On Monday, Apple unveiled its long-awaited “mixed reality” headset, the most anticipated piece of hardware since Steve Jobs introduced the iPad in 2010.
The gadget, called Vision Pro, combines virtual reality with augmented reality, superimposing digital images on top of the real world.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said the headset will be used to “seamlessly blend the real world with the digital world” and is “the first Apple product where you see through rather than through.” In a sign that Apple doesn’t want the device to be a blockbuster anytime soon, he said the launch represented the “beginning of a journey” for what the company calls “spatial computing,” predicting that it would one day become the equivalent of personal computing on the Mac. As important as mobile computing was introduced by the iPhone.
In a pre-recorded video demo played at the start of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple showed the headset can be used to play video games, watch entertainment on a large “virtual” screen and in a more immersive environment. Communicate with other people on video calls.
The device’s price and narrow application range are expected to limit its use in gaming and a range of professional workplaces early on. The headset is also aimed at software developers, who Apple hopes will enable a wider range of VR and AR applications.
Apple shares hit an all-time high ahead of the announcement, rising more than 2% to $184.91, surpassing the previous record set in January 2022. But its stock market capitalization of $2.9 trillion is still slightly below the record year of $3 trillion set early last year.
Apple’s revenue is expected to decline 2% in the current fiscal year ending in September, and most analysts expect it to sell only about 200,000 Vision Pro headsets in its first year. Wall Street, however, hopes the device will become a significant contributor to Apple’s revenue within five years and could one day become the most important computing platform since the iPhone’s launch.
At the start of its annual conference on Monday, Apple also announced faster versions of its Mac studio desktop, a 15-inch MacBook Air and the first Mac Pro with “Apple Silicon” — completing a multiyear phase-out of Intel chips across its entire portfolio . It promises that its latest computer will deliver “amazing performance”.