Vision Pro Content Can Be Mirrored to Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV Using AirPlay

[MacRumors]

Content that is displayed on the Apple Vision Pro display can be mirrored to an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, or AirPlay-compatible smart TV using AirPlay, Apple confirmed today.

Apple's technical specifications page for the Vision Pro says that what's on your Vision Pro can be mirrored to any AirPlay-enabled device at up to 720p, which will allow you to show people what you're seeing on your headset.

iPhones and iPads were updated with the ability to receive content from the Vision Pro in iOS 17.2 and iPadOS 17.2, and to use the feature, the AirPlay Receiver toggle must be turned on under General > AirPlay & Handoff.

While the Vision Pro's display can be mirrored to an AirPlay device, the headset can also serve as a display for a Mac. With the Mac Virtual Display feature, AirPlay 2 connects the Vision Pro wirelessly to a Mac, and a virtual representation of the Mac's display can be placed anywhere in space. Used this way, the Vision Pro essentially serves as an enormous, portable 4K display, according to Apple.

Note: Apple's specifications page previously said that content could be AirPlayed at 1080p, but later updated it to say 720p.

Article Link: Vision Pro Content Can Be Mirrored to Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV Using AirPlay

 

[jimbobb24]

I was just trying to post this....this is interesting detail. You can see what the user is seeing making it possible to watch something "together".

Side note: apple has not ported numbers, pages, iMovie, etc to Vision OS. So not going to be too critical of Netflix or Youtube.

 

[jclardy]

I was just trying to post this....this is interesting detail. You can see what the user is seeing making it possible to watch something "together".

Side note: apple has not ported numbers, pages, iMovie, etc to Vision OS. So not going to be too critical of Netflix or Youtube.

So..kind of, though I feel it would be awkward because they would see things based on how your head is moving/tilted/turning.

My guess is if you want to watch something together, use SharePlay...it seems like it was designed for this, but no idea if it can sync up if you are in the same room (one person watching VP, other person watching Apple TV)

 

[ThatWildOne92]

I wonder if you can cast the Vision Pro while recording a spatial video

 

[anthogag]

If you want to know what the Vision Pro user is watching look at the eyes 👀

 

[subjonas]

So..kind of, though I feel it would be awkward because they would see things based on how your head is moving/tilted/turning.

My guess is if you want to watch something together, use SharePlay...it seems like it was designed for this, but no idea if it can sync up if you are in the same room (one person watching VP, other person watching Apple TV)

With iPhone you can mirror the entire screen or just Airplay specific video/audio, so I imagine you have the choice of mirroring the user’s entire POV or just Airplaying specific videos. But not sure if there’s a way to AirPlay a specific photo. Or you can probably just choose to airplay an entire single window, which wouldn’t move around.

But yeah I don’t think this is a way to watch anything longer than a short clip together. SharePlay would be better, but I’ve never needed to SharePlay with someone in the same room. Would probably just take off the VP and watch on the same screen at that point.

 

[subjonas]

I wonder if you can cast the Vision Pro while recording a spatial video

You probably can since an iPhone can use the camera app and mirror to ATV at the same time.

 

[G5isAlive]

I guess this is one of those things that need to be experienced to fully understand…

 

[Korican100]

Bro are you telling me I can use my headset to edit videos in FCPX?!

 

[kagharaht]

So two VP users can watch the same movie?

 

[klasma]

But you can’t mirror to other Vision Pros? That could have had a lot of interesting applications.

 

[CalMin]

My Oculus does the same (albeit wired) and it can be useful for demo purposes I suppose. I'm not sure how compelling or interesting this would be for most use cases, however. VR is a personal vs. a shared experience.

 

[subjonas]

So two VP users can watch the same movie?

I’m sure they can but probably don’t want to use Airplay for that. Apple hasn’t shown any multi-VP applications yet that I know of, but I’d bet they have some useful things up their sleeves. At minimum I’m sure you can share a window to collaborate or watch a movie together. Maybe 3D experiences can be shared too.

 

[subjonas]

But you can’t mirror to other Vision Pros? That could have had a lot of interesting applications.

That could be very interesting. Probably even more interesting applications streaming over internet though. Hopefully you can do both. Won’t be great for the queasy though haha.

 

[subjonas]

My Oculus does the same (albeit wired) and it can be useful for demo purposes I suppose. I'm not sure how compelling or interesting this would be for most use cases, however. VR is a personal vs. a shared experience.

Airplay could also be used for sharing specific video or windows, not just the entire POV, probably.

 

[Junior117]

I'm expecting some weird hall of mirrors when people do this (unless the Vision Pro is smart enough for the image to not be seen on the TV, as in it blacks it out on the wearer's view only, but I doubt it entirely).

 

[akuma13]

What about the other way around? Using AirPlay to see content on your iPhone, iPad or Apple TV on the AVP?

 

[spaxxedout]

If you noticed from today's walkthrough video, you can hear the guy tap the spacebar on the MacBook Pro and his app instantly started. The keyboard's out of frame, and maybe it was dubbed, but it's looking like a very good connection. Airplay 2 to Apple TV is around 75ms from my experience. This seems WAYY better.

FWIW sound does travel at 330m/s, but the shot was apparently directly from VP and close to the Mac.

 

[klasma]

That could be very interesting. Probably even more interesting applications streaming over internet though. Hopefully you can do both. Won’t be great for the queasy though haha.

Since it says “up to 1080p”, it seems it’s limited to regular AirPlay. While a normal video image can in principle encode a stereo image (side-by-side), it wouldn’t be great, at effectively only half FHD. So I believe this is out of scope for the first generation.

 

[eifelbube]

I was just trying to post this....this is interesting detail. You can see what the user is seeing making it possible to watch something "together".

Side note: apple has not ported numbers, pages, iMovie, etc to Vision OS. So not going to be too critical of Netflix or Youtube.

Yes, you can watch content together that way but not experience it the same way.

 

[blackcrayon]

My Oculus does the same (albeit wired) and it can be useful for demo purposes I suppose. I'm not sure how compelling or interesting this would be for most use cases, however. VR is a personal vs. a shared experience.

If you're trying to talk someone through something and they're wearing a VR headset, being able to see what they see is pretty valuable. Or if they're playing a game... Any time a group is involved in a VR activity you want to see what the person is seeing. Assuming the Vision gets used this way as I'm used to with other VR headsets.

 

[Fuzzball84]

This is what i wanted… output to a normal display… that way I can be more productive.

This feature is priceless… it makes it a viable alternative to Mac.

 

[BradWI]

Did they really just update the page to now say "up to 720p" where it said "up to 1080p" earlier today?

 

[wikiverse]

Am I the only one that thinks this feature is useless?

If you want to show other people what you're doing - not in VR but in 'spatial computing' - then just use a regular screen - in 4k resolution.

The Vision Pro is not being promoted as a gaming device or a VR device. It's a media consumption device. So what, exactly, are people going to be sharing that couldn't have just been on a regular screen anyway?

 

[Amazing Iceman]

720p??? What’s that?