Apple VisionOS 2: Larger Mac Display, New Hand Gestures, 3D Photo Conversion
Announced at WWDC, VisionOS 2 looks like a conservative update, but it brings some useful new features to the mix.
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VisionOS 2 gets some minor updates, but not as many as you might have expected.
The Apple Vision Pro's latest software updates were the first thing announced at this year's WWDC developer keynote Monday. The news might be a disappointment to anyone wanting major changes to Apple's 4-month-old mixed reality headset, but some of the features look helpful. And the headset is becoming available in countries outside the US, too.
The Vision Pro arrives June 28 in China, Japan and Singapore, and July 12 in Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the UK. The headset was previously US-only.
VisionOS 2 has a few key new features. Apple's introducing new hand-tracking shortcuts to get back to the app grid, bring up control center or check on time. There's also a clever new converter in the Photos app that promises to turn older photos into 3D "spatial" photos.
Apple discussed new developer tools that should allow full 3D environments and apps to run side by side, or place mixed reality experiences more easily on tables. There's also an enterprise business toolkit for making manufacturing or other industry-focused apps, an area that seems like a growing territory for Apple's expensive headset.
Mac extended displays on the Vision Pro are getting larger, up to a promised double 4K size, and in a curved widescreen format. But it doesn't look like multiple monitors will be offered, and Apple mentioned nothing about Vision Pro working with other devices like the iPad, iPhone or Apple Watch.
This is a developing story...