Gurman: Apple planning to support PlayStation VR controllers with Vision Pro

According to Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter, Apple plans to support modular VR gaming controllers on the Apple Vision Pro, and has apparently reached out to Sony to get started on this. Hopefully, this will make the Apple Vision Pro more attractive for gaming, something the product doesn’t currently do well.

Gorman reported that a future version of VisionOS will support third-party hand controllers, though a more specific timeline was not provided:

Apple is now making a major effort to support third-party hand controllers in the device’s VisionOS software and has teamed up with Sony Group Corp to make this happen.

Apple is also said to be interested in working with Sony to integrate PlayStation VR2 controllers, and they have made progress on this partnership:

Apple approached Sony earlier this year, and the duo agreed to work together on rolling out support for PlayStation VR2 handheld controllers on the Vision Pro. I was told that working inside Sony used to take months. Apple has discussed the plan with third-party developers, asking them if they would integrate the support into their games.

However, it wasn’t ideal. It seems that Apple and Sony aimed to announce this support last month, but it appears that this feature has been postponed. Gorman notes that we should still expect the introduction, “unless it is suddenly cancelled.”

Apple also appears to have prototyped a “stick” for the Vision Pro, something like an Apple Pencil for more precise control.

The Apple Vision Pro currently supports traditional Xbox and PlayStation game controllers for Apple Arcade games, but Apple has never supported regular VR controllers, making it difficult to experience most VR games on headsets.

According to the report, Apple has sold only “less than half a million units” of the Apple Vision Pro, and that most Vision Pro owners are using them less than Apple had hoped. We hope that proper support for VR games will increase sales.

Despite disappointing sales, Apple will continue to invest in the Vision Pro product category. We shouldn’t expect them to stop anytime soon, although we probably shouldn’t expect bulky headphones to last forever.

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