An Apple Vision Pro code dive has revealed a 'Play 3D' option in the new TV app, which may presage Apple upgrading users' libraries to 3D where and when available.
Apple Vision Pro at WWDC 2023
Apple showed off 3D movies during its launch of the Apple Vision Pro headset at WWDC 2023, but didn't detail how they would be available. Subsequently, further reports have revealed that "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" has been made in 3D for Apple TV+.
There have also been less likely claims that all Apple TV+ shows have xhref in 180 degree VR. But now tester and previous leaker Steve Moser has discovered a reference to "Play 3D" in the code for the Apple Vision Pro's TV app.
In visionOS 1.0 Beta 2 the TV app contains: "Play 3D". I wonder if Apple will upgrade user's libraries to 3D like when they upgraded iTunes libraries to 4K. (image is a render) pic.twitter.com/R9O53qrbRr
-- Steve Moser (@SteveMoser) July 31, 2023
On all of its platforms, Apple's TV app will prominently display a "Play" button but what it does depends on different factors. For instance, using Moser's example of "Avatar: The Way With Water," there are different results on the iPhone and Mac TV apps.
There is just a simple "Play" button on the iPhone TV app, but then it only plays if -- in this case -- the user has a subscription to Disney+ where the film is streaming. If the user does not have Disney+, the same "Play" button takes them to a subscription sign-up page.
That's even though it is possible to buy "Avatar" directly from Apple, rather than streaming it. The Mac version of the TV app effectively has two "Play" buttons, but it labels one with the price of buying the film, one with the price of renting it.
Moser's speculation that Apple will automatically upgrade everyone's TV app library to 3D versions of titles is based, as he says, on how the company has previously done something similar. Following rumors in 2017, Apple updated users' libraries to have 4K versions of purchased movies.