For the typical individual, $3,500 continues to be an excessive amount of cash for Apple Vision Pro. The value is much more exorbitant once you evaluate it to a $300 Quest 3S or $500 Quest 3 headset with comparable VR and XR capabilities, although the visible constancy and responsiveness aren’t on the identical stage. At WWDC 2025, Apple announced visionOS 26 with a slew of latest options, together with “spatial Personas,” widgets you can anchor into your bodily area like your partitions, and a brand new spatial net searching function that converts 2D pictures on web sites into 3D ones. As genuinely cutting-edge as these options are (I stored saying “wow,” “whoa,” and “holy sh*t” my complete demo time), it nonetheless prices you three-and-a-half grand to expertise them.
When Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional launched final yr after which added spatial Personas—a 3D-generated avatar of your self that can be utilized throughout FaceTime or in a digital assembly—everyone laughed at them. Actually pointed and (in Nelson Muntz’s voice) Ha-Ha-ed at how comically unhealthy they may look. Many individuals’s Personas had holes at the back of folks’s heads, hair with out quantity, and pores and skin tones that appeared only a bit too vibrant and scientific. And regardless of resembling the uncanny valley, there was one thing only a bit off about them. Right here’s what my Persona appeared like on the time:
I’m completely satisfied to report that spatial Personas are getting a, um, main facelift (pun supposed). The seize course of nonetheless entails holding the Imaginative and prescient Professional in entrance of you and utilizing the cameras to 3D scan your face, however the element of the avatar is a lot extra lifelike. Right here’s what my new spatial Persona seems to be like in visionOS 26:
There are nonetheless some imperfections (just like the crookedness of my striped shirt), however my face—my god—it’s virtually like staring right into a mirror. My lengthy hair half was rendered precisely, and once I smiled and laughed, my enamel, cheeks, and eyebrows moved extra naturally versus earlier than, which was sort of stiff. My Persona now not seems to be like a PS3 character. If you happen to’re paying $3,500 for Imaginative and prescient Professional, your digital self rattling nicely higher look extra lifelike than a console from virtually 20 years in the past!
Apple’s not saying what it did particularly to enhance the standard of Personas (maybe utilizing extra polygons?), however right here’s what the press release says: “Benefiting from industry-leading volumetric rendering and machine studying know-how, the all-new Personas now have hanging expressivity and sharpness, providing a full facet profile view, and remarkably correct hair, lashes, and complexion.”
The remainder of my Imaginative and prescient Professional demo was comparably mind-blowing (as Imaginative and prescient Professional nonetheless tends to be), nevertheless it additionally additional drove dwelling the truth that that you must have deep pockets with a view to take pleasure in visionOS 26. I noticed numerous widgets—clocks, calendars, a Girl Gaga poster that I may pinch with my fingers to play music, and even a framed window with a #shotoniPhone panorama of Japan’s Mount Fuji that I may look “into.” The upper decision of Imaginative and prescient Professional’s shows and the flexibility for the widgets to remain anchored or pinned on a wall with out jittering or shifting made them look very convincing as actual objects. The one factor that broke the phantasm was virtually strolling into partitions making an attempt to look extra intently on the widgets.
I additionally tried out the brand new spatial searching in Safari. When toggled on, it turns the browser window right into a Reader-ish mode view that removes all of an internet site’s design and solely reveals the textual content and the media. As I scrolled down a web page, 2D pictures would convert into 3D ones with depth—Apple calls these “spatial scenes.” And man, do they appear good. The depth isn’t like some cheapo 3D film conversion. They seem like they’re shot with costly 3D cameras, and in contrast to most 3D content material that has a sure candy spot for feeling the depth, you’ll be able to really view them from totally different angles. It’s actually neat.
Earlier than I took the Imaginative and prescient Professional off my head, I used to be teleported to the shore and brought ski gliding by way of 360-degree movies. Apple says visionOS 26 can play native 180-degree and 360-degree movies from Insta360, GoPro, and Canon cameras. There’s no must convert the video recordsdata right into a suitable format for Imaginative and prescient Professional—they only work out of the field. Whereas not as skilled as Apple’s personal “Immersive Video” content material, this could no less than get the ball rolling on increasing user-created content material. It’s a child step, however a mandatory one contemplating one of many greatest roadblocks to the Imaginative and prescient Professional, apart from the big price ticket, is having sufficient spatial/immersive content material for customers to devour.
Apple didn’t have a demo for utilizing PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers to play video games in Imaginative and prescient Professional, however I’m positive I’ll get to attempt that out sooner or later. I’ve the controllers at dwelling, so each time that’s able to go, I’ll give it a whirl.
I left my visionOS 26 demo impressed on the progress Apple’s making. Spatial computing is beginning to take a extra strong form. I simply want Apple would drop the value on Imaginative and prescient Professional or hurry up and launch a less expensive model so extra folks may check out this cutting-edge tech. I all the time really feel like no one believes me once I inform them how superior Imaginative and prescient Professional and visionOS on a technological stage. They only take a look at the value and cease listening, which is an actual disgrace.
