Apple (AAPL) unveiled its long-awaited mixed reality headset, Apple Vision Pro, at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference 2023 (WWDC).
"It's the first Apple product you look through and not at," CEO Tim Cook told the audience.
WWDC is a flagship event for the company and is frequently the spot for Apple's highest-profile product launches – and this is about as high-profile as it gets. The features of Apple Vision Pro include Apple's first fully 3-D interface, ways to scale apps up or down in your space, and a feature called Environments, which are immersive landscapes that can extend or transform the room you're in.
The headset will be controllable through a user's eyes, hands, and voice – hence, it doesn't have a controller. One of its features, EyeSight, allows others in your space to see your eyes while in the headset, and vice versa.
The company also emphasized its existing apps, saying that Apple Vision Pro will change how we use apps like Notes, Keynote, FaceTime, and Messages. The headset also is compatible with Bluetooth accessories.
Apple also touted Vision Pro as the company's first 3-D camera, allowing users to take 3-D photos and revisit them, in the headset's immersive environment.
The Apple Vision Pro has been in development for the better part of a decade, and Apple's first new product category since it debuted the Apple Watch in 2014. That makes it an especially important device for both Apple, which is still heavily dependent on revenue generated by the iPhone, and CEO Tim Cook's legacy.
The company is also entering a market currently dominated by rival Meta (META), which currently controls 80% of global AR/VR market share thanks to its Quest line of headsets, according to IDC. Meta isn't sitting idly by while Apple jumps into the fray either. On Thursday, the company introduced its own new AR/VR headset called the Meta Quest 3.
Available later this year for $499, the Meta Quest 3 features a thinner, lighter design, as well as two times the graphics performance than the Meta Quest 2. It also includes a full-color pass through design which allows you to see the world around you thanks to its front-facing camera. That should enable some powerful AR capabilities from various apps.
Apple's shares are up about 46% year-to-date, as of Monday.
Allie Garfinkle is a Senior Tech Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @agarfinks and on LinkedIn.
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