Apple's foray into virtual/augmented reality is about to meet reality, as the much-hyped Vision Pro is finally releasing in the US on February 2, the company announced this morning. Pre-orders begin this Friday, for those of you who've been waiting to drop a bunch of cash on the first-generation device as soon as possible. The headset will cost $3,499 and is powered by its own operating system called visionOS. It lets you use your eyes, hands, and voice to navigate the UI, and it'll be interesting to see if the, er, reality lives up to Apple's slick marketing.

While the most obvious analogy is VR devices like the Meta Quest 3, Apple is offering more of an augmented reality experience, as many of the elements in the Vision Pro’s software appear against the backdrop of your actual room (or a virtual one, depending on your preference). The Vision Pro has 256GB of storage and uses micro-OLED technology for its displays. The device is powered by Apple’s M2 chip, which we’ve seen in some Macs , and a new R1 chip dedicated to handling inputs from all of the Vision Pro’s sensors.

The Apple Vision Pro comes with the following accessories:

Two Light Seal cushions