r/technology • u/ControlCAD • 20h ago
Apple Vision Pro gets extraordinary $30,000 dual-lens camera that can handle almost 118 million pixels | Blackmagic's new camera can capture Apple Immersive Video Hardware
https://www.techradar.com/pro/apple-vision-pro-gets-extraordinary-usd30-000-dual-lens-camera-that-can-handle-almost-118-million-pixels222
u/CaterpillarReal7583 20h ago
Apple is really pushing full steam ahead. Either they have an affordable ar/vr thing on the way soon or theyre just pretending that people will buy anything they make still.
This is clearly for production crews but the only way to sell it Id imagine would be with promises that people will actually own tech to view it in the near future when they finish whatever their project is.
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u/FatherOfAssada 19h ago
think Steve Jobs’ vision and pitch about the macbook.
the goal was to build an amazing computer you can learn to use in 20 minutes and fits in a book, but technology doesnt allow that.
So that built that computer and it fits in a breadbox, it was 10000$ and it was Lisa, and then the next step was to fit it in a shoebox at 2500$, and eventually we got a Macbook at 1000$
Same idea for AVP, right now it’s heavy and doesn’t last 3h, for 5000$, the goal is likely to make it lighter and last 5h for 2500, and eventually, to have a spatial computer the size of your phone that costs 1000$
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u/spyder_victor 19h ago
Good point but why do you put the $ at the end of the numbers?
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u/FatherOfAssada 19h ago
I’m canadian lol
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u/CttCJim 17h ago
So am I, and I've never seen anyone yet to say we should do it that way... are you quebequois or something? They always gotta be different there...
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u/SheepherderFar3825 17h ago
Good call on Quebecois… You’re not crazy, in Canada proper, we do put it on the left…
In the United States, Mexico, Australia, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Pacific Island nations, and English-speaking Canada, the sign is written before the number ("$5"), even though the word is written or spoken after it ("five dollars", "cinco pesos").
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u/FatherOfAssada 16h ago
what the heck is Canada proper lol? most oldest cities in Canada are in Quebec, you don’t see french canadians calling English Canada “US North” 🤣
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u/SheepherderFar3825 12h ago
lol it was a joke calm down… québécois don’t want to be a part of canada then I can joke about the rest of canada being the real canada
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u/FatherOfAssada 3h ago
the referendum was before most of the people on reddit were born, and it didnt succeed, so how can you say 30 years later quebecers don’t want to be part of canada lol
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u/KnotSoSalty 19h ago
That’s actually the right way to do it. The idea was that the $ would both indicate that it was currency and also prevent people from adding additional numbers after the last.
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u/FatherOfAssada 18h ago
i mean we say one dollar, not dollar one so yeah😅
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u/EL_Ohh_Well 18h ago
Don’t you type 1 dollar so you read 1$? I mean, we read 1 dollar, not dollar one so yeah
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u/LucyBowels 18h ago
I think you’re both saying the same thing?
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u/BoxOfDemons 16h ago
It likely started out as PS for pesos, but then got squished into what we now know as the dollar sign. Early American history had many southern Americans accepting pesos from Mexicans. So they'd need to record that in their book keeping. So it would be for example "50PS".
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u/GandalfTheBored 16h ago
I’m never sure where I want to put it. When you say it, it’s one hundred dollars, not dollars one hundred. Same with percent.
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u/mr_birkenblatt 19h ago
One certain segment of video makers have been making immersive 180 stereo vr videos for years. They'll be glad to finally have really good cameras. 30k is nothing for them
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u/not_creative1 19h ago edited 19h ago
Cost can be brought down with scale. One of the main reasons specialised stuff like that lens/camera is expensive is because they have very few customers. So they are almost like custom made hand crafted products. If there is large scale demand for it, the makers of that camera will invest in automated production lines etc which brings the cost down exponentially.
Apple understands this better than anyone. Most people cannot comprehend how much cost can be reduced with scale when it comes to hardware
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u/devilishpie 19h ago
So they are almost like custom made hand crafted products
Cinema cameras are not made by hand or custom made, they're just low volume.
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u/Masterofunlocking1 11h ago
I thought the Vision Pro was bs until I tired it in the store. If they make a version that’s a bit cheaper I would definitely buy it. Im still on the fence about buying one right now
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u/Centmo 20h ago
This would be great for capturing concerts and sporting events, among other things.
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u/Landon1m 19h ago
I’ve said since the beginning that if they paid Taylor $20 million to record a full length concert with the Vision Pro that it would never be in stock again. Something like that will be what launches this into the stratosphere in about 5 years when they’ve introduce a lower cost version and continue with this pro line.
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u/shannister 19h ago
Indeed think the problem is bandwidth/ storage. It really is ahead of its time from a hardware perspective.
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u/Centmo 16h ago edited 16h ago
I did some digging. 8k 90Hz compressed with H.265 is about 100Mbps. The camera has two of these, so assume 200Mbps. This is no problem for a 1 gbps internet connection. WiFi 802.11ax between router and Vision Pro can expect about 500Mbps in real world. So in theory this could be streamed with currently deployed hardware.
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u/DarthBuzzard 12h ago
I think mainstream uptake will require us to ditch 180/360 video and go into volumetric 6DoF video, so you'd need even greater bandwidth there. However I'm sure in 5 years great optimizations will have been made.
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u/Centmo 12h ago
I don’t see why it would be required for mainstream uptake but 6DoF would definitely be a step up. Imagine walking around inside a movie as it’s playing instead of just ’watching’ it. I don’t see why this would take any more bandwidth though. It’s just more processing on the cloud server side to generate the video from each user’s perspective in real-time and send that. To capture this would probably require many camera angles and some fancy video processing/3D rendering.
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u/Legionof1 18h ago
WiFi 7 can handle the bandwidth. They just need to put it in their shit. The lack of a WiFi 7 chip in the new MacBook was disappointing.
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u/swim_to_survive 19h ago
Or imagine the nfl playoffs or nba playoffs at the half court/50 yard line with this camera. Live games.
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u/KnotSoSalty 19h ago
Ever been to an NFL game? It’s a little underwhelming in person. A remarkable amount of football watching’s enjoyment comes from the editing.
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u/Bamcrab 17h ago
Yeah, but I bet an NFL game would feel a lot cooler if I was sitting on the line of scrimmage 2' off the sideline. Or flying through the air on their wire rig... though that one might be a little sickening.
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u/88cowboy 16h ago
I've sat front row at an LSU game around 15 yard line. So the view was about above the players head. I would have much rather sat 20 rows higher.
Basketball might be cool but idk about football.
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u/Landon1m 15h ago
Agree, but with enough cameras and placed about 30ft off the ground the immersion will be incredible
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u/Landon1m 19h ago
From my understanding this tech works best when the primary focus is between 8 and 20 feet. If something is beyond that it doesn’t look great.
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u/Joebebs 19h ago
Honestly it needs to be just like the iPhone in terms of practicality. Something that will replace the home computer/laptop that people are willing to prefer more for what it provides. Still a long ways to go but that’s what it would take for people to consider
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u/Landon1m 18h ago
We’re in the initial stages where hardcore users adopt and begin to create content and apps. Once an ecosystem exists more average customers will adopt. They just really need to build that environment first.
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u/RHX_Thain 20h ago
"We built a black hole into this box that sucks in the atoms and projects them into a hologram directly into your eyeballs."
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u/aStonedDeer 20h ago
I’m guessing 10 minutes = 100gigs of memory or more.
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u/candreacchio 20h ago
I assuming you mean storage... They mention 8TB = 120 min so 10min = 666Gb
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u/Me-as-I 20h ago
That would have to be the uncompressed video files, it should be less after production.
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u/candreacchio 19h ago
More than likely they are recording in BRAW format as it's black magic.
Yes it would be less after production, but production companies still need to deal with it... More than likely through proxies
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u/dbphoto7 20h ago
Recording takes 4TB/hour, so 10 minutes of video takes 0.67 TB 🤯
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u/KidsSeeRainbows 15h ago
Makes enough sense, imagine how many separate 4k (or even maybe 8k?) feeds are being captured and then stitched together. Pretty cool stuff, thinking that it was only about 10 years ago when I was oohing and aahing over the interactive panoramas on Samsung phones.
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u/foofyschmoofer8 18h ago
I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple ended up purchasing Blackmagic eventually. They already use their cameras to shoot their commercials and the Apple TV’s 4K flyover screensavers (gorgeous). I don’t know if Apples their largest customer but they’re certainly catering to them with this + the DaVinci Resolve update.
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u/Bedenegative 8h ago
blackmagic are private so it depends if grant wants to sell. Strong chance he wouldnt as hes a billionire now. but its never say never i geuss.
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19h ago
[deleted]
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u/Accurate_Koala_4698 18h ago
Millions of pixels and megapixels are the same thing, in a sense. The final video will be half that, but the camera is capturing and processing all of the data from both sensors.
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u/nshire 19h ago
"can handle almost 118 million pixels"
That's a rather long-winded way of saying 117 megapixel camera. Not super new.
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u/cut-it 17h ago
Video @90fps is a different thing to a single still
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u/nshire 15h ago
316MP Sensor, and 18K Resolution at 120FPS
And that's all from a single sensor. Blackmagic's camera has dual 58.7MP sensors.
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u/cut-it 15h ago
Very niche camera system. How much is it?
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u/fed45 6h ago
I looked, but couldn't find anything about cost. IMAX cameras are north of $500k, so probably in that ballpark. Fun fact about the camera:
The Big Sky camera creates a 500 gigabit per second pipe off the camera with 400 gigabit of fiber between the camera head and the media recorder. The media recorder itself is currently capable of recording 30 gigabytes of data per second (sustained) with each media magazine containing 32 terabytes and holds approximately 17 minutes of footage.
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u/PepeSilviaLovesCarol 19h ago
I tried the AVP last week and I have to say it was a 10/10 experience and instantly made me want one. I knew it would be cool but it was one of the coolest pieces of tech I’ve ever experienced in my life.
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u/Adept-Result-67 18h ago
Same here. But price and sore neck has me waiting for the next release (in 4-5 yrs apparently)
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u/fellipec 18h ago
Doubt it is exclusive for Apple system. Sure this thing is compatible with other VR systems.
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u/voodoovan 17h ago
At $6000 for the Vision Pro they are not selling here. Tim Cook should of taken at significant loss on this if they were serious about it gaining traction but he is too greedy and wants maximum profit per unit from day one.
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u/Dull_Wrongdoer_3017 16h ago
Apple has no business doing new products. they're not that kind of company anymore.
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u/SchruteFarmsBeetDown 16h ago
Why are they not selling AVP “seats” to live sports?
Watch the game from any seat of the stadium. Or the POV of the quarterback/driver/etc.
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u/SPLICER21 15h ago
Apple working on this feels irresponsible.
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u/EddiewithHeartofGold 2h ago
Hating Apple hasn't been a thing for a decade now. Get with the times.
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u/SPLICER21 1h ago
I am. Apple is a pretty awful company, caught up in a lot of litigation. I will absolutely plow whatever argument you have, and that's coming from someone who grew up with Apple products. Much more responsible and capable options out there. Never listen to the ads.
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u/gimmeslack12 15h ago
They have trillions of dollars. They could build iPhones for elephants and it doesn’t matter.
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u/userlivewire 15h ago
My guess is that Apple gave them a wink. The next VP won’t have the eyes thing on the outside, will be half the weight, and has the battery inside it for 4/5ths the current cost.
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u/fuzzytradr 11h ago
Still NOT going to pay the fortune they want for that. I'm loving my Quest 3 optics.
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u/EddiewithHeartofGold 2h ago
You loving your Quest 3 optics has nothing to do with the topic being discussed...
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u/GreenDuckGamer 20h ago
A $30,000 camera for a device that's already been unofficially cancelled?
How does that make sense?
This isn't even a dig at Apple, I'm just confused how this makes financial sense for anyone involved.
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u/ronimal 18h ago
The camera isn’t made by Apple, and the Vision Pro hasn’t been cancelled.
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u/shinra528 20h ago
Where are you getting that the device has been unofficially cancelled?
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u/devilishpie 19h ago
There were a number of articles a few months back that reported Apple was significantly lowering if not ending production on the Vision Pro by the end of this year.
They also claimed they had communicated to some component producers that they were deylaing a Vision Pro 2 to focus on a new cheaper model.
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/10/23/apple-may-stop-producing-vision-pro-by-end-of-2024/
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u/GreenDuckGamer 20h ago edited 20h ago
Apple has been open about drastically cutting sales projections due to low sales numbers.
Original sales projections were supposed to be around 400,000 by Dec 31st. But the number barely passed 200,00.
If a product isn't selling like a company thought, most likely they won't keep making it.
Edit: Getting downvoted for sharing sales numbers lmao typical day on Reddit.
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u/NotRandomseer 19h ago
It can be used for VR content creation in general , recently meta partnered with james camerons 3d movie technology business to produce and get more VR content .
While the AVP isn't super popular, VR as a whole has never been more popular and we only recently started getting major game launches in VR which aren't funded by headset manufacturers as it's just now starting to become profitable.
I can see some demand for these
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u/GreenDuckGamer 19h ago
I absolutely agree with what you're saying.
I'm a big fan of VR. I see a ton of potential for this camera. I just think it's weird that it's meant for the AVP specifically. If they alter it for other devices also, that'd make more sense in my mind.
The weird limitations/issues the AVP has for sure hurt its sales, but if they can fix that in version 2, I think it could be a great device.
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19h ago
[deleted]
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u/GreenDuckGamer 19h ago
It's literally in the title of the page talking about the device and within the first sentence.
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/release/20240611-02
I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding what you wrote though.
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u/mr_birkenblatt 19h ago
It is for the avp because no other headset can fully display its videos. Part of the pipeline is to create parallaxes from the video so the final video can be adjusted for different eye distances. No other vr headset can currently fix a video to appear the correct size for your eyes if the camera distance doesn't 100% match your eye distance (objects in the video will appear too big or too small)
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u/PeakBrave8235 12h ago edited 12h ago
VR as a whole has never been more popular
Actually I’d argue that the metaverse fad was infinitely more “popular” than VR right now.
People don’t care about VR. They want AR
@below
metaverse was and is VR. Hence why I said VR right now which isn’t focusing on that lmfao
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u/NotRandomseer 12h ago
The metaverse fad was never anything in reality though , it did little to translate into real consumer use which has been steadily rising over time.
While it's undoubtable AR is what actually will be used in daily life , VR is currently far ahead in current experience as most people into mr are gaming
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u/DarthBuzzard 3h ago
VR headsets outsell AR more than 20:1, and VR usage is a lot higher than AR - people ditch their AR devices much faster.
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u/roiki11 20h ago
Talk about dead on arrival.
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u/ajnozari 20h ago
Maybe this version, but I also feel a high resolution immersive camera like this might have applications outside film.
Like, could this be used to take high resolution scans of extremely large objects? Ships, planes, etc? With the dual lenses in theory it could capture more fine detail and allow higher resolution inspections without physically being there (attached to a drone).
While they may have made it for Apple, I can imagine it benefitting other industries, and the content would probably also look amazing on the quest.
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u/hazpat 20h ago
You realize dual lens cameras have been around for several years already right?
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u/ajnozari 19h ago
Yes, but the more products that are brought out the mire advanced the field becomes.
I don’t see this as a bad thing, as it’s also not meant for consumers.
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u/roiki11 20h ago
I think there's already products for that.
Pretty much any product linked to Apple headset is now DoA, I don't see why anyone would risk the high cost of this.
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u/ajnozari 20h ago
I believe there are other products as well, but competition isn’t bad and again what’s cutting edge today is mid rage in a few years. So maybe not the quality we will regularly see for a decade but at least it’s coming.
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u/stainz169 19h ago
Or they made it for Apple, to sell to industry.
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u/ajnozari 19h ago
It’s blackmagic, I’m gonna at least give them the benefit of the doubt that they had feedback indicating interest in this product for it too exist.
Whoever buys it is the one to justify the cost for their application.
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u/stainz169 19h ago
James Cameron spent a bajillion dollars on Avatar to prove his 3D tech. He basically created to demand. I think it’s fair to say that investment paid off.
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u/ajnozari 19h ago
Yes but that’s was how long ago now in tech?
I’m not saying they were the first, I’m saying they made a product because obviously they heard interest and competition in a new field is never a bad thing.
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u/reddit455 20h ago
it's not always about netflix content.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_reality_therapy
Patients receiving virtual reality therapy navigate through digitally created environments and complete specially designed tasks often tailored to treat a specific ailment; and is designed to isolate the user from their surrounding sensory inputs and give the illusion of immersion inside a computer-generated, interactive virtual environment.
Why a VR headset on the ISS 'really makes a difference' for astronaut exercise
https://www.space.com/iss-vr-headset-astronaut-mental-health-exercise
A virtual reality (VR) headset paired with a new exercise bike lets International Space Station (ISS) astronauts experience their favorite cycling routes on Earth. Denmark's Andreas Mogensen, for example, has five routes to choose from in locations ranging from Copenhagen to Svanninge Bakker.
"I absolutely love it. It also connects me with nature," Mogensen added of the VR exercise gear. "I feel like I'm out in the countryside biking, and it's just wonderful. It really is. We live on board the space station, which is a very synthetic environment. We can't go outside. We're not in contact with nature. This is as close as it gets. I use it every single time I exercise on the bike."
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/active-virtual-reality
Want to get active? Try using Virtual Reality
Exercising while using a Virtual Reality (VR) headset can increase an individual’s work rate, overall enjoyment, and elicit improved psychological responses compared to a non-VR equivalent.
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u/wiluG1 19h ago
There's always something just around the corner that obsolete these kinds of technology. Probably what cyborg tech is all about. So, the race is on towards totally immersing tech that's internal. Not external. It has to me an issue of connectivity. How could technology be immersive than some Nvidia type graphics interface planted in the brain?
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u/Riversntallbuildings 4h ago
I simply don’t understand why people would want to wear a headset on their face for “relaxing” entertainment.
As a productivity tool, maybe. Can I get more work done in less time? If so…I might accept the discomfort. But then, when I’m done, the last thing I want is another “face sucker” on my head.
This is where Apple’s vision, and really all VR suffers. They mostly focus on the entertainment aspects, and to me, that’s just as bad as 3D glasses for TV and movies.
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u/EddiewithHeartofGold 2h ago
I simply don’t understand why people
Simple answer is that people are different. You should know that by now. This is always the answer. Unless you are just looking for sympathy reddit points...
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u/Riversntallbuildings 1h ago
Fair point.
Reality is complex and entropy is a fundamental law of the universe.
Great reminder on perspective. Coincidentally, these facts are precisely what make democracy and government endlessly challenging.
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u/Moist-muff 19h ago
Ha ha ha ha....$30k ha ha ha.. I'll take 4
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u/createch 14h ago
$30k is a bargain in the world of digital cinema, a tripod or monitor can cost more than that. Lenses and cameras sometimes much, much more.
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u/AngryTrucker 20h ago
So they had to develop a camera specifically for the thing they released and nobody wants. Bold.
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u/fogoticus 19h ago
Once movies start get filmed this way, it's gonna be both expensive as hell, very bandwidth heavy and I can totally see AVP gaining more momentum.
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u/ArmaniMania 20h ago
Has anyone tried Apple Vision Pro? I own Meta Quest 3 and uh.. it’s kinda bad.
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u/AbeFromanLuvsSausage 20h ago
A buddy has one, it’s leaps and bounds better than any of the Meta Quest products. Almost no detectable pixels, very immersive field of view.
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u/cockandballionaire 20h ago
I tried one at the Apple Store. It’s cool in a very novelty kind of way. I don’t think the use case is there, and absolutely not at that price point
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u/GreenDuckGamer 20h ago
Absolutely agree. It's cool to demo, but the cost is crazy for what you actually can do with it.
The weird choice to market it as not meant for gaming, and also to block adult content on it is a weird business move.
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u/cockandballionaire 19h ago
I didn’t know porn was blocked on it. That’s insane, and just odd because it isn’t like they try to limit it on their other devices.
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u/GreenDuckGamer 19h ago
Exactly.
No matter your opinion on porn in general, as a business to make that decision just doesn't make sense financially.
The porn industry has famously decided how media is consumed over the years. They're the reason the VHS won over Betamax (if I remember right, it was a cost decision).
I'm sure there's ways to get around it and watch it on an AVP, but other devices simply don't care and it's available within a few clicks of the button.
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u/MairusuPawa 16h ago
Urban myth debunked again and again and again. There was porn on Betamax, etc.
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u/Puzzled_Scallion5392 6h ago
I dunno guys, do you even realize that if you watch reddit 1 hour a day at takes almost month (I count 12 hours as a day) per year, it is crazy, we should try to avoid digital content and not buy this doomed technologies
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u/The_B_Wolf 20h ago
The wizards over at Blackmagic may have built these so Apple themselves could purchase them. At least the initial order. Apple isn't (usually) stupid. They don't think Apple Vision Pro is ever going to be a commercial success as consumer electronics. It's a developer tool. When they come out with a more affordable one in the future, it's got to already have some content in the ecosystem.