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We will have to see if they do anything funky, but the specs say USB-C... and all my experience with those cables is that they have great bandwidth when very close but go down fast after that.
The Sony demos in the Feel a New Real | PS VR2 are well within the power of an M2 processor... colorful but not requiring great GPU power.
My research suggests that active USB-C should provide enough bandwidth.

Those demos are far beyond the power of an M2. They're new AAA games running in 4k.
 
My research suggests that active USB-C should provide enough bandwidth.

Those demos are far beyond the power of an M2. They're new AAA games running in 4k.
Your reseach is how much bandwidth and the length of the cable (then identify a cable that matches those specifications)?
 
Your reseach is how much bandwidth and the length of the cable (then identify a cable that matches those specifications)?
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Seems to be enough for 4k 60hz.

But this is not really related to how much power a GPU has. The fact is, the PS5 GPU is ~3x faster than the M2.
 
If Meta Quest 2 can have some high quality games optimized for it, then I don't see any issue why the more powerful Vision Pro (M2) shouldn't.
 
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I think visionOS will come with same limitations we see with the iOS App Store but otherwise gaming should be able to thrive.

And I would imagine SteamVR won't be supported unless Valve sticks to the guidelines (see: controversy with Game Pass).

A small but possibly under-looked hurdle could be game controllers. I understand the Vision Pro will support controllers, but would developers be allowed to require the use of a controller(s)? If not, that might inadvertently block a lot of VR blockbuster games from being ported to the platform that need controllers.

Also, will visionOS have support specifically for VR-style controllers à la Quest, PSVR etc?

If developers can require controllers or at least specify "Controller Recommended", then I would imagine third parties will start selling visionOS-compatible controllers and the App Store will populate on its own with game ports and originals.

And it'd be a shame for Apple not to take advantage of them entering this new space and not improve their gaming efforts. Apple was never interested in AAA gaming (sorry, but mobile gaming and Apple Arcade don't count) but the launch of the new OS could be a pathway for concentrated efforts like they have been doing with TV and streaming.

Sidenote: imagine a game based on Foundation, or Mythic Quest. So many opportunities for original gaming IP from Apple. AAA gaming isn't an easy business but it could be great PR for Apple since they're not well-received in gaming communities.
 
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If Meta Quest 2 can have some high quality games optimized for it, then I don't see any issue why the more powerful Vision Pro (M2) shouldn't.
It depends on what kind of games. Can the Vision Pro run iOS and iPad games? Absolutely.

Can it run AAA games? Very poorly because the base M SoC GPU can't compete with PS5, Xbox Series One, M Pro/Max/Ultra.

It's also driving a ton of pixels. So if the game takes up the entire lenses, it's going to have to drive 23 million pixels if the game runs at native resolution which is almost 3x a 4k monitor. However, it seems like games will be restricted to a 2D plane, which means the number of pixels will be much smaller to drive.
 
It depends on what kind of games. Can the Vision Pro run iOS and iPad games? Absolutely.

Can it run AAA games? Very poorly because the base M SoC GPU can't compete with PS5, Xbox Series One, M Pro/Max/Ultra.

It's also driving a ton of pixels. So if the game takes up the entire lenses, it's going to have to drive 23 million pixels if the game runs at native resolution which is almost 3x a 4k monitor. However, it seems like games will be restricted to a 2D plane, which means the number of pixels will be much smaller to drive.

Games don't need to run at native res. Even with the PSVR2, they basically switch the best quality where your eyes are looking at, with lower quality where you're not looking at.

It also depends on the developer, game engine, and etc. I remember playing some games that looked high quality years ago even on the Oculus headsets you had to insert a Samsung phone into. I think developers would have no problem at all optimizing quality games for the Vision Pro.

I have several PC headsets and several standalone headsets. Most games on standalone headsets have minimal visual degradation compared to PC. When I play the same games on both, you really have to look for the difference in visual quality, the experience is pretty much the same. It's like on PC games, most will not notice much difference between high and very high settings, and very high to ultra settings is almost indistinguishable.
 
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Games don't need to run at native res. Even with the PSVR2, they basically switch the best quality where your eyes are looking at, with lower quality where you're not looking at.

It also depends on the developer, game engine, and etc. I remember playing some games that looked high quality years ago even on the Oculus headsets you had to insert a Samsung phone into. I think developers would have no problem at all optimizing quality games for the Vision Pro.
Yes, if you know exactly where the eye is looking - then the base libraries can optimize how crisp or detailed you render information out of the line of sight... You also have the information about motion, turning of head/eyes etc. so you only have to sharpen the objects detail wise when it is about to enter the field of focus. It also is greatly effected on if the application is written for Metal or is not optimized for it.
 
It depends on what kind of games. Can the Vision Pro run iOS and iPad games? Absolutely.

Can it run AAA games? Very poorly because the base M SoC GPU can't compete with PS5, Xbox Series One, M Pro/Max/Ultra.

It's also driving a ton of pixels. So if the game takes up the entire lenses, it's going to have to drive 23 million pixels if the game runs at native resolution which is almost 3x a 4k monitor. However, it seems like games will be restricted to a 2D plane, which means the number of pixels will be much smaller to drive.
To be fair, the M2 MBA can already run some great games at...decent performance (Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Metro: Exodus etc) and that's without a fan.

I think foveated rendering coupled with optimizations could have the Vision Pro maybe at Xbox One level graphically speaking (not current get Xbox One, the other One that same out with the PS4)? And IDK how much the R1 takes off the M2 but maybe that chip will help performance as well.

Not an expert AT ALL of course but this is just guesses based on what we see with the M2 MBA. Not to mention the M2 Air can run near-perfect emulations of Switch games like BotW.

And my standards may be low, but if the Vision Pro could do better-than-Switch graphics (given it can easily emulate the Switch) then I'm perfectly okay with that.

But yeah, given it's still mobile, I think it's unrealistic to expect current-gen console graphics. But definitely better than the Quest 2/Pro and probably Quest 3.
 
If I may going back to my original question for those who may not have seen it.
Given Apple's control over software and wishing to control the experience.

Do you feel they would be so bold as to block something like Steam VR from working on the headset?
We know you will be able to connect it to a Mac I believe so you have see multiple screens when using your Apple computer, but they still could decide to block SteamVR from running, so that they retains total control (and 30% cut) of any software running on the headset.

Naturally they would get a large amount of negative press for blocking Steam from the headset.
Not only SteamVR but actual Steam Games running in 2D window floating on space.

I'm currently about 50/50 on this.
I'm feeling they would love to block it, but as they really want this headset to be the answer for everything, and appeal to as many buyers as possible, they may decide the negative press would not be worth it.
 
If I may going back to my original question for those who may not have seen it.
Given Apple's control over software and wishing to control the experience.

Do you feel they would be so bold as to block something like Steam VR from working on the headset?
We know you will be able to connect it to a Mac I believe so you have see multiple screens when using your Apple computer, but they still could decide to block SteamVR from running, so that they retains total control (and 30% cut) of any software running on the headset.

Naturally they would get a large amount of negative press for blocking Steam from the headset.
Not only SteamVR but actual Steam Games running in 2D window floating on space.

I'm currently about 50/50 on this.
I'm feeling they would love to block it, but as they really want this headset to be the answer for everything, and appeal to as many buyers as possible, they may decide the negative press would not be worth it.
No, Apple has no way of blocking steam on macOS.

But they will absolutely block Steam from being able to get on the Vision pro Appstore. Apple definitely wants 30% of the pie, and won't allow Steam to get it.
 
Do you feel they would be so bold as to block something like Steam VR from working on the headset?
It will be released in England and Germany after US and last time I check Germany is in EU so wouldn’t that mean an alternative App Store?
 
It will be released in England and Germany after US and last time I check Germany is in EU so wouldn’t that mean an alternative App Store?
Good point.
Though I don't know if these new laws are going to affect all devices, or they deal with each device at a time.

So this is the new rules coming for phones, but I've no idea if these same rules would apply to the tiny amount (in comparison) of VR headsets.

As yes Apple this is a VR headset with very nice quality pass through camera's no matter what you try and pretend it is. Let's just be honest. There is no harm in being honest, no one will think any less of you for it.
 
If I may going back to my original question for those who may not have seen it.
Given Apple's control over software and wishing to control the experience.

Do you feel they would be so bold as to block something like Steam VR from working on the headset?
We know you will be able to connect it to a Mac I believe so you have see multiple screens when using your Apple computer, but they still could decide to block SteamVR from running, so that they retains total control (and 30% cut) of any software running on the headset.

Naturally they would get a large amount of negative press for blocking Steam from the headset.
Not only SteamVR but actual Steam Games running in 2D window floating on space.

I'm currently about 50/50 on this.
I'm feeling they would love to block it, but as they really want this headset to be the answer for everything, and appeal to as many buyers as possible, they may decide the negative press would not be worth it.

I highly doubt we will see Steam VR on Vision OS. What we will most likely see is Apple Arcade getting VR games, and the App Store getting VR games outside of Arcade.
 
Yeah, well I really don't expect Apple would allow Steam VR in a new Vision Store. But I wonder if they would also block Virtual Desktop Streamer from the store to allow you to stream Steam VR from your Mac to the headset.
Of course I think we all know Apple wants all the Devs to make native versions for the headset.
It's going to interesting as I understand that very soon Apple is going to be releasing the rule book of what type of apps they will allow to be created.
 
So this is the new rules coming for phones, but I've no idea if these same rules would apply to the tiny amount (in comparison) of VR headsets.
Oh I didn't know the rule is only for mobile phone. I think it will be very smart for Apple to negotiate some kind of a deal from Steam like they're doing with Google search on Safari: Pay this yearly and you can have your store on us. It will benefit everyone.

Will they voluntarily do it? I don't think so but I hope they do. They only need to make VR controllers compatible that's all. That's small work.
 
It makes me sick to my stomach that there is a possibility VisionOS will not be an open system like a computer would be
 
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As we are so close now I thought I'd give this thread a bump to get your predictions :)

Yes, we all know...... Whilst Apple are very publicly starting to show more and more interest in gaming on the Mac
(More money for Timmy who needs to extra cash!) ;)

Apple had very much avoided linking the Vision Pro to any sort of VR Gaming headset.

However........ With all that said, we know devs and users are really going to want to experience AR and VR Gaming experiences on this device. So what "Games/Entertainment" Software do you think we are going to start to see in the first few weeks after launch?

Any hints yet from any developers that they have been porting any of their current titles onto Apple's headset?
 
As we are so close now I thought I'd give this thread a bump to get your predictions :)

Yes, we all know...... Whilst Apple are very publicly starting to show more and more interest in gaming on the Mac
(More money for Timmy who needs to extra cash!) ;)

Apple had very much avoided linking the Vision Pro to any sort of VR Gaming headset.

However........ With all that said, we know devs and users are really going to want to experience AR and VR Gaming experiences on this device. So what "Games/Entertainment" Software do you think we are going to start to see in the first few weeks after launch?

Any hints yet from any developers that they have been porting any of their current titles onto Apple's headset?
I think something like Hogwarts Legacy would be great for a VR headset, but they don't even have it available for the Mac. :(
 
Apple already has first party support for their Mac computers to have visual desktop in Vision Pro. They will allow other virtual desktops.. What they won't allow are store fronts that compete with the App Store directly. i.e. cloud gaming apps
 
Wouldn't latency be bad? Or picture quality? How do you get 23 million pixels from a PC to the headset? At 90 fps? I don't think the Vision Pro has a DisplayPort or USB-C input?

The Vision Pro can display your Mac's screen but that's only 6 million pixels and doesn't need to be fast frame rate since its only 2D.

Besides getting an image to the display, you need to get data from the headset (for direction and orientation - also would be nice to get info about hand gestures and such).
You can already do wireless PC VR via a Quest 2/3. It isn't perfect - but the Vision Pro would be even better, because the display compression/decompression is the limiting factor, and the VP likely has 10x the computational headroom of a Quest 3.

I think the main issue I see with it is that in "immersive" mode there isn't any concept of boundaries - IE I can't say "let me only play in this 5x5 square that is clear.

First party gaming on the VP is going to be non-existant, because there aren't any default controllers. Hands are great for mixed reality productivity applications, but not great for controlling VR games.
 
I don't think apple cares even a little bit about VR gaming on AVP. They didnt show it even once. They show more gaming on the Apple TV. Part of it is probably what others pointed out....driving those pixels is going to be extremely demanding for VR games so they will look like blocky trash just like the quest ads youtube shows me.
 
Great app idea. I always thought that would be awesome on your desktop. As you're grinding away in the office you have a reminder of how much money you're making in real time. Go for a coffee break and come back, made 20 dollars. Lolz.
Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime. That’s why I poop on company time.
 
Not sure why we'd expect any better gaming software environment than what is already on iOS

This sucker will be locked down and, as always with Apple, the terms and experience of working on gaming software on their platforms will be the limitation of massive success in this category

(for existing games on normal computers I mean -- I'm sure there can and will be some great new stuff just for this device, or at least ported from other VR first platforms.)
 
Wild guess....

Walkabout Mini Golf just has to be ported to this AR/VR headset.
It's such an obvious game, and due to it's style easy title for the hardware to run, and it gets a lot of love as a VR title.
 
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