Wesley Hilliard
The latest rumors sourced from Apple's supply chain point to January 26 for the Apple Vision Pro launch, which lines up with other accurate sources.
When Apple revealed Apple Vision Pro, it promised an "early 2024" release window, which could realistically mean anytime before June. However, evidence has been mounting for a January to February launch window, with the latest suggesting the former.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman shared that January 26 is an Apple Vision Pro launch date "floating around" people familiar with the matter in China. This came as a response to a MacRumors story covering a sketchy source suggesting the date.
The original iPad was released on a Saturday. Jan 26 is indeed the date floating around the last few days among people in China who claim to be connected to Apple. Like I said, units will be ready by end of January with a retail launch by February. It's imminent.
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) January 2, 2024
Gurman's response lines up with what AppleInsider has heard from independent sources. Our understanding is that Apple Retail is preparing for the initial launch through January with training and in-store units.
Apple has been clear about how it intends to roll out Apple Vision Pro in retail. Customers will need to physically come to an Apple Store to be fitted for a unit.
We expect the in-store experience will serve as a way to educate the user for initial setup. Many will likely be fitted in store and sent home with a receipt to await delivery.
The limiting factor for in-store pickup will likely be the prescription lenses required for anyone that wears glasses. Apple Stores are expected to have a small stock of standard prescriptions available.
Apple Vision Pro costs $3,499, but Apple hasn't shared how that price accounts for accessories like a custom visor or prescription lenses. The launch date will likely be revealed by Apple soon to give customers time to plan finances and a visit to the Apple Store.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Oliver Haslam
28 Comments
The store visit requirement for fitting and shipment to home makes sense. I don’t think this will be a long term requirement, but rather it will be to get feedback and work out kinks. I would think light seals in different sizes could be purchased separately, which would eliminate questions about the fit.
So much for rumors that Apple Vision Pro won't arrive til summer.
Yawn NBD.
Call it what it is a paid beta program the Vision Pro will be from finished product, but Apple needs to see how people will actually use it, shake out the bugs, and start the Fanboys running their mouths about it. Also Apple need to workout how they will sell it in the future to the masses especially in places that aren't close to Apple stores. Apple needs developer to get onboard and start writing apps for the Vision Pro and they need them to test with. This will also generate some funding because the R&D expense on this thing must be outrageous. If Apple called this an Early Adopters program or similar name they would sell as many but putting it out as a 1.0 will get people with deep pockets to hop on board.
My guess is the actual Vision Pro version ready for the masses will come out in about three years.
Looking forward to finally seeing what people can do with the device.
Big thing for me is being able to use it for keyboard input dominated workflows. Hopefully Terminal.app is part of the software load. Wonder how they are going to do the cursor. Every spatial view has a cursor? One cursor that traverses all the spatial views?
Yay released no my birthday well local time anyway.