Testing the Vision Pro With New Ultrawide Display Option in visionOS 2.2

The first developer beta of visionOS 2.2 came out yesterday, and it includes a much anticipated new feature for Vision Pro users. When using the Vision Pro as a display for a Mac, there are now options to use wide and ultrawide layouts in addition to the standard virtual display.


We thought we'd check out the new display settings for those who might be interested in seeing how this changes the Vision Pro Mac workflow.

With the wide display option, there's enough screen real estate to use four apps at once without compromising on window size. Ultrawide bumps up the available space even more, and it's almost too much display space.

Using the ultrawide setting is like having multiple curved Mac displays in front of you to handle your Mac apps, and then you can also add in visionOS apps to better utilize the virtual space around you. The larger screen sizes for the Mac do improve productivity because there's so much more space to work with.

Note that you still can't use multiple Mac windows when mirroring your Mac display to your Vision Pro, but the wide and ultrawide provide so much space that it's essentially the same function. Apple says that the ultrawide mode is equivalent to using two 4K monitors side by side.

In addition to adding these display modes, Apple improved the quality of the virtual displays so they're crisper and higher resolution, plus audio plays from the Vision Pro rather than the Mac so it sounds better.

visionOS 2.2 is in beta right now, but it will see a launch alongside macOS Sequoia 15.2 and iOS 18.2 in early December.

Related Roundups: Apple Vision Pro, visionOS 2
Buyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Apple Vision Pro

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

10 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Thursday October 31, 2024 9:42 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 in December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well. ...
best early black friday deals

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals

Friday November 1, 2024 8:21 am PDT by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 29 in 2024. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment,...
M4 Pro on Blue

M4 Pro Chip Benchmark Results Reveal an Extremely Impressive Performance Feat

Thursday October 31, 2024 7:06 pm PDT by
The first Geekbench 6 benchmark results for the M4 Pro chip surfaced today. Impressively, the results that are available so far show that the highest-end M4 Pro chip is faster than the highest-end M2 Ultra chip in terms of peak multi-core CPU performance. Here is a comparison of the results: Mac mini with M4 Pro (14-core CPU): 22,094 multi-core score (average of 11 results) Mac Studio...
Apple iPhone SE 4 5G Modem 1

iPhone SE 4 First to Get Apple-Designed 5G Modem, iPhone 17 Pro to Add Custom Wi-Fi 7 Chip

Friday November 1, 2024 4:04 am PDT by
The iPhone SE 4 that's set to come out early next year is expected to debut Apple's first in-house 5G modem, according to Jeff Pu, an analyst who covers companies within Apple's supply chain. In a research note this week with Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities, Pu said Apple is expected to roll out its custom-made 5G modem starting with the next-generation...
ios 18 2 chatgpt plus

iOS 18.2 Beta 2 Shows Siri ChatGPT Limit, Offers 'Plus' Upgrade Option

Monday November 4, 2024 10:54 am PST by
With the second beta of iOS 18.2 that's available for developers today, Apple has further fleshed out the ChatGPT integration that's available with Siri. In the Settings app, there's now a section that shows the ChatGPT daily limit, and offers an option to upgrade to the paid ChatGPT Plus plan. The beta includes an Advanced Capabilities section with a "Daily Limit" reading that shows up as...
M3 Pro Max vs M4 Pro Max Feature

Here's How Much Faster M4 Pro/Max Are for Graphics vs. M3 Pro/Max

Friday November 1, 2024 8:04 am PDT by
Apple's new M4 Pro and M4 Max chips are impressively fast in terms of CPU performance, topping the M2 Ultra, but what about graphics performance? The first Geekbench 6 results for GPU performance are now available for the M4 Pro and M4 Max, and the Metal scores reveal some impressive year-over-year gains. Based on the Metal scores that are available so far, the M4 Pro and M4 Max are up to...
imac video apple feature

What to Expect From Apple This November

Friday November 1, 2024 9:40 am PDT by
After a busy October in which Apple announced new Macs and Apple Intelligence launched, the calendar has now turned to November. Below, we outline what to expect from Apple this month as the slower-but-still-busy holiday season approaches. After seeding the first betas of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 with additional Apple Intelligence features last month, Apple will likely...

Top Rated Comments

jole Avatar
4 hours ago at 11:19 am
The new ultra wide display is AMAZING. I actually now prefer working on that over my XDR.

This can be sole reason for buying AVP.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Graphikos Avatar
4 hours ago at 11:09 am
Love this! I got the AVP almost exclusively to have a great working environment for my Mac when not in my office (hotel rooms, etc.). In my office I use two 4k monitors + the 16" Laptop Display. Getting ultra-wide in AVP is going to be great!
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NapoleonIV Avatar
4 hours ago at 11:18 am
This is the killer app for this device. I calculated that it would save me several thousands of dollars to buy the Vision Pro than to buy several monitors and a computer that could support them. I hope that apple continues to improve the virtual monitor functionality and then removes all the dumb useless stuff from the Vision Pro, making it lighter and cheaper. Honestly, I would be happy to use a headset plugged into a Mac if the displays are good enough.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Graphikos Avatar
3 hours ago at 11:43 am

If I may ask, how practical is this? Can someone work (coding, writing documents, ...) like this on their Mac/MacBook for 8 hours a day (I don't know if AVP charging allows that).
I had an interesting situation I got thrown into. My glasses unexpectedly broke and replacements were a week out. Working in my office with my standard displays was suddenly not possible, so I turned to my AVP with the current prescription lenses. I worked all week, day in, day out on the AVP. It's entirely possible and about to get even better. I'm a full-stack web-developer so it was mostly coding.

For power you just keep it plugged in.

Here is a nice blurry shot from a video I recorded walking into my virtual office while my main monitors were off. I utilized a standing desk with nothing but a keyboard and mouse on it. When I got to my standing desk the virtual environment came up and I was coding in the mountains.



Attachment Image
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TechnoMonk Avatar
4 hours ago at 11:27 am
This is the feature I was looking for, and hopefully keeps getting better by the time new rumored AVP with M5 releases in 2025. I would love to take high quality screens with me when I travel.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
currentinterest Avatar
3 hours ago at 11:44 am
I currently use my Vision Pro more for productivity than consuming content. I frequently use it with my MacBook Pro. I am really looking forward to the new Ultra Wide display. I can use it for hours at a time quite comfortably using a top head strap along with the solo head strap.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)