Apple announced its mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, on Monday during its WWDC developer conference. The $3,499 headset is its first major new product since the Apple Watch in 2014.
The Vision Pro will allow users to see apps in a new way, in the spaces around them. Users can use their eyes and hands to navigate through apps and search with their voices. The headset can be used to watch movies, including in 3-D, with spatial audio, view their own pictures or videos, and play video games. It can also be used for work with video conferencing apps, Microsoft Office tools or Adobe Lightroom.
It will be available starting at $3,499 beginning early next year.
Apple stock dropped about 1% after the company unveiled the headset, giving up gains from earlier in the day.
With a feature called EyeSight, the headset can become transparent or opaque to signal to people around the headset user if they’re immersed in an experience or available to interact. Spatial audio will make it feel like the user is totally immersed in the experience, including by sensing other items in the room.
The Vision Pro can also create a realistic-looking avatar of a user to use in the experience.
The headset is made to fit different face shapes and sizes with adjustable and interchangeable parts.
The company announced several partnerships for the Vision Pro on stage. Disney CEO Bob Iger appeared on stage to announce that Disney+ would be available on the Vision Pro from day one of its release. Unity stock spiked over 20% and trading was briefly halted after Apple announced a partnership with the game development platform.
Here are some images from Apple’s presentation that shows how it works:
This is how the headset looks when a user is available to interact with others in the room.
Apple Vision Pro
Source: Apple
Apps appear in front of the user, who can look around and gesture to navigate.
Apple Vision Pro
Source: Apple
Here’s what it looks like to view a panorama with the headset.
Apple Vision Pro
Source: Apple
This is what it would look like to play a video game on the device.
Apple Vision Pro display
Source: Apple
This is what it’s like to video conference with the headset.
Apple Vision Pro
Source: Apple
It can also be used to learn new things in 3-D.
Apple Vision Pro
Source: Apple
Users can view different windows in front of them like they typically see on a computer screen.
Apple Vision Pro
Source: Apple
Apple has worked on headset hardware and software since at least 2016 in a division called the Technology Development Group. Monday’s launch is the culmination of years of development — some in secret, and some as public-facing groundwork previously released for the iPhone, such as depth-sensing cameras and software.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has spoken at length about the potential of augmented reality that overlays computer graphics onto the real world, saying that the tech could eventually be an everyday device for most people and that its impact could be similar to the invention of the internet.
Apple’s VR headset debut comes during a time when the broader virtual reality industry has struggled to meet high expectations for the technology. For now, it’s considered to be “mixed reality,” or virtual reality that can access the outside world through cameras mounted on the headset.
Monday’s launch also opens up a new era of open competition between Apple and Meta, which develops its own virtual reality headsets. Meta said last week that its latest headset model, Quest 3, would be released later this year.
Airbnb reported second-quarter results on Wednesday that beat analysts’ expectations.
Here’s how the company did based on average analysts’ estimates compiled by LSEG:
Earnings per share: $1.03 vs. 93 cents expected
Revenue: $3.10 billion vs. $3.04 billion expected
Revenue increased 13% from $2.75 billion during the same period last year. The company reported net income of $642 million, or $1.03 per share, up from $555 million, or 86 cents per share, a year earlier.
In the third quarter, Airbnb expects to report revenue of $4.02 billion to $4.10 billion, or $4.06 billion in the middle of the range. Analysts were expecting $4.05 billion for the period, according to LSEG.
In a letter to shareholders, the company said it had a strong second quarter, even against a volatile macroeconomic backdrop. U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff and trade policies plunged markets into chaos for much of April.
“Despite global economic uncertainty early in the quarter, travel demand picked up, and nights booked on Airbnb accelerated from April to July,” the company said.
Airbnb reported 134.4 million nights and seats booked, up 7% from a year ago and above the 133.35 million expected by StreetAccount.
Gross booking value, which Airbnb uses to report host earnings, service fees, cleaning fees and taxes, totaled $23.5 billion in the second quarter. That figure is above the $22.66 billion expected by analysts polled by StreetAccount.
Airbnb said it received authorization for new share repurchase program of up to an additional $6 billion of Class A common stock. The company said it repurchased $1 billion of Class A common stock during the second quarter, and previously had authorization to purchase $1.5 billion more as of June 30.
Airbnb shares were down slightly in extended trading. They’ve slipped 0.7% for the year as of Wednesday’s close, while the Nasdaq is up almost 10%.
Airbnb will hold its quarterly call with investors at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Doordash food delivery service in New York City on Feb. 13, 2025.
Danielle DeVries | CNBC
DoorDash shares climbed about 5% in extended trading on Wednesday after the food delivery company reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the second quarter.
Here’s how the company did compared to analyst estimates based on LSEG’s consensus:
Earnings per share: 65 cents vs. 44 cents expected
Revenue: $3.28 billion vs. $3.16 billion expected
Revenue jumped 25% from $2.63 billion a year earlier, DoorDash said in a press release. The company reported net income of $285 million, or 65 cents a share, after recording a loss of $157 million, or 38 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
Orders increased 20% from a year earlier to 761 million. Gross order value (GOV) rose 23% to $24.2 billion.
DoorDash shares have soared 54% this year as of Wednesday’s close, lifting the company’s market cap to $109 billion. The Nasdaq is up almost 10% in 2025.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday that it granted Zoox an exemption from some requirements, a first for U.S.-built vehicles under a recently expanded program.
“Transportation innovators can be confident in getting speedy review of their vehicles and, as appropriate, exemption from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards,” NHTSA Chief Counsel Peter Simshauser said in a release.
The company must remove all existing statements that its purpose-built vehicles meet all federal motor vehicle safety standards.
As part of the announcement, NHTSA said it’s closing a probe opened in March 2023 into Zoox’s self-certification that its robotaxi met federal safety standards.
“Through this new exemption process, we are excited to embark on this new path, put these discussions behind us, and move forward,” Zoox said in a statement.
The Department of Transportation in April announced it would expand a program that aims to speed up the autonomous vehicle exemption process to include domestically produced vehicles. Previously, it was limited to imported AVs.
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The easing of regulations will benefit Zoox and its competitors.
Tesla has announced that it plans to produce a two-seater CyberCab with no steering wheel or pedals down the line.
The expansion of the Automated Vehicle Exemption Program could make it easier for the company to conduct testing and operate on public, U.S. roadways if Elon Musk‘s automaker can meet the agency’s requirements.
Zoox, founded 11 years ago and purchased by Amazon for $1.3 billion in 2020, has been gearing up for further expansion this year.
The company in June opened a robotaxi manufacturing facility in the San Francisco Bay Area, where it aims to eventually produce 10,000 vehicles a year once it’s at full scale.
Zoox needs more of its toaster-shaped robotaxis to roll off the assembly line to fulfill its mission of deploying a commercial ride-hailing service in the U.S.
The company has eyed Las Vegas as its first commercial market, and said it plans to begin service there later this year.
— CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed reporting to this article.