Vision Pro: the helmet is available, but for a select few

• Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset is available to developers
• This test kit must be returned after use
• The objective of the kit is to be able to create apps available on visionOS

Apple now offers its Vision Pro mixed reality headset in the form of a development kit, intended for app creators who wish to work on visionOS. But as its name suggests, this offer is reserved for coders, who will have to prove their status after confirming their iCloud identifier before placing an order.

As a reminder, the Vision Pro is a frame bringing together two 4K screens (one for each eye), allowing both gaming in VR and teleworking with several virtual windows at the same time, superimposed on reality. The product will cost a whopping $3,499 in the United States when it arrives for the general public. However, it was impossible for us to know the exact value of the developer kit upon delivery, but it should probably leak soon.

New design rules

If the Vision Pro arrives early for developers, it is above all because visionOS is not a simple update of a 2D operating system like we are used to seeing published by Apple. Conversely, it is a brand new 360 degree interface, and which requires, as Apple has already explained, to respectdirectivesunprecedented in terms of design.

Thus, where the click of the mouse or the haptic feedback of a screen can for example confirm to a user that their selection of a virtual element has indeed been understood by the software, the pinch in the void of the Vision Pro makes the icons “bounce” with depth. Furthermore, we know that for a platform to be accepted on the App Store, its developers must also comply with many othersrequirementsfrom the Apple firm, particularly in terms of security. The arrival of our favorite clients on visionOS will therefore not be easy, and requires a certain amount of time…

This is not a gift!

As Apple explains, regardless of the potential cost of this Vision Pro development kit, those who receive it will have to return it after use anyway. It is therefore more of a rental than a purchase, a sign that the price could be relatively low compared to the sales price expected in 2024 among our neighbors across the Atlantic.