What Headphones Work With The Apple Vision Pro?

The long-awaited Apple Vision Pro has hit the market. Apple, who announced the Vision Pro at last year’s WWDC, aims to make this VR/AR headset sit naturally with their lineup of devices. This is spatial computing, a term we’re as familiar with as what smartphone meant to us when the first iPhone was announced. While it’s still very early to tell whether or not the Vision Pro will catch on as the new way we experience out media, all I’ve been thinking about is how exactly can I use headphones with it. I bet this is a common question that many people might have, so let’s figure out what kind of headphones you need to listen to audio from the Apple Vision Pro.

Built-In Headphones

Right out of the box, the Vision Pro already has headphones of sorts housed on the arms of the device. They act like on-ear, open-air headphones that come with all the trademarks that you get from Apple’s AirPods and AirPods Max. So, if you’re not worried about needing to buy headphones to use the Vision Pro, you’re in luck. However, if you’re taking the Vision Pro mobile, just know that these built-in headphones act more like speakers, so people around you will be able to hear what you’re listening to. This is also the only way that you can experience the special audio raytracing features that stood out as one of the biggest sound innovations featured on the Vision Pro.

AirPods Pro & AirPods Max

This is probably going to be the most ideal way to listen to media using the Apple Vision Pro. Spatial audio is a huge part of the Vision Pro experience, to which the second generation AirPods Pros, and even some Beats products like the Studio Pro, will allow you to listen to without compromise. This is also the only way you can hear some specific personalized spatial audio features, including the ability to have spatial sound properties and head-tracking suited to your actual physical features.

Using the either of the Apple affiliated products listed will also let you listen to the Vision Pro with more isolation through ANC. This fixes the issue brought-on by the built-in speakers, and is probably the best option for when you’re mobile. Interestingly, if you’re using the second generation AirPods Pro, the Vision Pro is said to ensure lossless audio. This is specific to the Vision Pro when paired with the USB Type C AirPods Pro, none of the other pairings will be able to decipher lossless audio wirelessly.

Non Apple Headphones

The Vision Pro can support any pair of Bluetooth headphones the same way your iPhone can. I can imagine not every pair of over-ear headphones will be equally as comfortable while wearing the Vision Pro, but they can all be paired. This allows you to use non-apple Bluetooth headphones with the Vision Pro, such as the Sony WH-1000XM5, Sennheiser Momentum 4, and Bowers & Wilkins PX7se. If you’re still hopeful that you’ll be able to use wired headphones with the Vision Pro, unfortunately you’re out of luck, as the Vision Pro does not feature a headphone jack. One way to get around this though is a Bluetooth DAC/Amp, just like you can use with the iPhone.