TECH NEWS – Sales of the Apple Vision Pro are not very good (the Cupertino company has sold surprisingly few units), which may have forced it to make this compromise.

Apple’s headset, which offers advanced technology at a gold price (it goes for at least $3,500 in the U.S.), was released in February, only to find that it has sold 500,000 units so far. That’s a very small number, and Apple knows it; hence the rumors that the company is teaming up with Sony to support the AR headset with the PlayStation VR2 controllers!

Bloomberg editor Mark Gurman reported this in his latest Power On newsletter. According to him, Apple is expanding the Vision Pro’s supported accessories, which makes sense because it also supports DualSense and Xbox controllers, but they are not optimized for AR (augmented reality), while the PlayStation VR2 controller is designed from the ground up for virtual reality. Neither DualSense nor the Xbox controller support 6DOF (six degrees of freedom), which is necessary for precise VR control. If Apple’s plans are accepted by Sony, its product distribution strategy will have to change, as the PlayStation VR2 controller is currently not available separately, as Sony only sells it with the headset. Apple could also sell Sony’s controller through its stores or online.

Is Apple targeting gamers? The move is likely a step in that direction, but it could also improve productivity by making it easier to navigate VisionOS or even edit media content, Gurman said. The operating system is easy to use with the analog arms and D-pad, and the trigger can take the place of the finger pinch gesture.

We don’t know yet if the Apple-Sony pact has been reached, as neither company has officially announced it. However, it tells us that the Apple Vision Pro has indeed become a niche product…

Source: WCCFTech