Spatial computing: Why Apple’s headset is not the most important thing it announced this week

The Apple Vision Pro is not just a piece of tech, but a whole new way of thinking about computers, writes Andrew Griffin

Apple Mixed Reality Mixed Feelings (AP)

When Tim Cook took to the stage at Apple’s event this week, he promised that he was about to make some of the company’s “biggest announcements ever”. Over the next couple of hours, he and his colleagues at Apple ran through a range of new updates: new Mac computers, and changes to the software that runs products such as the iPhone and Apple Watch.

Then he said there was “one more thing” left to announce, echoing the wording that came to be associated with Steve Jobs’ showmanship and the big reveals he would leave until the end of his keynotes. That last thing had been “years in the making”, and a “profound technology”, he said.

It was the long-rumoured, already much-discussed headset, which he said was to be known as Apple Vision Pro. It is like a pair of smart ski goggles, which include powerful lenses and cameras to not only show you virtual reality experiences but overlay them on an almost-realistic image of the world, with the intention that you are never cut off from your surroundings.