Apple’s macOS finally supports VR

Until now, the only way to run a high-end VR system on a Mac was by booting into Windows, but that doesn’t solve the fact that Apple had yet to offer a GPU option that’s actually good enough for VR. The next best thing would be to plug in your desired NVIDIA card via an external enclosure, but you’d still be stuck with Windows here. Thankfully, Cupertino has finally decided to take matters into its own hands by unveiling its very own Thunderbolt 3 GPU enclosure at WWDC.

This developer kit houses an AMD Radeon RX 580 which is plenty of power to run VR, and as a bonus, it also features a USB-C hub. There’s no price just yet, but given that it’s positioned as a dev kit, chances are it won’t come cheap; but what really matters here is that macOS is finally VR-friendly, which is great news for both developers and consumers.

Also announced at WWDC is macOS support for SteamVR, and HTC Vive is already confirmed to support it. Yes, you’ll no longer have to dual-boot into Windows just to use the Vive on your Mac. The Oculus Rift was oddly missing throughout the keynote, but since it’s SteamVR we’re talking about here, it’s probably just a matter of time before it gets macOS compatibility as well. At least one person is looking forward to that, anyway.

For the non-developers, the 27-inch iMac Retina 5K is getting refreshed with Intel’s Kaby Lake CPUs along with AMD’s Radeon Pro 570, 575 and 580, which are good enough for running VR. The cost? These start from $1,799.

Get all the latest news from WWDC 2017 here!