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

Apple Vision Pro headset
The new Apple Vision Pro (Image credit: Apple)

A slick new advert for the Apple Vision Pro has just appeared on the official Apple YouTube account, 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 video has 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's no sign of the Vision Pro battery pack, and Napoleon is an interesting choice as the featured movie, because Ridley Scott's historical epic is seven minutes longer than the Vision Pro's official 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-on Apple 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.

The Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest Pro are 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 the Wall Street Journal (via 9to5Mac), 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, as Google's mobile operating system is on phones and tablets.

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.

You might also like

TOPICS
David Nield
Freelance Contributor

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.

Read more
Apple Vision Pro Review
Apple Intelligence finally arrives on Vision Pro, but it's the new iOS app that might turn heads
Google Android XR, Glasses, and Project Moohan
Samsung Project Moohan: the latest news for the Android XR headset
Project Moohan prototype at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, an XR goggles headset on display in a show area
Android XR comes out swinging with our first look at Samsung Project Moohan, but the VR headset just makes me want AR glasses more
Vision Pro Metallica
Apple Vision Pro goes off to never never land with Metallica concert footage
The Meta Quest Pro on its charging pad on a desk, in front of a window with the curtain closed
Samsung, Apple and Meta want to use OLED in their next VR headsets – but only Meta has a plan to make it cheap
Apple Vision Pro new Mac Virtual Display
The Apple Vision Pro’s Ultrawide Mac Virtual Display is something you have to see to believe
Latest in Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality
Snap Spectacles 5
Latest Snap Spectacles update teases an exciting AR future that I can't wait for
Project Moohan prototype at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, an XR goggles headset on display in a show area
Samsung's Android XR headset could avoid the Apple Vision Pro's biggest mistake, according to this leak
Vision Pro Metallica
Apple Vision Pro goes off to never never land with Metallica concert footage
The Ray-Ban Meta Coperni smart glasses
The new Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses design is an expensive disappointment
The Meta Quest Pro on its charging pad on a desk, in front of a window with the curtain closed
Samsung, Apple and Meta want to use OLED in their next VR headsets – but only Meta has a plan to make it cheap
The new limited edition Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses show a translucent design.
Ray-Ban and Meta just teased new limited-edition smart glasses – but they'll be in frustratingly short supply
Latest in News
A man holds a smartphone iPhone screen showing various social media apps including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Threads, Instagram and X
A worrying Apple Password App vulnerability reportedlyleft users exposed for months
Google Pixel 9a
Google is delaying the Pixel 9a to fix a mystery “component quality issue”
The bottom left corner of an Android phone, showing the Phone, Messages, Google icons and Google Search bar
Google Messages remote delete will soon save you from texting embarrassment – and here's how it works
ExpressVPN mobile app and Aircove
ExpressVPN ‘reduces workforce’ for the second time in two years
The Nanoleaf PC Screen Mirror Lightstrip being used on a desktop computer.
Mac gaming could get an intriguing boost – but not in the way you'd expect
Snapdragon G Series
Qualcomm poised to muscle in on AMD's territory with powerful gaming handheld processors