Apple Releases Vision Pro Headset, First Major New Product in a Decade
Announcement at Worldwide Developers Conference is first to introduce users to ‘spatial computing,’ CEO Tim Cook says
4 min
Apple unveiled the Vision Pro headset, the company’s first major new product in a decade, a device capable of allowing users to experience virtual reality and digital apps, movies, personal photos or any content available on a computer monitor overlaid on the real world.
Chief Executive Tim Cook said in a video at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference that the Vision Pro is “a revolutionary new product” capable of shifting “the way we look at technology and the role it plays in our lives.”
“This is a day that’s been years in the making,” he said. “Blending digital content with the real world can unlock experiences like nothing we’ve ever seen.”
Apple said the device, which will sell for $3,499 and won’t be available until early next year, would be a new way to interact with digital content in the physical space using the user’s hands, eyes and voice to interact with apps. Users can control the device with their hands and experience movies, TV shows and games in a more immersive way. Cook called it a new “spatial computing” platform.
The Vision Pro can project a massive movie screen into any environment for a user, as well as capture or play three-dimensional video, making it possible for a user to watch a movie on a giant screen or interact with life-size personal photos or videos projected into their living environment.
Apple’s headset launches into an uncertain market for virtual and augmented reality devices. Headset sales grew at a fast clip during the pandemic, doubling to nearly 11 million units shipped in 2021. But they dropped 21% to 8.6 million units in 2022, according to researcher International Data Corp.
Meta Platforms, which has mostly dominated the market to date with its Quest virtual-reality headsets, has struggled to keep existing users engaged, with more than half of the $400 entry-level Quest headsets not in use six months after they were purchased, The Wall Street Journal reported previously. Last week, Meta said the Meta Quest 3 headset, which the company is promoting as similar to Apple’s Vision Pro, will be available in the fall of this year for $499.
Apple announced a partnership with Walt Disney, which showed in a pre taped video what viewing experiences could potentially look like, including an immersive Star Wars TV show and a function allowing users to watch multiple sporting events simultaneously. A digital version of the Disneyland theme park could project into the user’s physical world.
“We’re constantly in search of new ways to entertain, inform and inspire our fans,” Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said in a pre taped video. “We believe Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary platform.” He said Disney’s streaming service would be available on the device as soon as it reaches users, which Apple said initially would only be in the U.S.
Apple showed the headset being used in work environments, including an ability to project a screen akin to a modern desktop in a way that could replace a computer monitor. Users can also use Bluetooth devices such as keyboards to type.
Some features on the device are meant to avoid isolating a user, Apple executives said. Vision Pro displays the user’s eyes on the outside of the device with a screen sitting on the front of the device. And if somebody comes nearby to someone with the headset on, it will show the person.
The headset will have the M2 chip found in the company’s Macs and will also have a new chip called “R1” for processing data from the many cameras, sensors and microphones in the device. This enables the Vision Pro to limit latency, a common issue in virtual-reality headsets that causes motion sickness. Apple said it would have a high-resolution display system so video would render in 4K and text would look sharp.
Apple has been working on the headset for seven years and has delayed the launch several times, the Journal previously reported. The headset is far more expensive than headsets sold by rivals, such as Meta Platforms’ most expensive Quest Pro headset at $1,000.
Although Apple showcased many potential features and uses of the Vision Pro headset, the company’s announcement at its software conference points to its interest in how third-party software makers can add new functions.
Hundreds of thousands of apps that already exist on iPad and iPhone operating systems will also be available through Vision OS, the Vision Pro’s operating system. Apple told developers that it is introducing tools to let them redesign existing apps on other Apple platforms for the Vision Pro, or create new types of three-dimensional apps.
The rest of the conference, which focuses on software providers who make applications for Apple’s ecosystem, will run through Friday. A large portion of the developer sessions for the week will be focused on developing for the headset, the Journal reported previously.
The applications, which might run the gamut from games to workplace apps, are critical to the company’s strategy of drawing potential new users to the technology, which has yet to take off among a broad consumer base.
In the weeks leading up to the conference, many software makers working on virtual reality and other similar applications have received invitations to the event held at Apple’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters. Apple booked in-person demonstrations for some developers following the Monday keynote.
In addition to the headset, the company launched a number of new software features for its existing slate of devices, including a new iPhone app called Journal for users to help them write about their days. The app prompts users to “practice gratitude” and technology to help capture moments from photos or travel experiences. The Wall Street Journal previously reported about the new app.
In its Health app, the company added an ability to log a user’s mood and state of mind. Apple said this will help users to see their current risk for depression or anxiety. The company has been involved in studying potential signals of depression with the University of California, Los Angeles. The Journal previously reported on Apple’s work on mental health.
Apple’s iOS 17 has a number of updates to help improve communication features in the company’s phone app, FaceTime and messages, including new artificial-intelligence techniques to improve typing on the keyboard and dictation.
Apple showed off a new 15-inch MacBook Air, which has an M2 chip and sells for $1,299. The company unveiled other upgrades to its M-series of chips in other Mac products as well aimed at professional users. Sales of Macs have fallen off recently following a surge during the pandemic after the company unveiled the M-series of chips, which it designed. In the company’s most recently reported earnings for the quarter ended April 1, the Mac business shrank 31% from the prior year.
Apple’s new Mac operating system, called Sonoma, includes a number of new features designed to improve video games.
Japanese game developer Hideo Kojima showed up in a video to support the new gaming initiatives, announcing that his latest game, “Death Stranding,” would be launching on Macs later this year.
AirPods headphones also have new features, including software that automatically adjusts the AirPods to the environment the user is in, such as turning on noise cancellation if it is noisy.
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Mirzaian is a senior director within CBRE’s Development NSW business, operating across the company’s Western Sydney and North Sydney offices
Singapore’s Formula 1 weekend has always looked different. Held beneath floodlights on the Marina Bay Street Circuit, the race transforms the city into a nocturnal spectacle of speed, heat and saturated colour. It is this distinctive atmosphere — and one of Singapore’s most important natural symbols — that has shaped IWC Schaffhausen’s latest motorsport-inspired watch. …
Continue reading “IWC’s purple Formula 1 chronograph pays tribute to Singapore after dark”
4 minSingapore’s Formula 1 weekend has always looked different.
Held beneath floodlights on the Marina Bay Street Circuit, the race transforms the city into a nocturnal spectacle of speed, heat and saturated colour. It is this distinctive atmosphere — and one of Singapore’s most important natural symbols — that has shaped IWC Schaffhausen’s latest motorsport-inspired watch.
The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team Edition introduces a deep purple dial to IWC’s Pilot’s Watches collection for the first time.
Rather than drawing directly from the race cars, the colour references the Vanda Miss Joaquim, the orchid recognised as Singapore’s national flower. Its vivid purple is paired with numerals, hour markers and luminous hands in the turquoise-green shade closely associated with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team.
A matching purple rubber strap completes what is easily the most colourful team watch IWC has produced during its long-running Formula 1 partnership.
A team watch made for the paddock
IWC has been the official engineering partner of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team since 2013, with dedicated team watches forming part of the relationship since 2022.
These editions are intended to be worn by mechanics, engineers and other team personnel trackside, as well as staff at the team’s headquarters in Brackley, England. That working role helps explain why the watches tend to prioritise low weight, durability and legibility rather than simply adding Formula 1 branding to an existing luxury timepiece.
For the new reference, IW388121, IWC has selected a 41mm case made from Grade 5 titanium. The metal is approximately half the weight of steel, resistant to corrosion and valued for its strength-to-weight ratio.
Its connection with motorsport is functional as well as thematic. Titanium alloys are used in Formula 1 components subjected to considerable mechanical and thermal loads. Most visibly, the protective Halo structure positioned above a driver’s cockpit is also manufactured from a high-strength titanium alloy.
IWC has given the case a brushed finish, retaining titanium’s understated grey appearance and allowing the purple dial and green details to carry the visual impact.
At 14.5mm thick, this is still a substantial sports chronograph. The reduced weight of the titanium case should, however, make it noticeably easier to wear over a full day than an equivalent steel model.
Familiar engineering beneath a new dial
Behind the colour is a familiar and proven mechanical package.
The watch is powered by IWC’s automatic 69385 calibre, an in-house chronograph movement built around a traditional column wheel. It operates at 28,800 vibrations per hour and provides a 46-hour power reserve.
Its chronograph layout places the elapsed-minute display at 12 o’clock and running seconds at six. The vertical arrangement has been a defining feature of IWC’s Pilot’s Watch chronographs for decades, keeping the displays clear despite the amount of information presented on the dial.
A combined day-and-date window sits at three o’clock, giving the watch additional everyday usefulness beyond its stopwatch function.
The movement is decorated with Geneva stripes and circular graining and can be viewed through the sapphire crystal caseback. Water resistance is rated to 10 bar, equivalent to approximately 100 metres.
The front is protected by convex sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides. IWC also secures the glass against displacement caused by sudden changes in air pressure, a feature associated with the collection’s aviation origins.
The purple rubber strap is fitted with IWC’s EasX-CHANGE system, allowing it to be removed without conventional tools. A titanium pin buckle maintains the lightweight construction.
The fourth Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS team watch
The purple chronograph is the fourth official team watch produced through the partnership.
The series began at the 2022 Miami Grand Prix with a titanium Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 distinguished by PETRONAS-green details. A more performance-focused Ceratanium chronograph followed at the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, complete with a black ceramic tachymeter bezel.
In 2025, IWC changed direction with the slimmer, three-hand Pilot’s Watch Mark XX Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team Edition.
The new Singapore-inspired chronograph returns to the original 41mm format but gives it an unexpectedly expressive identity. It also arrives alongside a new Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS collection from team kit supplier adidas, extending the purple colour story beyond the watch.
For collectors, the appeal lies in that balance. The architecture of the watch is recognisably IWC: practical, engineered and highly legible. The dial, meanwhile, is considerably more adventurous than the black, blue and green treatments typically associated with modern pilot’s watches.
It is a tribute to Singapore that avoids obvious images of the skyline or circuit. Instead, IWC has used colour to capture some of the energy of Formula 1’s original night race — and created one of the partnership’s most distinctive watches in the process.
Fact box
- Model: IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team
- Reference: IW388121
- Case: Grade 5 titanium
- Diameter: 41mm
- Thickness: 14.5mm
- Dial: Purple with PETRONAS-green numerals, markers and luminous details
- Crystal: Convex sapphire with anti-reflective coating on both sides
- Movement: IWC-manufactured automatic calibre 69385
- Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph and day-date display
- Frequency: 28,800 vibrations per hour, or 4Hz
- Power reserve: 46 hours
- Jewels: 33
- Water resistance: 10 bar, approximately 100 metres
- Strap: Purple rubber with EasX-CHANGE system
- Buckle: Titanium pin buckle
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