Apple continues to work on expanding the capabilities of its Vision Pro headset. As Mark Gurman reports in his Power On newsletter, the company plans to introduce support for standard virtual reality (VR) controllers, and one of the companies Apple is in talks with is Sony.
Image Source: Apple
The innovation should make Vision Pro more attractive, primarily for gamers, since at the moment the product is not very strong in this area and is not very popular among gamers. According to 9to5Mac, the upcoming update to the visionOS operating system will include support for third-party controllers for manual control. Apple has not yet released its own VR controllers, which limits device owners in choosing games, including projects from the Steam catalog.
The exact timing of introducing support for third-party controllers has not yet been announced, but Apple is actively working in this direction and is collaborating with Sony. In particular, Apple is interested in integrating controllers from the PlayStation VR2. According to Gurman, both companies have already made significant progress: “Apple approached Sony earlier this year, and the companies agreed to work together to support PlayStation VR2 controllers on Vision Pro. Inside Sony, work on this project has been ongoing for several months.” In addition, Apple is discussing this plan with game developers, inviting them to integrate controller support into their projects.
Image Source: Sony, 9to5mac.com
However, the launch of this feature does not go smoothly. Apple and Sony initially planned to announce support for PlayStation VR2 last month, but the dates were postponed for various reasons. However, it is reported that the feature should still be introduced “unless it is suddenly cancelled.”
Currently, Vision Pro already supports standard Xbox and PlayStation game controllers for Apple Arcade games, but does not yet support VR controllers, which limits the capabilities for most VR games. It is worth noting that Apple experimented with creating its own device for controlling games – a prototype of the so-called “magic wand”, reminiscent of the Apple Pencil. However, when this accessory will appear or receive support in Vision Pro is still unknown.
According to official reports, Apple has sold less than half a million Vision Pro units, with most owners using the headset less frequently than the company expected. Despite disappointing sales, Apple continues to invest in Vision Pro development, and full support for VR games in the future may help boost sales.