Apple is aiming to launch Vision Pro in February, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports.
Gurman reliably reported many details of the upcoming headset before it was officially revealed or even acknowledged to exist by Apple.
Today Gurman cites “people with knowledge of the matter” as saying that production is now ramping up in China, with the goal being for units to be ready in January to be sold to buyers in February.
In last week’s edition of his weekly newsletter, he also wrote that Apple Store employee training for Vision Pro is scheduled to take place in mid-January, with Apple placing a heavy focus on demos making a good first impression to prospective buyers.
David Heaney
Since officially revealing Vision Pro at its WWDC conference back in June, Apple has maintained a release window of “early 2024”. Tim Cook has reaffirmed this window multiple times in recent months, including during the iPhone 15 launch event.
Apple also confirmed that Vision Pro will only be available in the US at first, starting at $3500, and then arrive in more (as yet undisclosed) countries “later” next year.
During Apple’s FYQ4 earnings call in November, Tim Cook also said Vision Pro will be “in our stores only”, but it’s unclear if he meant that it will only be available in physical Apple stores, or whether he simply meant it won’t be available in other retailers like Best Buy.
David Heaney
Gurman reported in June that Apple plans to create dedicated spaces in Apple Stores for people to try out Vision Pro and figure out the most comfortable strap size for their head shape. Apple will likely require appointments for purchasing, he wrote, as it did with the original Apple Watch in 2015.
For later in 2024, Gurman reported Apple was “discussing the UK and Canada as two of its first international markets with Asia and Europe soon after, although a final decision hasn’t been made” and was working on localizing the device for Australia, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, and China.
The slow and limited rollout could be the result of the widely reported issues with the headset’s mass production. Vision Pro is reportedly the “most complicated” device Apple has ever designed, and Sony can reportedly only make enough ultra-high resolution microdisplays for less than half a million units per year.
Ian Hamilton
At the time of writing, Apple’s Vision Pro webpage still clearly states “Available early next year on apple.com and at Apple retail stores in the U.S.”
Update December 20: Gurman now reports Apple is targeting February for the launch. This article, originally published December 11, has been updated to reflect this.
