Apple took a bold step forward at WWDC 2025 with the announcement of visionOS 26, the latest software update for the Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset. This new release is packed with immersive spatial experiences, cutting-edge AI enhancements, expanded developer tools, and stronger integration across Apple platforms. Designed to elevate spatial computing for personal, collaborative, and professional use, visionOS 26 aims to redefine how users interact with their digital world.

Immersive and Personal: Spatial Widgets

visionOS 26 introduces spatial widgets that can be placed throughout a user’s real or virtual environment. These dynamic elements include clocks, calendars, music players, and even weather updates. Customisable in colour, depth, and size, widgets integrate with both Apple and third-party apps through WidgetKit, enabling a personalised and persistent spatial UI. Whether in the living room, office, or digital workspace, widgets add utility and context-aware information at a glance.

Shared 3D Experiences in Mixed Reality

For the first time, visionOS 26 enables multiple Vision Pro users to inhabit the same virtual or mixed-reality environment. Users in the same room can now co-watch 3D movies, interact in shared games, or collaborate in professional apps. Remote participants can also join these environments via FaceTime, creating hybrid collaborative spaces. Dassault Systèmes’ 3DLive app demonstrates how engineers or designers can work on spatial models together in real time.

Next-Level Avatars: Enhanced Personas

Personas, Apple’s digital avatar system, receive significant upgrades with improved facial expressions, side profiles, and lifelike rendering for hair and skin tones. New personalisation tools let users preview and edit their avatars before use, choosing from more than 1,000 virtual eyewear options. These improvements add emotional depth and realism to interactions, especially in meetings and collaborative tasks.

Spatial Scenes with Generative AI

visionOS 26 uses Apple Intelligence to bring photos to life with a feature called Spatial Scenes. By blending AI with depth data, the Vision Pro can transform flat images into immersive environments that users can explore from multiple angles. Apps like Zillow will leverage this for property previews, offering interactive home tours in full 3D.

Expanded Multimedia and Browsing

Safari now supports Spatial Browsing, where content dynamically adapts to a user’s view. Articles expand into ambient reading zones, and 3D elements enhance visual storytelling. Additionally, visionOS 26 natively supports immersive formats like 180-degree and 360-degree video, as well as ultra-wide field-of-view content. Devices like Insta360, Canon, and GoPro are all compatible.

Gaming Gets a Boost: PlayStation VR2 Support

In a landmark update, visionOS 26 adds native support for PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers. This opens up advanced gaming experiences with haptic feedback, finger detection, and six degrees of motion tracking. Apple is clearly positioning Vision Pro as a viable high-end gaming platform, bridging console-level controls with immersive Apple environments.

Advanced Enterprise and Collaboration Tools

Apple also enhances visionOS for enterprise use. New APIs protect sensitive data like patient records or financial forecasts with encryption and policy control. Businesses can deploy shared Vision Pro units with individual user settings like accessibility preferences and app arrangements. Logitech Muse, a new spatial input accessory, further extends usability for professionals working in design, architecture, or collaborative VR environments.

Additional Features That Matter

Look to Scroll: Navigate apps and web pages using only your gaze, with speed control settings.

Image Playground: More generative AI art features with support for Japanese, Korean, French, and German.

Revamped Control Center: Faster access to Focus Mode, Guest Settings, and Environment adjustments.

iPhone Integration: Unlock your iPhone while fully immersed in a virtual experience; make and receive calls via Vision Pro.

Improved Home View: Create folders, rearrange apps, and personalise your layout more intuitively.

Availability

visionOS 26 is now available to developers, with a public beta expected next month. The official rollout will take place later in 2025. Some features, especially those under Apple Intelligence, require specific regional settings and supported languages. Users of the Apple Vision Pro will benefit most from the update when paired with the latest iOS and macOS versions.

visionOS 26 is not just an update; it’s a leap forward in spatial computing, positioning the Apple Vision Pro as a more immersive, collaborative, and intelligent platform for the future.