Newly established luxury airline Beond has announced it will offer Apple Vision Pro headsets to select passengers for "an immersive inflight entertainment experience."
The premium leisure airline said it will provide the Apple devices to passengers on its flights to the Maldives, where the airline is based. From the press release:
Beond's Chairman and CEO, Tero Taskila, said: "The Apple Vision Pro will transform the inflight entertainment experience, and we will be first to offer it to select passengers. In addition to our existing and ever-growing library of inflight content such as movies and games, Beond will showcase stunning resort destinations and activities in the Maldives. We are working now with partners in the Maldives to prepare truly amazing footage. The inflight experience will build anticipation for passengers before they arrive in the Maldives. Offering the Apple Vision Pro is another step in our vision of delivering a premium travel experience to our customers, from the start to finish of their journey. We're proud to be the first airline to deploy the technology."
The overall response to Apple Vision Pro from users, critics, and the broader public has been varied. However, the consensus is that wearing the headset during flights stands out as one of its most widely appreciated applications.
Acknowledging the headset's potential to make long-haul flights more private and liberating, Apple has included a Travel mode in visionOS that stabilizes visuals for users on an airplane, allowing them to, for example, watch movies on a massive virtual screen.
Beond said it will offer "Apple's ground-breaking content experience" beginning in July 2024. The news follows Beond's launch of commercial passenger services in 2023 from Munich, Zurich, and Riyadh to Malé, Maldives. Beond says it plans to debut flights from Milan, Dubai, and Bangkok to the Maldives in mid-2024, in an all-lay flat seating configuration.
Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website.
Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50.
We have outlined some examples below:
Device
New Value
Old Value
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Up to $630
U ...
Wednesday January 15, 2025 7:16 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the "ultra-thin" device.
Overall, the "iPhone 17 Air" is shaping up to be a mixed bag. Due to its thinness, the device is expected to have some limited specifications compared to the iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, only a single speaker, no SIM...
Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features.
Notification Summary Changes
Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines.
For...
Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app.
Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Thursday January 16, 2025 8:18 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is in talks with Barclays and Synchrony about becoming its new financial partner for the Apple Card, according to Reuters sources.
The report today added that Apple has also been holding discussions with Chase Bank owner JPMorgan since last year, so there are at least three potential companies in the running to take over the Apple Card from current partner Goldman Sachs.
Goldman...
Wednesday January 15, 2025 8:49 am PST by Joe Rossignol
There is a good chance that Apple's first product announcement of 2025 will be updated 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with the M4 chip.
Last month, Apple released macOS Sequoia 15.2, and in doing so it accidentally confirmed new MacBook Air models are coming this year (unsurprisingly).
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the new MacBook Air models will be announced "earlier" than some...
Thursday January 9, 2025 5:45 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of January 2025:
More aluminum: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models ...
The iPhone 17 lineup will feature a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance, according to a new report.
The news comes from Chinese tech news site MyDrivers, which claims that the entire iPhone 17 lineup, consisting of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, will adopt the improved thermal heat spreader.
Vapor chamber technology is already used...
Friday January 17, 2025 5:30 am PST by Joe Rossignol
2025 promises to be quite a big year for Apple, with the company rumored to be planning more than 20 product announcements this year.
Apple's rumored smart home hub will be its second all-new product to launch in as many years, following the Apple Vision Pro headset last year. And of course, we will get several new iPhone and Apple Watch models, like every year. Beyond that, Apple could...
Yeah this isn't happening. Beond have 1 cranky old airbus and one on order, only 5 destinations and a low density luxury model. They will be taxed to hell for this soon and the investors will pull out. It's for people who can't afford a Learjet but think they can.
Yeah this isn't happening. Beond have 1 cranky old airbus and one on order, only 5 destinations and a low density luxury model. They will be taxed to hell for this soon and the investors will pull out. It's for people who can't afford a Learjet but think they can.
Yeah, a single plane ‘airline’. More like a glorified shuttle to their resorts.
That is a brilliant way for an airline to attract attention and possibly passengers.
Yeah, I am sure that a Vision Pro is what will attract prospective passengers to a luxury destination on an airline with a very questionable business model. ?