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If you want to be one of the first Apple Vision Pro owners in the UK — clear your diary at 1pm BST on June 28. That's when Apple will begin taking orders for its "Spatial Computer" from its online store in the UK.
Apple Vision Pro will start dropping through the letterboxes of those who preordered from July 12. This is also when you'll be able to book an appointment to test the headset in your local Apple Store.
The hotly-anticipated Augmented Reality (AR) device — the first all-new product category Apple has entered since the launch of the Apple Watch almost a decade ago — has remained exclusive to the United States since its debut in February.
Apple Vision Pro lets wearers place windowed applications, games, and movies in the real-world, with digital elements staying in place as you move. It can be controlled with gestures, voice controls with AI assistant Siri, or a traditional mouse and keyboard APPLE PRESS OFFICE This was followed by preorders in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore on June 13, 2024. As well as Apple fans in the UK, Vision Pro preorders will be live in Australia, Canada, France, and Germany today.
"The enthusiasm for Apple Vision Pro has been extraordinary, and we are thrilled to introduce the magic of spatial computing to more customers around the world," said Tim Cook, Apple CEO. "We can’t wait for more people to see the impossible become possible, whether working and collaborating with an infinite canvas for apps, reliving treasured memories in three dimensions, watching TV shows and movies in a one-of-a-kind personal cinema, or enjoying brand-new spatial experiences that defy imagination."
Vision Pro lets you watch films, like Avatar: The Way Of Water in immersive 3D and with a high frame-rate, as well as series and documentaries from streamers like Apple TV+, Prime Video, Disney+, and more — and you can expand the screen to any size you'd like
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Apple refers to the Vision Pro as a "Spatial Computer," since it works independently of another device — unlike an Apple Watch, which requires you to have an iPhone in your pocket. Vision Pro lets you place windowed applications in the world around you. These apps will stay in place even as you move around. So you can keep an app designed for step-by-step cooking instructions above the hob and it'll remain there as you sit on the sofa and watch a film on a virtual cinema-like screen.
You interact with apps and menus inside the Vision Pro by simply looking at them and tapping your fingers together to "click" on something. Apple lets you speak to dictate text, use the virtual keyboard to type, or ask Siri to open and close apps, play a film or series, answer questions, and more.
Unlike Virtual Reality (VR) which completely envelops you with computer-generated imagery — cutting you off from the world around you, Vision Pro blends some artificial elements with your surroundings.
Vision Pro lets you position windowed applications, like those you'd find on a Mac or Windows PC, in the world around you — and at sizes that wouldn't usually be feasible to get work done anywhere
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Vision Pro has all of the Apple-designed apps you'd expect, including Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, as well as the Safari web browser, support for FaceTime calls, Messages, and Apple Maps. With a tap, you can also beam the screen from your MacBook into the headset to work on a larger screen.
Developers have already launched several one-of-a-kind experiences for the Vision Pro, including the ability to stream shows from Disney+ in a number of immersive environments, like Tatooine.
Apple Vision Pro uses cutting-edge micro-OLED technology to pack 23 million pixels into two minuscule displays — each the size of a Royal Mail stamp — delivering more pixels than a 4K TV to each eye. The built-in speakers leverage the same Spatial Audio system included in AirPods Pro and AirPods Max to map out sounds into three-dimensional space, making it seem like sounds are coming from the space around you when you're watching a film or taking part in a video call with multiple people.
Vision Pro is powered by a pair of Apple's custom-designed processors — the M2 chipset that's found in some MacBook and iPad models, as well as a first-of-its-kind R1 chip to handle input from 12 cameras, five sensors, and six microphones dotted around the device.
Apple Vision Pro introduced Spatial Video, 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 or 15 Pro Max running iOS 17.2 or later APPLE PRESS OFFICE Apple confirmed plans to bring the Vision Pro to the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore during its annual developer conference, known as WWDC, earlier this month.
It also used the opportunity to offer a sneak peek at the free visionOS software update that'll be coming to all Vision Pro owners later this year.
According to Apple, developers have now built 2,000 apps and games specifically designed for its Vision Pro device, with a further 1.5 million existing apps in the App Store that are compatible with the headset.
VisionOS 2 is the first major update coming to the device.
Using Artificial Intelligence, Apple will add a three-dimensional effect to every image in your existing photo library. As you move your head, the subject of the photo will shift and move, showing depth.
Until now, this was only possible with Spatial Video shot on iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, and the cameras built into the Vision Pro.
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Apple has always allowed Vision Pro wearers to beam the contents from their MacBook to a vast virtual screen. The VisionOS 2 update adds the ability to expand that display to an enormous ultra-wide window that wraps around you with the resolution of two 4K monitors side-by-side.
