Vision Pro

There were no surprises in Apple’s earnings report yesterday, with the company reporting close to the $5B year-on-year fall in revenue it had warned us to expect.

Analysts got their usual chance to question CEO Tim Cook and chief financial officer Luca Maestri directly after the announcement. The pair always remain tight-lipped about specific plans, but there are a few things worth noting …

Yesterday saw the announcement of the Apple Q2 2024 earnings report, which were pretty much exactly as expected – revenue coming in at $90.75B against Wall Street expectations of $90.1B.

As usual, Six Colors has brought the numbers to life with a great set of colorful visualizations, alongside a video talking through them …

AAPL Q2 earnings are set to be announced tomorrow, and the company had already warned that we should expect a year-on-year revenue drop of around $5B.

Analysts expect the same thing, and the outlook for Q3 isn’t expected to be any better, so investors will be listening carefully to any more clues Apple gives about what to expect further ahead …

Meta continues to pick low hanging fruit features from Apple Vision Pro for its Quest headsets. The company is also expanding support for playing back videos shot on iPhone in Quest OS.

Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter suggests that Apple isn’t expected to launch a new Vision Pro (or Vision something) model until the end of 2026.

That follows another report last week, suggesting that demand for the spatial computer is far lower than Apple expected …

Apple is losing another important director as a new report from Bloomberg has just revealed that Frank Casanova, currently senior director and head of product marketing for Apple Vision Pro, is retiring after working at the company for 36 years.

Apple has slashed its shipping estimates for Vision Pro, according to a new Ming-Chi Kuo analyst report. Kuo says that Apple is now targeting shipments between 400,000 and 450,000 units for Vision Pro this year. This is down from the initial market consensus of between 700,000 and 800,000 units.

The changes have reportedly prompted Apple to revisit its overall strategy for the headset market…

A new Best Buy Vision Pro app uses augmented reality to let you see how things like big-screen TVs, furniture, kitchen appliances, and more would look in your home.

Once you find something you like, you can also buy it from within Vision Pro by opening the product page in Safari and completing the purchase there …

Game Room is one of the best experiences on Apple Vision Pro, especially with newly introduced spatial Personas. The latest update to the Apple Arcade game introduces one of the most popular classics: checkers.

Today I learned two things. First, apparently Meta Quest headsets don’t work on planes? I guess Apple knew to prioritize that feature for Vision Pro. And second, support is reportedly on the way. Add this to the list of ways competition from Vision Pro is making Meta Quest 3 a better product.

Microsoft on Tuesday launched a native OneNote app for visionOS, showing the company’s commitment to its customers who use Apple Vision Pro. This comes after the company released Microsoft Office apps for Apple’s mixed reality headset.

Customers in the US can book a Vision Pro demo at one of the Apple Retail Stores to experience the headset for around 30 minutes. During the demo, customers watch some pre-loaded content, including Spatial Videos made by Apple. However, the company will soon let users watch their own content during a Vision Pro demo session.

One of Vision Pro’s most exciting capabilities, to me personally, is the ability to display multiple Mac monitors in virtual form. Viture One XR glasses have now gained that same capability.

When I first tested the glasses, I noted that while they could act as a Mac monitor, they were limited to a single monitor – this this has now changed …

The AR/VR device market has always been considered a niche. Even with the launch of the Apple Vision Pro earlier this year, there was no expectation of major changes due to the high price tag of $3,500. However, a new survey by Piper Sandler has revealed that teenagers are using more VR headsets, at least in the US.

You don’t need to own an Apple Vision Pro to appreciate it. Just having competition from the high end is pushing Meta to improve its mainstream mixed reality headset.

Meta Quest 3 hit the market last year for $499. That’s $3000 shy of Vision Pro, but with the same goal of colorized passthrough for mixed reality. The only problem was that Meta’s version of passthrough was hardly comparable to Apple’s. My own evaluation is that Meta Quest 3 passthrough is usable but not convincing.

That appears to be changing now. In a Quest software update called v64, Meta says that it has improved passthrough quality for the Meta Quest 3 headset. Here’s a summary from the release notes:

Apple has released a new software update for Apple Vision Pro. visionOS 1.1.2 is now available. According to the release notes, visionOS 1.1.2 focuses on bug fixes.

Apple is also testing visionOS 1.2 for Apple Vision Pro users on the beta release cycle. A new build of visionOS 1.2 has also been released today.

A new non-destructive teardown published today offers an incredible look inside Apple Vision Pro. Created using an industrial CT scanner, the images give us a look at the precise engineering that went into cramming all the cameras, sensors, and other technology inside Vision Pro.

Apple Vision Pro has a number of robust privacy protections in place, including limitations on how third-party developers can access camera data. A new report from The Information today explores how Apple’s fear of Vision Pro having a Google Glass-level privacy outcry have impacted third-party developers.

Apple Vision Pro is the best way to watch video, but Netflix hasn’t received the memo. Fortunately, young and aspiring developers are ready to show up and ship. Enter Christian Privitelli, the 19-year-old Australian developer of Supercut.

Apple Vision Pro users will soon have another piece of Immersive Video to enjoy. In the Apple TV app, Apple says that a new episode of its Prehistoric Planet Immersive series will be available on April 19.

Four years ago, I was wowed by the experience that Pocket Rocket provided on the iPhone and iPad. The ARKit-powered rocket visualizer app excelled at bringing augmented reality rockets to life in your environment. Fast-forward to now and Pocket Rocket has officially taken off on Apple Vision Pro.