Apple Vision Pro features a home cinema mode, revives 3D movies

26 Jun 2023 | Rasmus Larsen |

Now that Apple has released developer tools and a handful of people have tried the Vision Pro, we have learned more details about Apple's plans for virtual home cinema and 3D movies. Earlier this month, Apple unveiled the Vision Pro as a headset that can mix the real world with the virtual world. One of the experiences inside is a virtual home cinema.

The virtual Cinema Environment in Apple Vision Pro

- "Turn your room into a personal movie theater with the Cinema Environment. Enjoy shows and movies at the frame rate and aspect ratio the filmmaker intended with immersive Spatial Audio. Or use a majestic Environment like Mt. Hood to make your screen feel 100 feet wide," said Apple. In addition to the cinema environment, there are currently 13 virtual environments that let users watch movies near Mount Hood, at the beach, near the Haleakalā volcano, on the moon or other places.

You can also watch movies in other environments

This is not a novel concept. Oculus/Meta, for example, has offered a virtual cinema experience for years but the low-resolution, contrast-poor LCD displays have made it a subpar viewing experience. Also read: PlayStation VR2 will have a 'virtual cinema' in 1080p HDR, up to 120Hz The dial on the side of Apple's Vision Pro lets you make the virtual screen larger to take up almost your entire field of view through the two 4K micro-OLED displays that support HDR, unlike the majority of movie theatres. It has a dedicated 96Hz refresh mode to reproduce movies at the correct 24fps frame rate – or, you know, HFR such as The Hobbit or Avatar's 48fps. On top of that is support for spatial audio combined for the first time with ray-traced audio to match movie sound to your room.

Avatar: The Way of Water in 3D on Apple Vision Pro

The return of 3D?

At the event, Apple gave select journalists a chance to try the headset through some carefully selected demonstrations including a clip of Avatar: The Way of Water in 3D. As you know, TVs no longer support 3D but a few movies still make it to movie theaters in 3D and some home projectors support 3D, too. Still, it has become a vicious cycle for 3D because the hardware is not there to really support movie releases and vice versa. Apple has not outlined how it is actually going to deliver 3D movies to Vision Pro so it it interesting that The Information has learned that Apple has an internal team called Z50 working on 3D content for Apple TV+. It may be announced later for Vision Pro – or not. We will just have to wait and see. Apple TV+ lives inside the Apple TV app so it naturally begs the question: Is support for 3D movies also coming to other Apple devices such as a new Apple TV media player? Bloomberg claims that the next Apple TV box will come out in the first half of 2024.

If 3D is coming to Apple Vision Pro, is it then also coming to Apple TV 4K?

Best 3D movie experience?

Here is what Apple and journalists who have tried the Vision Pro have to say about its 2D and 3D movie capabilities. - "It enables video to be rendered at true 4K resolution with wide color and high dynamic range all at massive scale," said Mike Rockwell, VP, Technology Development Group, Apple. - "There is no other device in the world that can deliver this quality of 3D movie experience," said En Kelly, Senior Engineering Program Manager, Technology Development Group, Apple - "The audio system creates the feeling that sounds are coming from the environment around you. The system measures the geometry of your ears and head with an iPhone depth camera to create a personal profile. It also analyzes your room's acoustic properties, including the physical materials. And when a sound is played it uses audio raytracing..." said Sterling Crispin, Neurotechnology for Vision Pro, Apple (twitter). - "I was most impressed with how the Vision Pro handled a 3D clip of Avatar: The Way of Water. The movie looked crisp and clear with all of the 3D depth I remembered from the theater. At times, the 3D looked even better than in cinemas, since I didn't have to reduce the brightness of the film with shaded 3D glasses. Apple wouldn't confirm if the Vision Pro could play The Way of Water in in a 48fps high frame rate - the film initially swapped between 24fps and 48fps footage in theaters - but even without that capability, it's something I'd still prefer to watch on headset instead of a 2D 4K TV," said Devindra Hardawar, Engadget. - "The cinema demo was what really shocked me, though. I played a 3D clip of Avatar: The Way of Water in-headset, on a screen in various viewing modes including a cinema. Apple's mixed-reality passthrough can also dim the rest of the world down a bit, in a way similar to how the Magic Leap 2 does with its AR. But the scenes of Way of Water sent little chills through me. It was vivid. This felt like a movie experience. I don't feel that way in other VR headsets," said Scott Stein, CNET. - "My colleague David Pierce, who also tried the Vision Pro this week, has already pointed out that it will be a great TV. I agree and could see myself actually watching a movie in it, which is something I’d never say about the other headsets out there," said Alex Heath, The Verge. - "I have received many excited texts from artists and the 3D community following Apple's announcement. The first stereo cameras in an Apple product is huge! We hoped this would happen for years, it's a big step for stereoscopy. And now we have our 3D with Apple's 90Hz refresh rate, another step for High Frame Rate, a more comfortable and detailed viewing experience," said Demetri Portelli, 3D stereographer/supervisor, Martin Scorsese's Hugo (Hollywood Reporter).

Beyond movies

Disney CEO Bob Iger was on stage during the unveiling to announce that Disney+ will be available on Vision Pro at launch. In addition, he played a sizzle reel of dreamt up Disney experiences shown in "previously impossible ways". - "These are just a few of the ways we can bring Disney into your world with Apple Vision Pro and we’re looking forward to sharing more in the coming months," said Bob Iger.

A virtual Star Wars environment for Apple Vision Pro was teased

If Apple has big plans for 3D movies, a natural next step would be gaming. This could be the differentiator Apple needs after having struggled for decades to bring AAA gaming to life on its platforms. Gaming on Vision Pro was conspicuous by its absence during the unveiling. The company only said that 100 Arcade Games can be played on Vision Pro on a screen as large as the user wants, but it did not talk about VR/3D games. However, it has partnered with Unity – tough luck, Epic Games – so we may hear more about gaming on Apple Vision Pro leading up to the launch in early 2024.