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.
Popular on Variety
Related Stories
VIP+New Live Music Data Suggests Cautious Optimism
Maggie Smith, Star of 'Downton Abbey,' 'Harry Potter,' Dies at 89
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.”
Read More About:
Jump to CommentsMore from Variety
Barbra Streisand Remembers ‘A Star Is Born’ Co-Star Kris Kristofferson: ‘He Was Something Special’
‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Success Doesn’t Downplay Risky Reboots Coming to Theaters
Kris Kristofferson, Country Music Legend and ‘A Star Is Born’ Leading Man, Dies at 88
Kris Kristofferson’s 10 Best Songs
New Live Music Data Suggests Cautious Optimism
Most Popular
Inside the 'Joker: Folie à Deux' Debacle: Todd Phillips ‘Wanted Nothing to Do’ With DC on the $200 Million Misfire
‘Menendez Brothers’ Netflix Doc Reveals Erik’s Drawings of His Abuse and Lyle Saying ‘I Would Much Rather Lose the Murder Trial Than Talk About Our…
‘Joker 2’ Axed Scene of Lady Gaga’s Lee Kissing a Woman at the Courthouse Because ‘It Had Dialogue in It’ and ‘Got in the Way’ of a Music…
‘Kaos’ Canceled After One Season at Netflix
Kamala Harris Cracks Open a Miller High Life With Stephen Colbert on ‘The Late Show’
Saoirse Ronan Says Losing Luna Lovegood Role in ‘Harry Potter’ Has ‘Stayed With Me Over the Years’: ‘I Was Too Young’ and ‘Knew I Wasn't Going to Get…
Kathy Bates Won an Oscar and Her Mom Told Her: ‘You Didn't Discover the Cure for Cancer,’ So ‘I Don't Know What All the Excitement Is About…
Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried to Star in ‘The Housemaid’ Adaptation From Director Paul Feig, Lionsgate
Disney World, Universal Orlando Theme Park to Close as Florida Braces for Hurricane Milton
Kamala Harris Watches Maya Rudolph’s ‘SNL’ Impression, Praises the Mannerisms: ‘She’s So Good!’
Must Read
- Film
COVER | Sebastian Stan Tells All: Becoming Donald Trump and Starring in 2024’s Most Controversial Movie
By Andrew Wallenstein 3 weeks
- TV
Menendez Family Slams Netflix’s ‘Monsters’ as ‘Grotesque’ and ‘Riddled With Mistruths’: ‘The Character Assassination of Erik and Lyke Is Repulsive…
- TV
‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Part 2 to Air on CBS After Paramount Network Debut
- TV
50 Cent Sets Diddy Abuse Allegations Docuseries at Netflix: ‘It’s a Complex Narrative Spanning Decades’ (EXCLUSIVE)
- Shopping
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Sets Digital and Blu-ray/DVD Release Dates
Sign Up for Variety Newsletters
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.Variety Confidential
ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9nfXOAjp%2BgpaVfo7K4v46ap6mklWLDqr%2FIqKVmqKKkenSwjKamr6GVqHq0wNGemKahnpx6orzPrGSdoaOjsrp5z6WsrGVhZ4B2hJZsbWlwXw%3D%3D