Apple Vision Pro owners will be able to take to the skies in the "X-Plane 12" flight simulator thanks to visionOS 26.4, which includes support for CloudXR.
One of the main complaints surrounding Apple Vision Pro is its lack of a broad app ecosystem or VR game library. The latter could be addressed thanks to visionOS 26.4, and developers are already taking notice.
A post in the X-Plane blog shares that X-Plane 12 will launch on Apple Vision Pro "later this spring." It seems to insinuate that it will launch alongside the release of visionOS 26.4, which includes support for the needed Nvidia CloudXR 6.0.
Like with Nvidia GeForce Now, CloudXR uses remote PC access to stream games to your spatial headset. While the M5 in Apple Vision Pro is powerful, there aren't many games on the platform, so VR streaming is a clever solution to gain access to a larger library of games.
Nvidia Cloud XR enables high-fidelity streams over a strong network connection. However, there are a few challenges that could be unique to Apple Vision Pro versus other platforms.
VR streaming is complicated
VR games need to be high resolution, fast frame rates, and quick to react to user input to feel natural. Anything less can lead to worsened experiences.
Lower resolutions can cause something called the screen door effect, which is where it feels as if you're viewing the virtual world through a mesh screen. Then poor frame rates and reaction times can lead to poor gameplay and even sickness.
To complicate matters even more, Apple Vision Pro doesn't have an Ethernet port. It also operates with the older Wi-Fi 6 standard, which lacks MLO networking (which would help increase bandwidth for game streaming).
X-Plane on Apple Vision Pro
All that said, visionOS 26.4 does officially support CloudXR 6.0. Nothing has been said about what Apple Vision Pro will be able to handle or if the resulting stream is viable for gameplay.
A virtual cockpit experience. Image source: X-Plane 12
Simulators like X-Plane might be a good fit for the technology. Foveated Streaming could allow the Apple Vision Pro M5 to render the cockpit and interpret user interactions live via RealityKit.
The view out of the window could then be rendered and streamed remotely. Though, that's just an example and I'm not aware of how X-Plane has implemented the CloudXR and RealityKit features.
The blog post does say that the developers have taken advantage of both ARKit and foveated streaming. They're using ARKit to track cockpit positions to help create a mixed-reality environment that works with physical peripherals.
While on the surface, X-Plane 12 presents as a game, it is actually a very in-depth simulation program. Pilots can use it for training, and a full hardware setup can set you back thousands with a physical yoke, rudder pedals, and TPM.
X-Plane 12 will be distributed as an app in the App Store. Once installed, it will launch and play the game via Nvidia CloudXR. To run the Apple Vision Pro companion app, you'll already need a copy of X-Plane 12 for Mac or Windows, which costs $59.99.
