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Apple finally took the wraps off its highly anticipated mixed-reality headset in June.
The Vision Pro is sleek and stylish and comes packed with features, though the hefty $3,500 price tag is bound to be prohibitive for many of those interested in the new device.
For anyone who does fork out for it when it goes on sale early next year, another issue could be comfort. According to a Bloomberg report on Sunday by prominent Apple leaker Mark Gurman, Apple’s Vision Pro headset “has caused neck strain in testing due to its size and weight.”
Its specific weight has yet to be revealed, but various reports suggest Apple’s new Vision Pro headset tips the scales at around 1 pound (453.6 grams).
Apple engineers are reported to now be working on the next version of the Vision Pro, with a particular focus on making it lighter and smaller, thereby making it more comfortable to wear for extended periods.
“Work on the next Vision Pro remains early, but the company is hoping to make the device lighter and at least slightly smaller,” Gurman said in his report, adding that “testing has shown that it can feel too heavy for some users — even in short stretches.” Apple may even tackle the issue with the first Vision Pro by adding an over-the-head strap, Gurman claimed.
Apple engineers are also looking at ways to make the headset simpler for those who wear glasses. The upcoming headset doesn’t have enough space for spectacles, with the tech giant instead partnering with Zeiss to create prescription lenses that magnetically attach to the Vision Pro’s displays.
Of course, creating so many different lens combinations is anything but straightforward, so Apple is apparently considering shipping custom-built Vision Pros with preinstalled prescription lenses. However, Gurman notes that this is far from a done deal as it would make it harder to resell the device and fails to take into account people’s eyesight changing over time.
A suggested solution is augmented reality spectacles that overlay information on the lenses. This would mark a shift away from virtual reality but has the potential to offer an altogether more comfortable experience that can still offer plenty of features.
Gurman believes Apple stopped development work on its AR spectacles last year as the technology isn’t quite there, but he believes the company will return to the project at some point.
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Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Apple calls the Vision Pro a ‘spatial computer.’ What is that?
When Apple announced the Vision Pro, it described it not as a headset, but as a “spatial computer.” We’ve seen similar devices before from Microsoft, Meta, and Magic Leap, but those companies favor the more familiar terms extended reality (XR), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR).
So, what is spatial computing, and why did Apple CEO Tim Cook call it “the beginning of a new era for computing?”
What is a spatial computer?
Apple’s Vision Pro may help your eyesight in this genius way
There are still a ton of mysteries surrounding Apple’s Vision Pro headset, and one of them is how the device will work with prescription lenses. A new patent might have shed some light on that, and it reveals a pretty remarkable idea from Apple.
According to the recently published patent (number 20230258944), the Vision Pro could use lenses made out of liquid instead of glass. This would apparently allow them to be highly customizable, allowing you to fine-tune them to perfectly match your prescription and your vision needs. After we learned that the next Vision Pro could send you on a mood-altering trip, it’s another instance of Apple envisioning a wacky idea to elevate its headset.
Apple could soon kill off the Mac Pro, new report claims
It’s likely we are now only a few weeks away from seeing Apple’s first Macs loaded with M3 chips, but the entire lineup has apparently just been leaked for all to see. And there are a few big surprises among the rumored Macs.
We’ve gained these revelations thanks to journalist Mark Gurman, whose reports are usually impressively accurate when it comes to upcoming Apple products. Gurman’s latest report is allegedly based on chip configurations Apple is testing internally, so things could change in the future.
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