Cupertino, Dusseldorf Around a decade after the introduction of smart watches, Apple introduces a new product category: smart glasses. “This is a historic moment,” said CEO Tim Cook on Monday at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. Under the name Apple Vision Pro, Cook and his team presented data glasses that look like futuristic ski goggles.
The device should be controlled completely via eyes, voice and hand gestures. “This is the most powerful consumer product in the world,” said Apple executive Mike Rockwell. Apple has filed 5,000 patents for the device, Rockwell said at the annual WWDC developer conference.
The financial markets had already anticipated the expected announcement. Apple’s share price reached a record high of $184.80 early Monday evening German time. The stock market value of the iPhone group is approaching the limit of three trillion dollars – no company has been more valuable so far. After the presentation, shortly before the market closed, the share was down almost one percent.
The presentation of the Vision Pro was enjoyed worldwide via live stream in the evening. How it works: The headset can show digital objects in the real environment on its display. An unusual feature of the device is a display on the front that shows users’ eyes when other people are nearby.
Technically, this form of immersion is a mixture of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). The display can show and hide the environment as required. Apple emphasized that eye contact can be guaranteed when using the glasses – as an essential part of social interaction. But a complete immersion is also possible, with the glasses signaling exactly this to the outside world. If someone approaches, they fade in.
First new device since the Apple Watch
It is Apple’s first entry into a new product category after the presentation of a computer watch in 2014. Apple sees a possible use for the Vision Pro in the workplace because many large virtual displays can be superimposed on the field of vision. Another application is intended to be entertainment with videos in large format, even on the move. All content should be seamlessly accessible from different devices via Apple’s cloud service.
Competitor Meta in particular has the lead in the development of data glasses. The Facebook parent is banking on a boom in the digital environment (“Metaverse”) and recently presented an update to its Rift virtual reality glasses. The Google group, on the other hand, is working on AR glasses that embed digital information in what is happening around them.
Apple emphasized that it does not want to permanently drag users into an immersive, virtual world. This should ensure social interaction – where desired.
Apple repeatedly emphasized the flexibility of the glasses, with which users can also completely break out of the real world – especially for entertainment and relaxation. Disney CEO Bob Iger announced at the event that his company will be adapting movies and other entertainment formats for the device. As an example, he showed games in the football league NFL, in which statistics appear as a “second screen” right next to the game.
An apparently interactive variant of the Marvel animation series “What if…?” was also on display. In addition, Apple uses the conference for numerous other announcements of new and revised devices.
New Mac computers and processors
For example, Apple is throwing Intel out of its latest devices as a processor supplier. The group’s most powerful computers, Mac Studio and Mac Pro, are being revised. They will be equipped with an improved generation of M2 Ultra processors developed by Apple itself.
These should deliver up to 20 percent better performance than the predecessor M1 Ultra. “The new Apple-powered Mac Studio and new Mac Pro are the most powerful Macs we’ve ever made,” said Apple executive John Ternus.
Screens, apps and other content should simply appear in the space around the user.
But the professional computers have a high price. Mac Studio is available in Germany from around 2400 euros. If you want a Mac Pro with a so-called rack housing, you have to pay at least around 9,000 euros for the server rack system.
Apple first started developing processors for its iPhones itself. Although these were energy-saving, they could not keep up with Intel or other chip manufacturers in terms of performance.
>> Read also: How Tim Cook wants to lead Apple into the post-iPhone era
That has now changed. In comparison tests, the Apple chips had been able to outperform rivals several times over the past few years. Analyst Ben Wood of CCS Insights said, “Apple’s vertically integrated approach across semiconductors, software and hardware continues to give the company an edge over its competitors.” Intel couldn’t keep up.
New operating systems
Apple has also announced new operating systems for the group’s smartphones, tablets and Mac computers. The iPhone devices and iPads are being updated with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, the version optimized for tablets.
Among other things, sharing contact information between iPhones is made easier. In the future, iPhones will transcribe messages on the answering machine in real time. Contacts receive a poster image that is also displayed to the other party when calling. The standby mode turns iPhones into a permanent display that can show the time or the weather while charging, for example. For the first time, the iPad also has the health app Health and other display options for the lock screen.
The computer operating system macOS Sonoma is meanwhile expanding the privacy settings. In the future, passwords should be easier to share between several people and the Safari browser should better protect users from espionage when surfing the Internet.
All operating systems receive a spelling correction enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI), which should better recognize mistakes and make suggestions for completing sentences.
More: This is already known about the new Apple glasses