Stormed the company "Apple" on Monday the world of "metaverse" – which is dominated by the social media giant "Meta" – as it unveiled a headset for augmented reality called "Vision Pro", which is the most dangerous and biggest bet since the introduction of the phone "iPhone".

The price of the "Vision Pro" starts at $ 3499, more than 3 times the price of the most expensive "Meta" mixed reality headphones (Quest Pro) that currently dominates the market for augmented and virtual reality headphones.

Apple is expected to launch its new headset in the United States in early 2024, and to launch it in more countries later in the same year.

Apple said that users of Vision Pro will be able to identify the content inside the glasses with their eyes, with the use of a camera system and a three-dimensional microphone to take videos and images that can be displayed in three-dimensional form later.

Apple President Tim Cook noted in a speech ahead of the unveiling of this "revolutionary new product" that blending digital content with the real world "will enable the creation of new experiences that we have not seen before."

Richard Howarth, the company's vice president in charge of design, said: "If you buy the latest TV, high-performance speakers, a powerful computer with many high-resolution screens and other high-end devices, you won't reach the VisionPro level."

Vision Pro users can identify content inside glasses with their eyes (Apple website)

The difference between the "Meta" and "Apple" headphones

In the clearest difference from the Meta Quest Pro, Vision Pro also has an external display that shows the user's eyes to people in the outside world.

The external screen becomes dark when the user is fully immersed in a virtual world. When someone approaches a user in full virtual mode, the speaker exposes the user and the external person to each other, which Apple official Alan Day explains, "You will never be isolated from the people around you. You can see them and they can see you."

Apple's stock rose 2% to a record high of $184.95 before launch, but closed slightly lower after the announcement.

The headset uses a new chip called R1 designed to process information from its sensors in less time than the blink of an eye. As for work uses, Apple explained that its new headset can be used with the trackpad and keyboard to work as a traditional computer with multiple screens.

Vision Pro and Apps

Apple says it is working with Adobe and Microsoft to put their applications on the new headset, in addition to Unity, a technology company that works with game developers, whose shares jumped more than 14% after the announcement, and the Disney Plus streaming service will be available from Walt Disney on the VisionPro headset from the beginning of its launch.

The Vision Pro can be placed in a pocket and is connected to a two-hour battery. The user controls virtual apps and screens through their eye movements, gestures and voice commands, and can choose the degree of immersion in the worlds with a special tap.

Investors and tech enthusiasts alike are focused on how Apple's vision of the virtual reality market overlaps with Meta, whose CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined his vision for using headphones to enter the metaverse world where people can meet virtually to work, play and spend.

In addition to Meta, Sony and Pico, owned by ByteDance, recently released two virtual reality headsets. Research firm IDC reported that a total of 8.8 million headphones were sold last year.

Apple President Tim Cook at its annual developers conference on Monday (Reuters)

MacBook Air

Apple also unveiled a range of new products and features, including a 15-inch MacBook Air laptop, a powerful chip called M2, improvements to the iOS operating system and autocorrect.

It has announced an update to its range of Mac PCs and laptops using proprietary CPU chips.

While Apple has not made any major announcements about generative AI products similar to Google's chat bot or Google's Bard search engine, it has used artificial intelligence in many smaller features, such as direct transcription of voice messages.

The price of the MacBook Air, powered by the M2 chip - and equipped with 6 speakers - starts at $ 1299, and will be launched in the market next week. The 13-inch MacBook Air is priced at $1099,<>.

Personal Computers

Apple has also updated its Mac Studio PC, saying the new UltraM2 chip can process artificial intelligence software, which rival chips don't have enough memory to handle.

Apple also introduced a new version of the "Mac Pro" the highest performance PC device, which also provided it with an "Ultra M2" chip and its price starts from $ 6999.

The Ultra M2 chip is essentially two built-in chips of Apple's largest M2 chipset, a method used by the company to enhance the performance of its M1 chips.

As of Monday, the Mac Pro was the last computer in Apple's lineup to still use Intel's chipset.