visionOS 1.1 is now available.
visionOS is the operating system for Apple Vision Pro, and presumably future Vision headsets too. Today it's getting its first significant update since Vision Pro's launch on February 2.
The biggest improvement in visionOS 1.1 is to Personas, Apple's realistic virtual avatars. Apple says they have improved rendering, improved hair and makeup appearance, improved neck and mouth representation, and the ability to capture Personas hands-free
Beta versions of visionOS 1.1 have been available since February 6, and testers soon after shared before and after comparisons of their Persona.
David Heaney
Your Persona also drives EyeSight, the rendered view of your upper face shown on the headset's lenticular front display, so this too should be improved with visionOS 1.1.
Personas are still limited to showing in a 2D virtual window however, as if a webcam view. When first unveiling Vision Pro at WWDC back in June Apple also teased Spatial Personas, which exist outside windows to enable virtual meetups with a shared coordinate space like existing VR avatar systems, but there's no timeline on this releasing.
As well as the Persona improvements, visionOS 1.1 also brings the following notable changes:
- Improved discovery and connection reliability of Mac Virtual Display, the feature that lets you pull your Mac's display out to become a giant floating virtual screen.
- Volumes, 3D apps and objects that exist in the Shared Space, can now be positioned much closer to you than before.
- Most preinstalled Apple apps can now be uninstalled.
- A notification number dot will now show on the Compatible Apps folder, which contains installed iPad and iPhone apps.
- The cursor positioning for text input has been "improved".
- Mobile Device Management (MDM) is now supported to enable device configuration, deployment, and management for enterprise.
- Wi-Fi networks with captive portals, such as public networks that require signing up to use, are now officially supported. This includes hotels, cafes, and airports.
- Dozens of bug fixes should increase polish and stability.
Most of these changes are improvements and enhancements, rather than new major features. Apple usually shares details of entirely new versions of its operating systems at its annual WWDC conference, so it's likely we'll hear about more major changes in store for visionOS 2 in June when WWDC 2024 takes place.
David Heaney
