Apple shares hit record high as it launches Vision Pro augmented reality headset

CEO Tim Cook describes Apple Vision Pro as spatial computing with the device controlled by the user's eyes, hands, and voice

Mon, 05 Jun, 2023 - 20:14

Stephen Nellis

Apple has unveiled an augmented-reality headset called the Apple Vision Pro at its annual software developer conference, its first big move into a new product category since the introduction of the Apple Watch nine years ago.

Chief executive Tim Cook described it as “spatial computing” with the device controlled by your eyes, hands and voice. He said:

It’s the first Apple product you look through, not at.

Apple did not make any major announcements about generative AI products similar to ChatGPT or Google’s Bard search engine, but it quietly imbued several smaller features with AI, such as live transcriptions of voicemails.

The headset launch will see Apple test a market crowded with devices that have yet to gain traction with consumers and put it in direct competition with Facebook-owner Meta Platforms.

Shares of the iPhone maker rose 2% to hit a record high of $184.95 ahead of the launch. Intel shares fell by almost 4% after Apple dropped Intel chips from its most powerful desktop.

Investors and tech fans alike are focused on how much Apple’s view of the virtual reality market overlaps with Meta’s.

Apple CEO Tim Cook described the new Apple Vision Pro as 'the first Apple product you look through, not at' during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California. Picture: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has outlined his vision for using headsets to dip in and out of a ‘metaverse’ where people can meet virtually to work, play and spend.

As well as Meta, Sony Group Corp 6758.T and ByteDance-owned Pico both recently released virtual reality devices.

Research firm IDC said companies sold a total of 8.8m headsets last year, down 21% from 2021. In the first quarter of 2023, sales more than halved. Apple also announced a 15-inch MacBook Air powered by an Apple-designed M2 processor chip. The laptop with six speakers will start at $1,299 (€1,212). The 13-inch MacBook Air will drop to $1,099.

Apple updated its Mac Studio desktop machine, saying its new M2 Ultra chip can process artificial intelligence work that rival chips do not have enough memory to handle. Apple also introduced a new version of the Mac Pro, its highest-performing desktop, with an M2 Ultra chip and a price tag starting at $6,999.

The M2 Ultra chip is essentially two of Apple’s largest M2 chips bonded together, a similar approach Apple took to boosting the performance of its M1 chips.

Until now, the Mac Pro was the last computer in Apple’s lineup that still used an Intel chip. The updates combine improvements to high-end machines aimed at the developer crowd at Monday’s event with tweaks to messaging and a new Mac Air aimed at a much broader group of customers, including potential switchers to Apple.

Apple introduced small improvements to its iOS software, some aimed at small annoyances like a NameDrop feature. Apple said it was improving autocorrect on iPhone keyboards.