Year: 2024

Apple Vision Pro brings a new era of spatial computing to business

Apple Inc April 9, 2024 0 0

Apple Vision Pro brings a new era of spatial computing to business

Incredible new enterprise experiences leverage spatial computing to customize workspaces, collaborate on 3D designs, deliver specialized employee training, and guide remote fieldwork in entirely new ways

For decades, Apple has worked to provide innovative products and services for businesses. Today, Apple products are used by all of the Fortune 500 companies in every industry around the world — iPhone and iPad are indispensable for businesses of all sizes, and Mac is preferred by employees when given the choice at work. Apple’s unique combination of hardware, software, services, and built-in support for IT makes it incredibly easy to manage and secure devices at scale. With the introduction of Apple Vision Pro, spatial computing enables enterprises to build experiences that previously were not possible.

“There’s tremendous opportunity for businesses to reimagine what’s possible using Apple Vision Pro at work,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations and Enterprise Marketing. “We’re thrilled to see the innovative ways organizations are already using Apple Vision Pro, from planning fire response operations to iterating on the most intricate details of an engine design — and this is just the beginning. Combined with enterprise-grade capabilities like mobile device management built into visionOS, we believe spatial computing has the potential to revolutionize industries around the world.”

With visionOS built on the foundation of decades of engineering innovation in macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, enterprise developers can create powerful spatial experiences controlled by the most natural and intuitive inputs possible — a user’s eyes, hands, and voice. The breakthrough design of Apple Vision Pro features an ultra-high-resolution display system and custom Apple silicon in a unique dual-chip design to deliver experiences in real time. Vision Pro uses a wide range of advanced machine learning and AI models to enable foundational capabilities such as hand tracking, room mapping, Personas, and more. All of this is accelerated by the Neural Engine in the M2 chip, which ensures spatial computing is the most powerful way for a business to leverage AI.

Developers have been building apps for Apple Vision Pro across numerous enterprise categories, from business productivity and product design, to immersive training and guided work.

Customized Workspaces for Productivity

Spatial computing blends digital content with the physical world, providing an infinite canvas that enables businesses to reinvent workspaces and enhance everyday productivity. With visionOS, apps are freed from the boundaries of a display, so they can appear side by side at any scale. With support for Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, users can set up the perfect workspace and bring the powerful capabilities of their Mac into Apple Vision Pro wirelessly, creating an enormous, private, and portable 4K display with incredibly crisp text. The most-loved productivity apps for business are now available on Vision Pro.

SAP Analytics Cloud helps streamline the process of gathering, integrating, analyzing, and presenting data-driven insights to enhance business decision-making. On Apple Vision Pro, the app enables employees and executives to immediately access their data dashboard and arrange their most critical business workflows, apps, and cards beautifully in their space. They can also drill down into the data with contextual 3D maps and graphics to gain new insights. With the latest SDK release for developers, the SAP Business Technology Platform fully supports Apple Vision Pro. Customers and partners can now deploy their SAP apps to Vision Pro, alongside iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

“Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary device, and we are thrilled to leverage the capabilities of spatial computing with SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP Mobile Start,” said Philipp Herzig, chief AI officer, SAP SE. “Going forward, we see the power of visionOS combined with generative AI being a force multiplier for enterprises. SAP Analytics Cloud running on Apple Vision Pro will help our customers discover all-new insights from complex data with powerful and intuitive processes that supercharge their business planning. And with SAP Mobile Start, we provide access to all of SAP’s business applications and workflows in unimaginable ways.”

Microsoft 365 productivity apps and AI companion Copilot built for Apple Vision Pro can help users get more done in powerful new ways. Focus mode in Word allows users to write without distraction; graph, manipulate, and visualize data in sharp, crisp detail in Excel; and immerse themselves in a slideshow with PowerPoint. Switching between meetings, chats, and shared content is easy in Teams — along with accessing the assistance of Copilot — with life-size windows that can be arranged in the user’s space.

“Spatial computing has enabled us to rethink how professionals can be productive and work intelligently with the power of AI,” said Nicole Herskowitz, vice president, Microsoft 365 and Teams. “With Microsoft 365 and Teams on Apple Vision Pro, your office moves with you, allowing users to view apps side by side on an infinite canvas with spatial computing for incredible multitasking and collaboration.”

Additional apps in business productivity include:

Webex by Cisco brings an immersive and intuitive meeting experience that fills the space and utilizes Personas and Spatial Audio for a more natural video conferencing experience.

Zoom provides an experience built for Apple Vision Pro with exceptional audio and video quality, giving users the ability to easily collaborate and schedule meetings.

Box makes it easy for users to collaborate and securely manage files and content, including 3D objects, allowing them to intuitively bring this content into the world around them.

Design and Collaboration

The display system on Apple Vision Pro packs 23 million pixels across two displays — or more than 4K resolution for each eye — which makes videos, images, and documents crystal clear from any angle. With crisp visualization of 3D content, spatial computing opens up opportunities for product design, retail planning, and construction modeling, and enables new experiences for customers to engage with products and services.

The Porsche Race Engineer app provides an entirely new way for the Porsche team to collaborate. Race engineers are constantly making real-time decisions about everything from the performance of the car to the driver’s vitals. Apple Vision Pro helps engineers visualize car data in real time, bringing critical metrics like speed and braking alongside track conditions and car positioning, combined with live video from the car’s dashboard. In February, Porsche broke the U.S. record for electric vehicles at Laguna Seca with the new Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, while the engineers tracked along using Vision Pro. This can also expand track experiences for fans around the world.

“At Porsche, we’ve always been driven by dreams, and Apple Vision Pro has enabled us to reimagine track experiences,” said Oliver Blume, Porsche’s CEO. “The new Porsche Taycan Turbo GT is the ultimate all-electric performance car, and, fittingly, we were thrilled to bring the best of German engineering and Apple’s inspiring product innovation together with the Race Engineer app. This is the perfect example of our team delivering on our goal to bring the best user experience to our employees and customers.”

Design and manufacturing processes are complex and involve large amounts of data from various sources. NVIDIA Omniverse Cloud APIs let developers stream massive 3D engineering and simulation data sets from the cloud to Apple Vision Pro. The high-resolution displays and powerful sensors built into Vision Pro enable developers and designers to create detailed, immersive renderings and visuals that can be viewed and manipulated in real time.

“The world’s industries are racing to build digital twins of products, facilities, and processes to better test and optimize designs well before constructing them in the physical world,” said Rev Lebaredian, NVIDIA’s vice president of Omniverse and Simulation Technology. “Enterprises can now combine the power and capabilities of Apple Vision Pro and the physically accurate renderings of OpenUSD content with NVIDIA accelerated computing to power the next generation of immersive digital experiences.”

Additional apps in design and collaboration include:

Lowe’s Style Studio leverages the unique capabilities of spatial computing to help customers visualize and design their dream kitchen, making home improvement easier than ever.

JigSpace brings intuitive, hands-on inspection and effortless collaboration to help users communicate complex ideas, products, and processes with spatial context.

EnBW (Energie Baden-Württemberg AG) enables visualization of renewable energy infrastructure projects, allowing collaborators to see and assess designs of vehicle charging stations, wind turbines, and solar farms.

Training and Simulation

From preparing technicians to install equipment, to teaching complex tasks requiring hundreds of hours of hands-on work, making training procedures more interactive and impactful is critical to employee success. When it comes to aircraft maintenance, taking a plane offline for training can be costly and cause delays throughout the system. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will dramatically improve technical maintenance and airline operations with spatial computing on Apple Vision Pro. The Engine Shop app enables technicians to train on the latest engine models in full fidelity in their own space. With this app, a technician can instantly see the entire task they need to perform step by step, with detailed repair instructions overlayed on a 3D model of the exact engine. This reduces errors and increases employee job satisfaction while saving valuable time and ultimately speeding up plane turnaround times.

“We see Apple Vision Pro as a tremendous value-add that will improve our fleet availability and operations,” said Bob Tulleken, KLM’s vice president of Operations Decision Support. “Training our employees with spatial computing will lead to fewer costly errors because the most current information they need to do their job is there in front of them as they perform the task. This means we not only get vastly more efficient in our work, but also provide a better work environment for our employees to succeed.”

Additional apps in training and simulation include:

Taqtile Manifest makes digital work instructions actionable with a simple glance or hand gesture.

PTC’s Onshape Vision app transforms the way product designers and engineers view, interact with, and collaborate on complex 3D models.

Guided Work

Guided work requires the context of a person’s surroundings, such as a utility service technician who needs access to work orders or schematics. Resolve has reimagined how building engineers can plan for and access information they need to make decisions about systems behind walls, including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and fire sprinkler lines. Rather than use static paper plans, users can review high-detail plans and 3D models on Apple Vision Pro, enabling architects, builders, and maintenance workers to see, fix, and comment, enhancing the entire life cycle of a construction project.

In emergency response scenarios, incident management software combines real-time and historical information with geospatial data to help first responders manage their people and fleet resources. The FireOps app, developed by About Objects and DigitalCM, marks a turning point in emergency response management. FireOps leverages the infinite canvas with visionOS to provide a unified operational view of incident action plans, dramatically streamlining over a dozen procedures. This enhances coordination and decision-making among all participants, and ensures that first responders are more connected, informed, and prepared than ever before.

Additional apps in guided work include:

TeamViewer Spatial Support enables remote experts and service technicians on the ground to troubleshoot repair and maintenance processes with unparalleled fidelity, enabling faster response and reduced downtime.

BILT supports 3D interactive instructions with voice, text, and animated guidance for thousands of products to enable a wide range of workflows.

Apple offers developers a variety of resources, including powerful APIs, rich documentation, global developer labs, Develop in Swift tutorials, and the visionOS simulator to help companies bring game-changing Apple Vision Pro experiences to life. To further support developers, today Apple is announcing the Enterprise Spatial Design Lab, providing hands-on support from Apple to help enterprises bring apps from concept to reality. The immersive sessions will be available beginning this summer at developer.apple.com. In addition, Deloitte announced today it is expanding its Apple practice to include a new Academy for Apple Vision Pro. The practice includes more than 100 practitioners trained to deliver visionOS solutions to clients, with a series of one-week, instructor-led courses to help engineers, product managers, and business leaders prepare for the new era of spatial computing.

Press Contacts

Jessica Reeves

Apple

j_reeves@apple.com

Andrea Schubert

Apple

a_schubert@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com

Disney+ to start crackdown on Password Sharing in June, 2024

Dan Uff April 8, 2024 0 1

According to CNBC, Disney CEO Bob Iger said in an interview that Disney needs to turn its streaming business into a growth business, and one way to do it is to limit households that are currently sharing access to sign up for their own account.

In the interview, Iger said:

"In June, we'll be launching our first real foray into password sharing," said Iger. "Just a few countries and a few markets, but then it will grow significantly with a full rollout in September."

Iger did not clarify where the password sharing lockdown will start, but it sounds like it will be largely worldwide when September rolls around.

Pushing the limit with Apple Watch Ultra and The Speed Project

Apple Inc April 8, 2024 0 1

Pushing the limit with Apple Watch Ultra and The Speed Project

Members of L.A.’s Koreatown Run Club and New York’s Old Man Run Club join forces to take on the 300-plus-mile relay from Santa Monica to Las Vegas

Driving along Ocean Avenue around 3:30 a.m. on a cool Friday morning in March, most of Santa Monica is perfectly quiet and still. But as the car approaches Colorado Avenue, a low din of voices begins to build. Every block, it grows louder and louder, until suddenly its source becomes clear, illuminated beneath the blazing neon at the entrance to the city’s iconic pier.

Hundreds of people have gathered here for the start of The Speed Project, an annual relay event that attracts brave souls from all over the world. The energy is electric: Team RVs covered with DIY signage line the street, massive flags ripple in the wind, and a drone flies overhead, casting an otherworldly glow on the undulating crowd. As the clock strikes 4 a.m., the teams scatter off in every direction.

Members of Los Angeles’s Koreatown Run Club (KRC) and New York City’s Old Man Run Club (OMRC) have been training for this day for months, joining forces from their respective coasts to take on the grueling 300-plus-mile route through the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas. There are no rules, no support stations, no spectators, no rain delays — just the runners, their navigators, their crew, and the open road. And that’s a big part of the appeal.

Through it all — the rugged landscape, the sleep deprivation, the dehydration, the extreme temperatures, and the pouring rain — Apple Watch Ultra 2 was an essential companion, offering the 12-member team the ability to instantly keep tabs on each others’ locations, take hands-free calls, keep an eye on their pace, provide visibility in the darkness, and view their elevation.

“Apple Watch Ultra 2 was our instant lifeline to each other,” says Cindy Le, the team’s veteran navigator and crew captain — a sentiment echoed by cocaptain Ja Tecson.

“The watch is truly made for the conditions we were going through, especially when we did our trail runs at night,” Tecson adds.

Made from aerospace-grade titanium, Apple Watch Ultra 2 is Apple’s most capable and rugged watch, with the best battery life of any Apple Watch, advanced running metrics, easy-to-read Workout Views, a range of training experiences, and Apple’s brightest display.

The team’s photographers — A.J. Lising, Jeremy Jude Lee, and Ja Tecson — documented their journey in a series of images shot on iPhone 15 Pro Max, and edited in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop with an analog aesthetic, capturing the emotion of each moment.

Friday, 04:00:08 a.m.
Palisades Park, Santa Monica, California

Early Friday morning, the team’s 12 runners and eight support crew members are already running on adrenaline and very little sleep. Everyone is excited to watch teammate Annie Cun — who is here at the starting line despite a recent cancer diagnosis — kick off the very first segment. “This is a journey that we’re doing together,” says Le, reminding the runners in the huddle to stay in the moment and not just focus on their final destination. “Like in life, there’s not really a finish line. There’s only this present moment over and over and over again.”

Friday, 10:08:06 a.m.
Santa Clarita, California

As Angelo Antonio heads along Soledad Canyon Road, the clouds have finally opened up.

Friday, 12:38:30 p.m.
Palmdale, Mojave Desert

Anthony Trần takes a breather after making the handoff to teammate Paulsta Stanczuk.

Friday, 06:36:41 p.m.
Oro Grande, Mojave Desert

At sunset, Antonio runs along a single-lane dirt road in Oro Grande. For the runner, who grew up in the Mojave Desert, the moment is particularly special, representing a homecoming of sorts.

Saturday, 12:15:11 a.m.
Newberry Springs, Mojave Desert

At night, Tecson says Apple Watch Ultra 2 provided the team with an extra sense of safety: “I would always turn my flashlight setting on, because there were a lot of really aggressive drivers on the road.”

Saturday, 12:36:15 a.m.
Newberry Springs, Mojave Desert

Sleep deprivation is an inescapable part of The Speed Project experience. “A lot of people, when you get into ‘I’m hungry, I’m tired, I’m cranky,’ you can really lose who you are a little bit,” says team cocaptain Will Eckman. “You have that shared experience with everyone else, and how do you all push each other up to get through? I think everybody was certainly feeling it in the overnight moments between midnight and 7 a.m.”

Saturday, 09:10:12 a.m.
Death Valley Road, Baker

Though many of the runners from the two clubs hadn’t met in person until the night before the race, it doesn’t take long for a sense of camaraderie to build on the road. “It just felt so natural, everybody coming together and really building a friendship,” says Will Eckman. “It almost felt like we had been friends for a very long time. That was amazing to see very quickly.”

Saturday, 09:25:48 a.m.
Baker, Mojave Desert

Out on the road, the runners use Apple Watch Ultra 2 to stay in touch with the crew back in the RV. “If something comes in that I have to answer, I use voice to text to continue my run and not break stride,” says cocaptain Kim Yee, shown here during a one-mile repeat on Death Valley Road.

Saturday, 01:47:48 p.m.
Boron, Mojave Desert

By the time the team reaches the grueling 26-mile stretch known as Power Line in the late afternoon, the weather has changed, and the team is concerned about their SUV getting stuck in the mud. “We started to feel some drizzle, and then we heard the rain hitting the power lines,” says Tecson. “You could just feel this crackling sound with the wind — it sounded beautiful and scary at the same time.”

Saturday, 06:08:43 p.m.
Goodsprings, Southwest Extreme Triangle

While they’re on their feet completing their segments, Apple Watch Ultra 2 offers the team’s athletes the ability to multitask. “As a runner, there’s so much going on,” says Tecson, pictured here waiting for teammate Cun. “You’re also concerned about everyone else, but you can also see through the watch that it got executed and checked off the list.”

Saturday, 06:23:10 p.m.
Jean, Southwest Extreme Triangle

Silhouetted against the backdrop of the desert mountains along State Route 161 — still capped in snow after a brief storm hours earlier — Jenny Peng finishes another segment. As the team delves deeper into the Mojave Desert, they rely on the precision dual-frequency GPS of Apple Watch Ultra 2, which provides precise distance, pace, and route data. “Having GPS dial in quickly so you can just tag and go was really critical,” says Will Eckman.

Saturday, 07:05:16 p.m.
Jean, Southwest Extreme Triangle

As night falls along the California-Nevada border, fatigue starts to set in for all of the runners, including Peng.

Saturday, 07:26:07 p.m.
Sloan, Southwest Extreme Triangle

With Las Vegas and its bright lights slowly coming into sight, Will Eckman stretches and prepares to embark on his final one-mile segment.

Saturday, 09:53:40 p.m.
Las Vegas, Southwest Extreme Triangle

On Saturday evening, the KRC x OMRC team crosses the Speed Project finish line in Las Vegas, with a final time of 41 hours and 51 minutes — cue the celebratory champagne shower, a well-deserved real shower, a hot meal, and a comfy hotel bed. “I love doing this race because you get to see what the human spirit is capable of,” says Le. “You see people go through their lows and really struggle to get out of their rock bottom in that moment to show up for each other and show up for themselves, and do something a previous version of themselves would have never thought was possible.”

Press Contacts

Nikki Rothberg

Apple

nrothberg@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com

What the heck does “SOS” mean on an iPhone?

Dan Uff April 8, 2024 0 0

You're out somewhere and notice you cannot get cellular service on your iPhone. You look at the single indicator, and notice the word SOS on it. What does that mean and how do you get rid of it?

When you see the word SOS on the iPhone, it means you do not currently have cellular service, and you need to either use another cell phone to contact your provider, or do the following to try and get it back yourself.