

Even Apple can't keep secrets forever, and details of the Reality Pro headset that's due to launch next week at WWDC 2023 are starting to leak. Display analyst Ross Young, who has a decent track record of Apple stories, has posted what he says are the specs of the Reality Pro's displays. And it looks like it'll be rather like clamping one of the best 8K TVs to your face.
According to Young, the displays will be delivering 4K per eye. The microLED panels are 1.41 inches diagonally, with 4,000 pixels per inch and a whopping 5,000-plus nits of peak brightness. By comparison, Sony's PSVR 2 doesn't even crack 300 nits.
Why is the Apple Reality Pro headset so bright?
The Reality Pro headset is delivering the kind of brightness you'd expect from one of the best TVs, and that brightness means it should be able to deliver the same kind of spectacular high dynamic range (HDR) performance as a top-spec TV. Given that one of Apple's key goals is to position this as a device for watching entertainment on the Apple TV app, that's going to make the rumoured $3,000 price tag feel a little less extravagant.
But brightness is also important for mixed reality / augmented reality: I'm writing this on a sunny day and of course, it's very bright out there and reality has a very wide dynamic range.
Think of it like a projector: to get the best results you can either ramp up the brightness or darken the room, because if you don't then the image is washed out rather than bright and punchy.
So if you're trying to make the reality inside your Reality Pro look, well, real, then you need to be putting out a lot more light than you'd need for playing VR Beat Saber in a darkened room. And if you're going to be wearing your headset outside, which Reality Pro users will be doing, you need your displays to be bright enough to cope with any light leaking in from outside too.
In this respect at least, Apple's AR/VR headset outperforms any of its rivals. It'll be interesting to see how its other specifications compare too, and no doubt some more leaks will fill in a few more gaps before the big reveal next week.
Sign up to the T3 newsletter for smarter living straight to your inbox
Get all the latest news, reviews, deals and buying guides on gorgeous tech, home and active products from the T3 experts
Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).
-
I must admit, if the iPhone 17 Air is this thin I'd never stop worrying
Newly leaked images show an iPhone that's so slim I'd be concerned about breaking it
-
Apple's new content curation service is about as Apple as it gets
The new Snapshot section is very pretty, but it's also missing something pretty important
-
Samsung's flagship phones will reportedly maintain one key advantage over iPhone
Apple is said to be struggling to match Samsung in a specific tech area
-
I tested Sony's newest earbuds – the price pleasantly surprised me
Sony's WF-C710N do it all – and for not all your money
-
New Apple Vision Pro tipped for early 2026, but might not be what you expect
The second generation Vision Pro may not be the game-changing model you're hoping for
-
If the iPhone 17 Pro adds these 4 new features I'm already sold
Apple needs to make a big swing
-
I swapped my PS5 Pro for a top-end Nvidia RTX 5070 rig – and I'm not sure I can go back
PC gaming has its claws back in me
-
Apple's Severance computer may have been a joke, but the keyboard is coming for real
Tell us where we can sign up!