The best home-theater experience coming to the market? According to Apple, it’s one you’ll be able to strap onto your head.
Apple unveiled several new entertainment experiences that will be available on Apple Vision Pro — its expensive new mixed-reality headset — when it begins shipping on Feb. 2. The tech giant touts visionOS, a platform that lets developers tap into the Vision Pro to make the viewing experiences within their apps “even more immersive.” The Vision Pro, which Apple has been developing for more than seven years, will be priced starting at $3,499.
At launch, Apple Vision Pro users can watch more than 150 3D movies, including “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Dune,” “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “Avengers: Endgame,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Elemental” and “Encanto.” Users can access 3D versions of eligible movies when they become available to rent or purchase from the Apple TV app, and users who own or purchase movies with a 3D edition will be able to access that version on Apple Vision Pro for no extra cost. Additional titles, including those available exclusively to Disney+ subscribers, will be announced at a later date.
With Disney+, subscribers can watch thousands of TV shows and films from four iconic virtual environments: the Disney+ Theater, inspired by the historic El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood; the Scare Floor from Pixar’s “Monsters Inc.”; Marvel’s Avengers Tower overlooking downtown Manhattan; and the cockpit of Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder, facing a binary sunset on the planet Tatooine from the Star Wars galaxy.
“At Disney, we’re constantly searching for new ways to entertain, inform, and inspire by combining exceptional creativity with groundbreaking technology to create truly remarkable experiences,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement. “Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary platform that will bring our fans closer to the characters and stories they love while immersing them more deeply in all that Disney has to offer. We’re proud to once again be partnering with Apple to bring extraordinary new Disney experiences to people around the world.”
In addition to Disney+, streaming apps on Vision Pro out of the gate will include those for ESPN+, NBA, MLB, PGA Tour, Max, Discovery+, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, Peacock, Pluto TV, Tubi, Fubo, Crunchyroll, Red Bull TV, Imax, TikTok and Mubi. Users can also watch online and streaming video using Safari and other browsers.
The Apple TV app on Vision Pro will provide access to all Apple TV+ originals, including Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” and the new limited series “Masters of the Air.” Users can also access MLS Season Pass, home of Major League Soccer, and more from popular streaming apps and channels. The Apple TV app also features the Cinema Environment, enabling viewers to transform any space into their personal theater. Users can even choose their favorite seat from the floor or balcony, and the front, middle or back row.
The Apple Vision Pro delivers more pixels than a 4K TV for each eye and features a Spatial Audio system. The headset will include a set of “stunning landscapes” with Environments and new spatial experiences like “Encounter Dinosaurs.” It also includes Apple Immersive Video, a proprietary entertainment format that features 180-degree 3D 8K video recordings captured with Spatial Audio.
At launch, Vision Pro customers will be have access to immersive films and series on the Apple TV app at no additional cost, including:
- “Alicia Keys: Rehearsal Room,” providing a glimpse into the Grammy-winning artist’s creative process with a rehearsal session featuring renditions of her hits “No One,” “If I Ain’t Got You,” and “You Don’t Know My Name.” (Users can also access these performances as a special EP exclusively on Apple Music when it debuts.)
- “Adventure,” following pioneering athletes as they take on challenges in some of the world’s most sensational locations. In the first episode, “Highlining,” viewers step into thin air with highliner Faith Dickey as she takes on her biggest challenge yet: a traverse 3,000 feet above Norway’s fjords.
- “Wild Life,” a nature series providing up-close looks at animals across the globe. The first episode brings viewers into the world’s largest rhinoceros sanctuary where a former police captain has dedicated her life to rescuing, raising, and rewilding these gentle giants.
- “Prehistoric Planet Immersive”: The Apple original docuseries from Jon Favreau and the producers of “Planet Earth” has been refashioned as an immersive film that “transports viewers into the daily lives of dinosaurs, and follows the struggles and triumphs of these majestic animals amid spectacular scenery,” Apple says.
In addition, Apple Vision Pro will offer interactive narrative experiences that dynamically respond to a users’ input. Those include “Encounter Dinosaurs,” a free app created by Apple and Favreau’s Fairview Portals, which allows users to look back into a prehistoric time and interact with lifelike, 3D dinosaurs. “Ever since Apple introduced me to this new technology, I’ve been intrigued with the opportunity to explore storytelling using these innovative immersive tools,” Favreau said in a statement. “I’m especially proud to be featured in the launch of this groundbreaking product.”
“Apple Vision Pro is the ultimate entertainment device,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior VP of worldwide marketing. “Users can turn any place into the best seat in the house, enjoy personal concerts and adventures with Apple Immersive Video, interact with lifelike prehistoric creatures in ‘Encounter Dinosaurs,’ and even land on the surface of the Moon using Environments.”
