Apple Expected to Announce Vision Pro VR Controller Support Next Week

Okay, so imagine this. Last year, whispers floated around that Apple was—hold your breath—finally going to slap some VR motion controllers onto the Vision Pro. And not just any controllers, but a weird tag team with Sony’s PSVR 2 Sense Controllers. Sounds kinda wild, right? Well, fast forward to now: 9to5Mac’s saying this whole thing is still simmering and it just might explode into actual news, maybe next week. Or not. Timing’s a mystery.

So, apparently, visionOS is not only gonna high-five PSVR 2’s controllers but also—wait for it—PlayStation and Xbox gamepads. Who saw that coming? Although, 9to5Mac’s snooping couldn’t pin down if this is all getting dropped at Apple’s big Worldwide Developers Conference, WWDC (almost got that wrong), or if it’s later in the year. Apple’s keeping secrets as usual. But hey, visionOS 26 is getting some tweaks anyway. Changing names all over the place or something. MacOS, iOS, the whole shebang. It’s chaos.

Ugh, and here’s a pic for you. Hideo Kojima sporting an Apple Vision Pro. Make it make sense!

So, Vision Pro. February 2024 launch, and it kinda threw a wrench in the VR developers’ gears. Three and a half grand for a mixed reality headset that mainly just nods at hand-tracking and plain Bluetooth things. Game controllers, keyboards, you know the drill. Developers are kinda cornered. Either they cook up brand new stuff or they gotta retrofit existing games with fancy hand-tracking. And honestly, that’s not always practical. Lotsa games are born for motion controllers.

This whole gear-up with PSVR 2 is likely not gonna make Vision Pro exactly fly off the shelves. I mean, it’s already a pricey little beast, right? Apple’s been touting it more like a spatial computer—whatever that means—than a gaming powerhouse. But who knows, maybe cheaper versions will pop up later. Wishful thinking, maybe?

Oh, and shoutout to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who spilled the beans that Apple sidled up to Sony for integration talks back in early 2024. A bit scandalous since not long before that, Apple was all “nah, we’re not doing VR controllers.” Famous last words, huh?

Anyway, mark your calendars, WWDC’s kicking off on June 9th at a crisp 10 AM PT. It’s like a soap opera. But you can catch the drama live on Apple’s YouTube—assuming you’re as curiosity-riddled as me.