WWDC 2023 – live: How Apple’s ‘revolutionary’ $3,499 Vision Pro could read your mind
Every Apple platform updated at WWDC 2023 – alongside the introduction of a whole new one
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Apple held one of its biggest events of the last decade on Monday, launching a product that could redefine the way we look at the world.
The company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) began with a keynote from Apple Park in California led by CEO Tim Cook, who described the company’s new $3,499 (£2,800) Vision Pro headset as “revolutionary”.
The device combines virtual reality and augmented reality, with Apple claiming it heralds a “new era of spatial computing”.
The world’s most valuable company also used the keynote to unveil a major overhaul of its Mac lineup, as updates for its other platforms. This year, that meant the release of iOS 17 for iPhones, WatchOS 10 for Apple Watch, and a new iPadOS.
The Vision Pro also came with its own software, called VisionOS, which supports many of the same apps found on iPhones.
You can read how it unfolded here, as well as follow all the latest updates from our on-the-ground coverage of WWDC 2023.
Apple event live: Tim Cook closes WWDC 2023 keynote
Tim Cook is back to wrap up everything we’ve heard so far and close out the keynote for WWDC 2023.
“We believe that Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary product,” he says. “It introduces an entirely new spatial computing platform... and this is just the beginning.”
It’s not over from us. We’ll have a round up of all of today’s announcements right here, plus we’ll be hoping to try it out with tech editor Andrew Griffin on the ground in California to give his first impressions.
Stay tuned...
Apple event live: Vision Pro ‘most advanced personal electronics device ever’
Apple’s Vision Pro headset can be used as a biometric eye scanner, which registers a users retina in order to unlock it just by looking at it
It is among over 5,000 patents that Apple filed in the development of its mixed reality device, which it describes as “the most advanced personal electronics device ever”.
Prices start at $3,499, available early next year.
Apple event live: VisionOS unveiled
A new piece of hardware needs new software to operate it, and for the Vision Pro it is called VisionOS.
The operating system is how wearers will interact with the facial computer, as well as what developers will use to build experiences for the headset.
Apps like Zoom and Microsoft Office are all available on VisionOS, as well as hundreds of others that can already be found on iOS.
Apple event live: Vision Pro comes with spatial audio system
Sounds are delivered to wearers of the Vision Pro headset through a spatial audio system that fits to the side of the device.
All of this is powered by Apple’s M2 chips, as well as a brand new specialised chip called R1. It processes all the visual and audio information “eight times faster than the blink of an eye”, to make it feel like experiences are taking place in real-time.
Apple event live: Vision Pro headset design close up
This is how Apple’s “first ever wearable, spatial computer” looks close up:
Apple event live: Disney partner with Apple to deliver Vision Pro experiences
Disney CEO Bob Iger joins WWDC 2023 to tell us all the ways his company is working alongside Apple to deliver experiences through Vision Pro.
Disney Plus will available from day one, he says.
You can read all about the Vision Pro headset in our story here.
Apple event live: Vision Pro comes with spatial photos and videos, and games
The Vision Pro headset comes with the ability to capture photos or videos “spatially”, so you can watch them back overlaid on the environment you took them on - as if you are looking at them when they actually happend.
And of course there’s games you can play.
Apple event live: Vision Pro works as both AR and VR headset
Apple Vision Pro allows wearers to fully immerse themselves in virtual reality, or simply use it to overlay directions and other augmented reality features.
It seems like you can use it to do pretty much anything you can already do on an iPhone or iPad, like browsing the web, reading messages, looking at photos or listen to music.
“With Apple Vision Pro you can create your perfect setup,” Apple says, while showing off futuristic office spaces.
Users can place their Mac screens anywhere they want, viewing it in 4K through Vision Pro.
Apple event live: ‘Revolutionary’ Vision Pro headset
Tim Cook is back to do the customary “one more thing”.
It is, of course, Apple’s long-awaited mixed reality headset, called Vision Pro.
“It is the first Apple product you look through, and not at,” Cook says.
It looks interesting, like a futuristic pair of diving goggles, and heralds a new era of “spatial computing”, according to the Apple boss.
“I believe that augmented reality is a profound technology,” he says, claiming Apple’s new device is a “revolutionary new product”.
Apple event live: WatchOS
WatchOS is getting an overhaul with WatchOS 10.
The miniature operating system for Apple Watch will come with new faces, dynamic background colours and ways of displaying widgets.
There will also be support for cycling in the Workout app, as well as a way to find the last point wearer’s had cell phone connectivity if they ever get in trouble while on a hike.
Here’s a summary of what to expect:
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