A Vision Pro powered by Apple Intelligence is almost here, and I'm concerned

Summary

The upcoming visionOS 2.4 software update will finally bring Apple Intelligence to the Vision Pro headset.
visionOS 2.4 is available in testing for developers, with a stable release slated for sometime in April.
Apple’s various AI-based tools are a welcome addition to the Vision Pro, but I don’t expect them to light the world on fire.

After significant anticipation, Apple has finally confirmed that its suite of AI-based features — collectively referred to as Apple Intelligence — will land on the Vision Pro headset in April’s visionOS 2.4 software update.

“visionOS 2.4 advances spatial computing with a powerful set of Apple Intelligence features — including Writing Tools, Image Playground, and Genmoji — and introduces Spatial Gallery, the Apple Vision Pro app for iPhone, and more,” says Apple in a press release.

Much of the Apple Intelligence feature set for Vision Pro parallels that of the iPhone, the iPad, and the Mac. Known quantities including generative Writing Tools, Image Playground and Genmoji support, Smart Reply, Create a Memory Movie, and natural language search make up the bulk of the update.

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Exclusive to the Vision Pro form factor is an all-new AI feature: Spatial Gallery. Serving as a dedicated application, the tool curates spatial photos, videos, and panorama shots from a variety of sources. This includes behind-the-scenes imagery from Apple Originals programming, the works of professional photographers, and more.

visionOS 2.4 also appears to be delivering some quality-of-life improvements for the Vision Pro at large, too. Enhancements to the Guest User mode are set to improve discovery of the feature, and a dedicated Apple Vision Pro app for the iPhone will make managing apps, spatial content, and other functions a bit less cumbersome.

visionOS 2.4 also appears to be delivering some quality-of-life improvements for the Vision Pro at large, too.

According to the company, this first wave of Apple Intelligence features within visionOS 2.4 will arrive in beta form, and you’ll need to have your headset and Siri language set to US English to test them out. Additional AI tools and expanded support for more languages down the road are both also confirmed.

When visionOS 2.4 launches in April, the new Spatial Gallery feature will specifically be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, the U.A.E., the UK, and the US. The new Vision Pro iPhone app, meanwhile, will be available whenever iOS 18.4 hits the public.

Vision Pro

The Vision Pro is Apple’s first-generation wearable or ‘spatial computing’ headset, powered by the M2 processor and the dedicated visionOS operating system.

Brand: Apple
Resolution (per eye): 3660 x 3200 per eye
Display Type: Micro-OLED
Storage: 1TB / 2TB / 4TB
Connectivity: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Battery Life: 2-2.5 hours (estimated)
Tracking Technology: LEDs and infrared cameras
Audio: Two speakers with spatial audio
Weight: 22.9 ounces (650 grams)
Refresh rate: 90Hz
Processor: Apple M2 + Apple R1
RAM: 16GB unified memory

I’m not convinced that Apple Intelligence will light the Vision Pro’s world on fire

Apple’s AI features are nice to have, but they don’t fundamentally change the game

It’s no secret that the entirety of Apple Intelligence has been received by users with a middling response. While it’s nice to have the option to generate text and images on-device, these tools don’t fundamentally change the experience of using an Apple device. Tighter integration with ChatGPT is certainly a plus, but delays in the release of a smarter Siri have dampened the AI hype to some degree.

Personally, I’m rather surprised that it’s taken this long for Apple to bring its suite of AI tools to the Vision Pro. Sure, the device is radically different from an iPhone or a Mac in terms of form factor and interaction model, but the internal M2 chipset already runs Apple Intelligence on other iDevices.

I can appreciate Apple’s ‘slow and steady wins the race’ mentality when it comes to the deployment of generative AI, but I’d expect a $3,500 headset to be leading the charge in terms of offering new AI-fueled experiences.

I’d expect a $3,500 headset to be leading the charge in terms of offering new AI-fueled experiences.

I suspect that with time, Apple Intelligence on the Vision Pro will evolve into something genuinely useful and potentially game-changing. For the time being, however, I’m just happy that the company’s spatial computing device will be achieving AI parity with the rest of the Apple hardware ecosystem as of April.

visionOS 2.4 is available now for developers to test their apps on. It’s unclear what the public beta testing process will look like, or how many pre-release builds might end up coming out in advance of April’s stable update.

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