Apple’s newest gadget has just been announced, the Apple Vision Pro, a mixed reality headset that takes some aspects of augmented reality and virtual reality and combines it into one device that straps onto your face like a pair of futuristic goggles. But just how much will this new invention cost? Let’s just say it probably won’t populate every single home in America the day after it launches.
Apple is using the phrase “spatial computing” to describe the device, which mounts over a person’s eyes, similar to a VR headset. But unlike a typical VR headset, there is an outward-facing monitor that shows the users’ eyes to the rest of the world. Upon first glance, it looks like goggles made of clear glass, but it is actually a display.
From the demonstrative videos we’ve seen so far on Apple’s website, it essentially looks like a way of feeling like Tony Stark at his workstation and manipulating his virtual displays with the flick of a wrist. Only the virtual displays in question are not holograms — they only appear to the individual user who is wearing the headset via the images projected onto the display in front of their eyes. As Apple explained on their website, “You navigate simply by using your eyes, hands, and voice.”
So now that we know the basics about what the device is, how much does it cost? Well, you can expect the Apple Vision Pro to set you back a fairly pretty penny for the average person’s income, as the entry-level version of the device is $3,499, according to 9to5Mac.com.
But don’t break out those wallets just yet, as the new headset from the makers of MacBook Air won’t be available until early next year in the U.S. What’s more, the device will only be available via Apple.com and Apple Stores here in the States.
There are other caveats to the device, as well. For instance, if you wear prescription lenses, you will have to get special vision corrective lenses that attach to the Vision Pro, with some limitations on which prescriptions are actually supported. And there is also a requirement for being 13 or older in order to use the device. The Vision Pro also has its own proprietary operating system, visionOS.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to more accurately describe the device.