.4 is an Apple Vision Pro app found on your iPhone.
This works in much the same way as the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, which lets you customise watch faces, adjust settings and notifications, install new apps, and more.
Using the Vision Pro app, you can download apps and games from the App Store, check the latest immersive content in the Apple TV app that's only available on Vision Pro, check updates in Spatial Gallery, and find a selection of helpful tips and tricks about using the device.
One of the new additions is Vision Pro — an app that resides on your iPhone and lets you check new content available for the Vision Pro, enable Guest Mode, and check your software version
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You'll also be able to quickly access information like current visionOS version, device serial number, and set-up features like Personalised Spatial Audio.
Finally, you can trigger a new Guest User session from the Vision Pro app on your iPhone or iPad. Without putting on the Vision Pro, you'll be able to choose which apps are accessible to your guest and see exactly what they're seeing via AirPlay — making it easy to guide a friend or family member through their first experience.
Vision Pro owners will now be able to access many of the same Apple Intelligence features found on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
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Speaking about the incoming update, Apple Vice President of the Vision Products Group, Mike Rockwell said: "Apple Vision Pro is helping users communicate, collaborate, and experience entertainment in entirely new ways — and we’re continuing to push the boundaries of what’s possible in spatial computing with visionOS 2.4.
"With Apple Intelligence, Vision Pro users will be able to take their productivity and creativity to new heights using features like Writing Tools, Image Playground, and Genmoji. And we’re excited for users to discover and share incredible new experiences with Spatial Gallery."
Lastly, visionOS 2.4 adds many of the Apple Intelligence tricks first announced at WWDC last summer. Some of the core new features that will be added to the Vision Pro in a few weeks are:
- Image Playground to generate never-before-seen images in animation and illustration styles
- Genmoji to design your own custom emoji characters from a brief text description
- Writing Tools for proofreading and rewriting text to adjust tone across any app
- Use ChatGPT to generate documents, emails, and more with a brief description
- Smart Reply in Messages and Mail that identifies questions and suggests relevant replies
- Spotlights on Priority Messages in Mail and AI-generated summaries of email chains
- Natural language search in Photos to find a specific photo or moment in a video by describing it
- Generate a new Memory in Photos with a written prompt, specifying people, location, and tone
Wherever possible, Apple Intelligence tasks will be crunched on-device by using the dedicated Neural Engine inside the M2 system-on-a-chip that powers the Apple Vision Pro.
That should deliver faster results, since you're not reliant on the speed of your Wi-Fi connection, but also means some of these features will be available offline.
Vision Pro is equipped with ludicrously high-resolution displays — with some 23 million pixels shared between two screens the size of Royal Mail stamps — and processes images on-screen 8x faster than the blink of an eye PRESS ASSOCIATION Some Apple Intelligence features need to tap into a larger model. For those, Apple's Private Cloud Compute promises to extend the privacy and security of Apple hardware into the cloud. The Californian company says that Private Cloud Compute requests are never stored or shared with Apple.
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Don't believe them? Independent experts can inspect and check all of the the code that runs on Apple silicon servers to continuously verify this privacy promise.
Apple Intelligence will be available in beta on Apple Vision Pro with visionOS 2.4. It'll only be accessible to those with their devices set to US English, with support for additional languages set to roll-out throughout the year.
