Apple Teams Up with Sony to Improve Vision Pro Gaming: Report

Apple is trying to make its Vision Pro headset better for gaming, and it’s teaming up with Sony to do it. That’s according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his Sunday PowerOn newsletter.

The plan is to let Vision Pro users use Sony’s PlayStation VR2 hand controllers. Apple apparently reached out to Sony earlier this year, sources tell Gurman. The project has been months in the making, say sources.

These controllers are already popular for other virtual reality (VR) devices, but right now, Sony doesn’t sell them separately. That could change if this partnership works out, with Apple planning to sell the controllers in its stores.

The Vision Pro, which launched in February, hasn’t been a big hit with gamers. Apple didn’t design the device with gaming as a priority, focusing instead on features like advanced sensors and video pass-through cameras. While those features make the headset great for some uses, they also strain its hardware. Vision Pro only has 16GB of memory which is not enough for intense gaming.

Sales numbers reflect the struggle. Under 500,000 Vision Pros have been sold since February, sources tell Gurman, and many buyers aren’t using them as much as Apple expected, as per its internal data.

To fix this, Apple is working on making the Vision Pro compatible with third-party hand controllers, like Sony’s PlayStation VR2. This has been a big project for Sony, with months of effort going into making it work. Apple has also been talking to game developers to encourage them to add support for these controllers in their games.

VR gaming setups from the likes of Meta and Sony have controllers that offer “six degrees of freedom” (6DOF). Vision Pro doesn’t have this but the Sony partnership looks to change this.

Apple has even experimented with its own “wand” controller says Gurman, similar to the Apple Pencil, which shows the company understands the current limitations of its hand-and-eye tracking system. But for now, teaming up with Sony seems like Apple’s best bet to win over gamers.

Maybe this should have been something Apple could have considered from the start? Vision Pro costs $4,995 in Canada and its uses are pretty limited for now, besides the insane cost. The Vision Pro is still a niche product, but ‘cheaper’ versions are in the works from Apple to try to push it mainstream.