How to Try the Apple Vision Pro Simulator on Your Mac

Apple Vision Pro was the protagonist”Something elseLast in history. This expression is so familiar to Steve Jobs surprise everyone with new products, designed to announce a device that gets people talking before it hits the market. And while we can satisfied with the simulator from Apple Vision Pro.

Before Apple Vision Pro is available to all consumers, application developers they will have time to launch their own creations adapted to this augmented reality system. Or, as Apple calls it, spatial computing. And for this you need to have the appropriate software. In the case of Apple SDK or Software development kitsoftware development kit.

Just yesterday, Apple issued a press release announcing the new SDK version included in xcode 15 beta 2a software package that includes everything a developer needs to work with Apple operating systems: from macOS to iOS through watchOS, tvOS and beyond, VisionOS. In other words, with the help of the new SDK, you can create applications for visionOS, the operating system of Vision Pro. includes the Apple Vision Pro simulator for testing from your Mac, even if you don’t have a Vision Pro device handy.

What do you need Xcode for?

This is stated in the Apple note. “Apple announced today that they are now available new software tools and technologies that enable developers to create revolutionary applications for Apple Vision Pro, the first space computer from Apple. This means that you can now download the nth version of Xcode, the software that combines developer tools that Apple offers so that everyone can create applications for their ecosystem. For example, SDKs for iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS, technologies such as DriverKit, the Swift programming language, and iOS, tvOS, or watchOS simulators or emulators.

Xcode works on all Apple platforms, so if we want to try visionOS even as an Apple Vision Pro simulator, we will have to download and install Xcode. available exclusively for Mac. The latest stable version of Xcode 15 requires at least a Mac with macOS Ventura 13.3. In addition to the SDK and the simulator, Apple has already posted all the necessary documentation for meet VisionOS and help developers understand how this new operating system works.

How to get the visionOS SDK

And if you want the VisionOS SDK and its simulator, you’ll need Xcode 15 beta 2. As is often the case with Apple’s beta apps, you’ll need to be a member to download them. Apple Developer Program. That is, to have an Apple account registered in its developer program. And then access the trial version of the software through this link. Make sure you have enough disk space. Note that the visionOS SDK, for example, takes up almost 7 GB. Xcode 15 beta 2 with visionOS 1 beta only takes the installer, almost 10 GB.

In short, to get VisionOS SDK And Apple Vision Pro simulator:

1. you need Mac running macOS Ventura 13.3
2. You need an Apple account registered with Apple Developer Program
3. If you are not registered, you can do so here. It’s free and relatively fast. Of course, it will ask you to register two-factor authentication.
4. Go to the Apple Developer Beta Downloads page.
5. will ask you log in with your Apple account
6. Choose to download Xcode 15 beta 2 without checking any platform.
7. You can download the platform from there, but we are going to download from xcode
8. It will download a file named Xcode_15_beta_2.xip

How to Install the Apple Vision Pro Simulator

Once the file we saw earlier is downloaded, the installation gets a bit more complicated. Instead of the installer itself, we get An Xcode application compressed in the XIP format. But do not sow panic. In fact, you don’t even need to install Xcode separately since we’ve downloaded the beta version. And if you have already downloaded it, both can coexist on your Mac.

First, let’s update Xcode with the XIP file:

1. Open the XIP file to decompress it and extract the beta version of Xcode.
2. move xcode beta to a folder Applications
3. Now you can open it by double clicking on it.
4. A window will appear asking which platforms you need
5. VisionOS 1.0 is checked by default.
6. Press Download and install
7. Xcode beta will download VisionOS SDK and Apple Vision Pro simulator

How to Try the Apple Vision Pro Simulator

Once we have Xcode version 15 beta 2 or higher ready and we have the visionOS 1.0 simulator installed, you can try the simulator. To do this, open Xcode and click on the menu xcode from the menu bar of the application itself. then go to Open developer tool and choose simulator.

When the simulator app opens:

1. Create a new simulator from File > New Simulator…
2. Give it a name and select the device type: Apple Vision Pro
3. You will also need to select the visionOS version, VisionOS 1.0
4. Press create create a new simulator

If everything goes well emulation window will be loaded what you would see if you were wearing an Apple Vision Pro, and although this is an emulation, it allows us to enjoy on the Mac screen some details that vision OS interface. You will also see two groups of icons. The above are used to return to the main screen and perform basic VisionOS actions. And the icons below let you navigate and interact with apps.

In this first version of visionOS, you will see several apps. In fact, Freeform photos in safari and in another folder Maps, Podcasts, Calendar, Labels, News And reminders. If you’re not a developer, you can have fun browsing the web from Safari, drawing in Freeform, fiddling with Maps, or trying out VisionOS. Especially his different scenarios: kitchen, living room and museum. With navigation icons, you can virtually navigate through them. And if you don’t know much, keep in mind that the idea is that developers create applications with this most basic version of the operating system that runs Apple Vision Pro. And don’t forget that the documentation page has more information on how visionOS and the Vision Pro device work.