The Apple Vision Pro has finally launched, and if you thought you'd have to upgrade your Mac or MacBook to use the new headphones (adding another expensive purchase to an already very expensive device), there's good news, as it seems. The Vision Pro headphones are compatible with Macs with Intel processors, which could open the door to users with older models.
A support page on Apple's official website, which explains how to use the headphones with a Mac as a display, reveals that support for this feature is not limited to Apple Silicon Macs (such as recent MacBooks with M1, M2 or M3). The post explains that if you're using a Mac with an Intel processor, you can still use the Vision Pro as a workspace; however, you will work with resolutions limited to 3K instead of 4K like you normally would with an Apple. Mac powered by silicon.
You will still be able to resize the virtual screen window and use your computer's keyboard and trackpad. That said, if you want to take advantage of the virtual display feature, your Mac will need to be running on macOS 14 Sonoma or later, so if you plan to try it out, you'll probably need to update your OS. Very old Macs and MacBooks may not be compatible with macOS Sonoma, which means you won't be able to use the Vision Pro as an additional display with those products.
Great, but not very useful.
While I'm glad to see support for older Macs, I'm not sure I see the point. Of course, Intel-based Macs are still good computers despite their age, but at the cost of the Apple Vision Pro, you could buy an iMac M3 and have plenty of money to spare.
Of course, I'm sure many people may have an old iMac collecting dust at home and would like to try it out, but again, the Apple Vision Pro isn't exactly a product you buy on a whim. I wouldn't really encourage anyone to buy the headset if it works exclusively on an Intel Mac, as you won't get the full 4K experience. You'd be better off just upgrading to a new MacBook, Mac mini, or iMac and buying a Vision Pro later… anyway.
There's also no guarantee that this support on Intel Macs will last forever; Now that the iMac M3 has been released, I wouldn't be surprised if we start to see limited support for newer accessories or features. So if you're in a position to try Vision Pro with your old Mac, I suggest you do so soon and decide if you like pairing enough to justify upgrading to an Apple Silicon Mac, because you may have to. in the future. future.
Through 9to5Mac
