Last Week in AVP #85: visionOS 26 Officially Launches, visionOS 26 Review from The MacStories, Apple Vision Pro Rumored to Leverage Cutting-edge 2nm Process with New R2 Chip and more!
As Apple’s newest and most cutting-edge platform, visionOS is also the hardest to nail down. Vision Pro as a product is still so nascent that people don’t quite know what to make of it. Is it a VR headset for gaming and watching movies? Is it a specialized tool for designers and doctors? Or could it be a computer that everyday people might one day be interested in using for both work and play?
The jury is still out. Although the Vision Pro is very much a product you can buy right now and visionOS is an operating system that users run every day, there’s still an intangible element surrounding the whole ordeal. Most people who aren’t enthusiasts or early adopters have no firsthand experience of what the platform is like. The current form factor limits the potential user base for visionOS to those willing to wear a bulky headset regularly. It’s simply not a platform that just anyone can easily pick up and try for themselves.
visionOS 26 now available starting today: Here’s what’s new for Apple Vision Pro (source)
Apple today has released visionOS 26, the latest version of its spatial operating system for Apple Vision Pro. While it doesn’t have a dramatic Liquid Glass redesign like the other releases this year, it still has a number of meaningful upgrades that are certainly worth updating for.
Spatial widgets
First and foremost, widgets are coming to Apple Vision Pro in a real-world way. You can now have photos, weather, calendar, and more – pinned in your environment. They seamlessly integrate into your space, and your Vision Pro will remember where you placed them, even when you leave the room you placed them in.
Over time, developers will also release their own apps with spatial widgets – so you’ll be able to have more than just system apps.
Apple spotted filming in 3D at iPhone 17 launch (source)
Apple may be making a special video for Apple Vision Pro owners.
At any big Apple retail launch, Apple’s cameras are usually rolling. This typically results in a short montage video, such as this one recently shared by Tim Cook. However, during yesterday’s iPhone 17 and iPhone Air launch, something extra was spotted at Apple The Grove in Los Angeles
According to a report in Taiwan's Commercial Times (via MacRumors), the $3,499 headset's 2026 update will include a new R2 chip tasked with input processing. The current Vision Pro features Apple's M2 chip alongside an R1.
Per Apple's own description, the R1 chip "processes input from 12 cameras, five sensors, and six microphones to ensure that content feels like it is appearing right in front of the user’s eyes in real time.
Apple Vision Pro rumored to leverage cutting-edge 2nm process with new R2 chip (source)
Apple will put its next-generation R2 chip based on TSMC's 2nm process inside a future Apple Vision Pro, making the headset the showcase for its most advanced silicon.
The company is expanding its chip strategy from phones and laptops to headsets. The Apple Vision Pro, an expensive niche device, will get the new R2 chip built on TSMC's 2nm process.
That move signals Apple's intent to make mixed reality a proving ground for cutting-edge silicon. The same supply chain reports point to the iPhone 18 Pro and the MacBook M6 also adopting 2nm chips, but the Apple Vision Pro will be the boldest test.
Out There Is Apple Vision Pro's Best Story (source)
I was looking through Apple's App Store when I spotted something called Out There with a five star rating across 121 reviews.
Given how small the market is for Apple Vision Pro software that's actually quite a significant number of ratings. On Quest 3, where it launched as a room scale application in 2024 during Meta's push toward Horizon Worlds, it found just 24 ratings after one year on the store.
I downloaded and watched the five minute experience. And then I watched it three more times, moved more by Vanessa Williams' voice on each listen. Creator Thibault Mathieu through his studio Wilkins Avenue AR delivers a full three-act tale here that feels like a successor to last decade's Henry from Oculus Story Studio.
The Weeknd and Apple Tee Up ‘Breathtaking’ Vision Pro ‘Music Experience’ for November 14th Release (source)
Predictably, given the Vision Pro’s well-documented technical capabilities, this “180-degree media format” is designed “to place viewers in the center of the action” – including with Spatial Audio, per Apple.
Directed by Anton Tammi, the limited-time Vision Pro show will debut on Thursday, November 14th. For those who don’t own the $3,499 headset – an AppleInsider breakdown of analyst estimates has put the Vision Pro’s total Q1-Q3 2024 sales at 370,000 units – Apple Store locations in the U.S., the U.K., and additional countries are expected to offer free screenings starting on the 15th.
AirVis app now lets users capture and share fully immersive spaces using phone (source)
AirVis app now lets users capture and share fully immersive spaces using phone. Users can favorite any file in the app and have it as a widget in the wall, which can act like a portal.
Try custom environment in Safari using Spatial Web in visionOS 26 (source)
The Spatial Web in visionOS 26 now lets websites include their own custom environments.
Built into Safari through WebKit, this makes it possible for sites to move beyond flat pages and live inside an immersive space.
If you’d like to try it out on your Vision Pro, go here campfirespace.com
Tubi Invites Viewers to Find Their Rabbit Hole on Apple Vision Pro (source)
Tubi (www.tubitv.com), Fox Corporation’s (NASDAQ: FOXA, FOX) ad-supported streaming service, announced that the most watched free TV and movie streaming service in the U.S. is now available for Apple Vision Pro owners in Australia, Canada and the U.S. for free. Tubi offers viewers access to over 250,000 movies and TV episodes and a personalization experience that leverages machine learning and AI models to create fandoms and rabbit holes that they can get lost in.
“Our mission is to ensure all people have access to all the world’s stories,” said Mike Bidgoli, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Tubi. “We want to be wherever our viewers want us to be and deliver delight and personalized content to them in every touchpoint. That’s why we’re launching on Apple Vision Pro and remain focused on developing engaging experiences across the 30+ devices we support.”
Hit Longer Rallies In Ping Pong Club On Apple Vision Pro With A PSVR 2 Controller (source)
Ping Pong Club on Apple Vision Pro is among the first games to fully support the PlayStation VR2 controllers.
I say controllers because I first tried the app with both controllers. It works fine – you still can't toss the ball with the off hand yet. When it's your serve, the ball simply floats above your open palm far enough away to swat it like a leisurely game of ping pong. Ultimately, Ping Pong Club is better with one controller because it more closely resembles the actual game to have a free hand during volleys.
I turned on haptics in the menu system and, yes, the controller shakes when hit with a ball, but the effect is nothing like the precision haptics I've experienced even with the PSVR 2 controllers on PS5. It's like the ball hitting the controller in Ping Pong Club is a sudden jolt rather than a slight tap.
Apple Vision Pro gains support for digital prism correction (source)
Since the launch of Apple Vision Pro, there has been a warning for those looking to buy the ZEISS Optical Inserts:
A very small percentage of people have a prism value added to their glasses prescription. At this time, ZEISS Optical Inserts based on a prescription containing prism value aren’t available. If you have a prism value, it will be labelled on your prescription and noted separately from sphere, cylinder, axis and ADD values. If you’re not sure whether your prescription includes prism, consult with an eye care professional.
But now, with visionOS 26, that warning is removed and a new feature has been added: Digital Prism Correction. If you are in the US or certain US territories (America Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands), you can open Settings and choose the new option to “Add Prism Prescription”:
Rogue Labs uses Ursa Cine Immersive for new Apple Vision Pro app (source)
Blackmagic Design has announced that Rogue Labs is creating an immersive flight training experience for the Apple Vision Pro using the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive digital film camera and latest version of DaVinci Resolve Studio for Mac.
The new experience, featuring Apple Immersive content, will be featured in Rogue Labs’ new app for Apple Vision Pro, Flight Sight by Rogue Aviation, which puts viewers directly in the pilot’s seat as they operate Robinson helicopters.
Rogue Labs is an immersive media and spatial app development studio. According to Rogue Labs President Cory Hill, “Our goal for the Flight Sight app on Apple Vision Pro is to create a state of the art tool that enables helicopter students to experience flight training in a way that has not been done before, and the URSA Cine Immersive camera is absolutely the best tool to accomplish that.”
Simply Piano on Apple Vision Pro is the best way to learn piano.
The new Live Show Experience had my heart racing. This is one of my Top Picks.
Apple published the 1st patent for the Vision Pro in 2008 (source)
Apple published the 1st patent for the Vision Pro in 2008.
it would've connected to your iPod.
Design reviews anytime anywhere with Apple Vision Pro (source)
In this webinar Autodesk will demonstrate how streaming VRED content on various XR devices, especially the Apple Vision Pro, helps customers save time in the design process. By democratizing XR and removing time and location constraints, customers can take advantage of the latest enhancements.
We’ll tackle the following topics:
✔ Latest use-cases showcasing Apple Vision Pro and VRED for digital design reviews
✔ How to combine VRED's top-quality XR experience with high-end, untethered devices like the Apple Vision Pro
✔ How to gain independence from operators, time and place when conducting digital XR reviews
The Green Spurt - An immersive escape room game Free on AVP (source)
Humanity's journey here has been one of innovation and adaptation.
In this immersive eco-fiction escape room game, set in a not-too-distant future, the HEAL global initiative introduced bioengineered Pollen Dispersal Moths to accelerate nature’s regeneration. A decade later, their unintended consequences produced super pollen, driving humanity into BioVaults—sealed facilities originally created for research.
Apple Vision Pro Could Help Helicopter Students Shine (source)
Developers have been struggling to devise compelling uses for the Apple Vision Pro virtual reality headset, but the creators of the Flight Sight app believe they have cracked the code with their Robinson R44 immersive training content. Rogue Labs, which is developing the app, is using the Blackmagic Ursa Cine Immersive digital film camera and the DaVinci Resolve Studio to capture and edit the training material. Rogue Labs expects to release the app in the third quarter.
The app takes advantage of the Vision Pro to deliver immersive video “to put pilots in training in real-world scenarios so they can familiarize themselves with maneuvers and procedures without ever leaving the ground,” according to Blackmagic Design. There will also be interactive learning using 3D helicopter models and an immersive airport environment, airport procedure maps to help students visualize arrival and departure procedures, and sightseeing experiences.
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