The ultimate ‘one more thing’ has arrived. Was Apple’s mixed reality headset worth the wait? In short? Yes

Words: Louise Blain

UNDER THE HOOD

Let’s talk about specs, shall we? The most important stat for any eyeworn headset is its resolution, and the Vision Pro is no different. Although we’ve never seen numbers quite like these before. Apple’s headset delivers more than 23 million pixels across its two displays, meaning we’re getting more pixels per eye than most 4K TVs. These micro-OLED displays have pixels so small that 64 of them could fit in a single iPhone display pixel.

The Vision Pro natively runs 4K imagery with HDR, meaning that everything we see in VisionOS is colourful and crisp, whether we’re watching a streaming service or scrolling on Safari. Unsurprisingly though, taking real time footage from 12 built-in cameras, five sensors and six microphones is seriously processor intensive. The Vision Pro has a dual set up with Apple’s excellent M2 Silicon working with a dedicated R1 chip solely for processing sensor data.

This means real time eye and hand tracking is eight times faster than the blink of an eye, according to Apple. And that’s just as power hungry as it sounds. An external connected battery saves your neck from the extra weight on the headset but it only lasts up to two hours. Of course, mains power is an option for all-day use.

Your hands are your new controllers here. Unless you’re playing on Apple Arcade with a Bluetooth pad connected, all you need to do is tap your fingers together to select and flick your fingers to scroll. And this isn’t Minority Report. There’s no need for desperate over the top waving; the built-in cameras can happily track your hands when they’re just sitting on your lap. All we need to do is look in the right direction - thanks to infrared cameras and rings of LEDs inside the goggles - and tap away. Alternatively, you can always use your voice.

Also somehow built into the svelte design is Apple’s first 3D camera for taking 3D photos and videos you can then replay within the headset itself. These will be complete with full spatial audio, thanks to the built-in speakers on the headband. Of course, the speakers are pretty extra too. Each audio pod has two drivers built in to deliver personalised Spatial Audio to match your head and ear geometry. And the sound itself will be matched to your environment thanks to audio ray tracing.