Supmua

This would’ve been a top-tier headset for DCS, which is too bad. Hand tracking is reportedly perfect with 12 cameras that can track your hands on HOTAS without looking down, and the 12ms headset latency is super low not to mention 23m pixels on OLED screens.

I don't think Apple can/will make a headset that costs $999 at least not now, the high-res micro OLED panels alone likely cost that much, plus another large front panel that projects your eyes to the outside world which I'm not sure if it's OLED or not. Add M2 and R1 chips in there plus 12 cameras (which is really over the top) and a bunch of other sensors, as well as curved glass and metal body and the cost goes way up. May be the cost will come down eventually with mass adoption, but there's also a chance that it will flop. Let's hope that they succeed because we need more public interest in XR/VR space to keep it afloat.

It’s still too high for general public, hence the suffix Pro. But I think the cost is justified even cheaper compared to other high-end XR headsets some of which require expensive yearly subscription fee.

True with the current DCS engine. However, check this out. This is sort of equivalent to Proton for Steam Deck. https://videocardz.com/newz/apple-m1-m2-systems-can-now-run-windows-games-like-as-cyberpunk-2077-diablo-4-and-hogwarts-legacy-thanks-to-its-new-emulation-software

I personally don’t think the Apple headset is relevant when it comes to DCS, and gaming has never been Apple’s main push anyway. At worst it won’t be compatible and at best it’d take a hack to make it work at all. This headset, however, will likely crash other preexisting high-end XR devices including the Varjo XR3 as their current business model will be royally disrupted by superior price point, hardware software integration, and usability.

It looks like Apple is bringing back 3D movies as well as VR interactive movies with these headsets. 3D live sports stream with AR features is also something that is ground breaking. They might get my money based on these features alone.

This is more like an AR headset with spatial computing, and less like a VR headset (low-end Mac computer or high end iPAD with OLED screens and 12 cameras). It pretty much obsoletes all of the current AR tech out there though. Apple is known to release disruptive products like this (iPod, watches, phones, etc). Probably has no effect on VR sims as it'll be used within Apple ecosystem. They don't need to make it PC compatibie as their App store alone already has over a trillion dollars/yr in revenue.

I doubt it will offer true blacks, but I haven’t tried it, not planning to buy one…because High-end OLED panels are coming. It will probably start with Apple’s headset. These panels will likely be coming to newer PCVR/XR HMDs depending on who’s willing to pay big bucks to secure the supply chain besides Apple.

The specs sound crazy if true and image quality will probably blow everything else away. However, I don’t expect it to work with DCS unless you can stream via specialized apps such as Virtual Destop…but let’s wait for the official announcement. Are you an insider?

You need an OLED headset for optimal night flying. True blacks don’t happen with LED or LCD panels, maybe microLED but that tech is years away from being affordable.

High res cockpit as well as high shadows in the setting, then fly in sunrise/sunset scenes. If you haven’t tried these combo you might be missing out on the visual feast. The Aero is made for these.

FYI, make sure to update mbucchia's Foveated mod to the latest version for full compatibility with some non-DCS games. Took me awhile to figure out it was the older version that was causing crashes with the new Star Trek: Resurgence game. The new version is trouble-free so far.

For me. Pros: OLED screens, good panel resolution 2560x2560, very small form factor means comfort and portability, potential best image quality in contrasty and dark scenes. Cons: lowish FOV, fixed IPD/face plate only fits your face and no one else hence not good for resale, controller/lighthouse tracking costs extra, 1st HMD from a software/freeware company so support/repair service is unknown, lack of modern features such dynamic eye-tracking, etc. that would yield extra fps (this is proven to be a great feature in Varjo Aero and PSVR2).

The last few videos from Growling Sidewinders and Longshot sealed the deal for me. I’m not a fan of Razbam’s SA map but their planes are some of my favorites especially the Harrier. Can’t wait to fly the F-15E.

For MT DFR there is no need to use any command line, just make sure the VR option is selected in DCS setting. You’ll want to use Varjo OpenXR which is the default MT output, the very first post has precise instructions for this and more. Using force_varjo_VR will enforce Varjo OpenVR which is not desirable in this case. OpenVR API doesn’t scale well with multi-threading so it should be avoided at all cost and always use OpenXR (either Varjo or Steam) with DCS MT. Also note that Steam OpenXR doesn’t support DFR/quad view, and to make things worse for new comers DCS single threaded still outputs OpenVR rather than OpenXR as default.

I still see that faint white box on the left screen when glancing upward with the sky as background, but barely. Doesn't really affect my gameplay. The instant 90 fps it gives in free flights makes it well worth it.

Locked 45 fps is very smooth, the fast moving objects will be blurry though but this is my go to mode when playing complex missions or MP. You also have an option of motion smoothing which can be either good or bad depending on your settings because it is quite a bit more taxing on performance. Motion smoothing only works well as long as you maintain fps >45, and I think it still has issues with DFR mode.

I didn't experience any radar elevation issues with the latest update. The DFR MT mode's performance is still great in free flights. Mariana F18 free flight 90 fps around the coast, and dipped into 70 in congested areas which is bonkers at PD 0.9.

Is it still there after the latest update? Been flying the Apache mostly so I never noticed this. Will double check when I get home but this is most likely not related to the Aero itself. Too many ways (of running DCS on the Aero), and it should’ve been streamlined by the devs on both sides (hardware/software) to reduce the confusion especially among new owners. But this is what happens when you have too much fragmentation and perpetual betas/early access products. At least it works, and works pretty well once you set it up correctly.

It already works with my Varjo Aero link box, of course in extended monitor mode only but I’m pretty sure VR support is coming from PSVR modders now that the auth has been cracked. The color and contrast on this headset is phenomenal, although OLED mura can be rough on the eyes under certain conditions.

50 units being shipped out to early adopters, AFAIK.

Performance is decent on my setup 5800X3D/4090 with Varjo Aero DFR mode. Only tested free flights, custom Apache/London and Apache/Paris. Also F-16C instant FF mission (this looks so much better in VR than Normandy 1.0, smokes look great with variable shades of blacks). 90 fps in noncongested areas with my personal settings (37PPD, PD 0.9, medium textures, etc.). 70-75 fps in London and 70-80 in Paris (no other flying objects or smokes etc.), 70+ fps in F-16 instant FF mission. Which areas you guys do get very low fps in London, I was flying around the river mostly near London Bridge.

There's an option in OpenXR toolkit that will minimize this. Note that OXRTK currently doesn't work with DFR mode so if you want to avoid color pop-in/out issues you will have to use stereo mode (either via Steam OpenXR or Varjo OpenXR with InstanceExtension wrapper) plus OXRTK.

Haven’t used Vr controllers with DCS recently so can’t comment on that, but from my limited testing DFR OpenXR has around 1.0-1.5 ms GPU frametimes advantage vs Steam OpenXR in MT. I have no good way to compare CPU frametimes until OXRTK supports DFR mode.

I don’t think MT supports OpenVR. So your other options if DFR doesn’t work is to fall back on MT Steam OpenXR (or MT Varjo OpenXR with InstanceExtensions wrapper to disable quad view), or ST Varjo/Steam OpenVR/OpenXR. There’re plenty of ways to get DCS going with the Aero.