Apple reveals new Vision Pro advert, as Meta plans Android-style rivalry

Devices are shipping this week

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A slick new advert for theApple Vision Prohas just appeared on the officialAppleYouTubeaccount, just a few days ahead of the first shipments of the mixed reality headset being sent out to customers. Meanwhile, a new report claims that Meta now considers itself to be the headset’s main, Android-style adversary.

The 68-second videohas the usual Apple polish and a lot of the ingredients we’ve come to expect from Apple commercials – such as a classic pop song, aspirational lifestyles, travel, family and friends. It’s called “Hello Apple Vision Pro” and the promise in the caption is that “you can do the things you love in ways never before possible”.

It’s actually a helpful preview of some of the features and experiences that the Vision Pro offers: watching movies, working on presentations in a virtual 3D space, making FaceTime calls, bringing up images and video that wrap around your field of vision, and more.

As you would expect from an advertisement, it’s somewhat selective in what it shows. There’sno sign of the Vision Pro battery pack, andNapoleonis an interesting choice as the featured movie, because Ridley Scott’s historical epic is seven minutes longer than the Vision Pro’sofficial estimated battery life. You might need a recharge for the end credits.

More competition

We’ve already spent some time with Apple’s headset for our hands-onApple Vision Pro review, though not enough yet for a full review. Those first verdicts are going to be interesting, as will the impact of the headset on the augmented/virtual/mixed reality hardware market as a whole.

TheMeta Quest 3andMeta Quest Proare now in direct competition with Apple’s new device, but Meta executives don’t seem to be overly perturbed by the Vision Pro’s arrival. As per theWall Street Journal(via9to5Mac), Meta is hoping that the Vision Pro boosts interest in the tech in general, leading to more sales of the cheaper Meta headsets too.

Meta executives are “optimistic”, sources have told the WSJ, with the report going on to say that Meta is hoping to be the Android of the AR/VR/MR space – in other words, the main alternative to Apple, asGoogle’s mobileoperating systemis on phones and tablets.

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According to the WSJ, the Vision Pro has “influenced Meta’s thinking” when it comes to embracing mixed reality experiences, and improving natural gesture control – Apple’s headset relies on eye and finger tracking, while the Meta devices are primarily operated by physical controllers, with gesture support in testing.

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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

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