Apple Announces February 2 Launch Date for Vision Pro Headset

[mikebenton]

As cool as the device may be, my biggest frustration is that the device is basically single user. The fact that you can only have one primary user and everyone else shares a guest account is a showstopper. Apple would have been better off allowing at least 2 primary users. Most households are not going to invest over $7k...and we are not going to fight over who gets to be the single primary user. Maybe this will change when the come out with v2.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

My guess -- the Super Bowl. If you look at the price of tickets, it makes the Vision Pro look inexpensive. The trick is having a team on site to produce the content in 3D. Then they promote the hell out of it and get people to want their $3500 device ASAP to be the first to experience the Super Bowl in this way.

If Apple wasn't already all over this, I'd be shocked and very disappointed (sort of like I was when I realized that the Mac Pro didn't have modular daughter-cards to create M-Powered render farms...so reader-beware, I suck at predictions).

The Super Bowl is a social event more than a sporting event.

Naa...

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Really so naive? Raw pair of lenses cost 1.5 to 8 usd and remember that Apple will buy it thousands , so the price will be even lower

Show me these $2 prescription lenses you’re buying.

 

[Rogifan]

There’s no keynote for this. The press release includes no new footage. All the clips are what was shown at WWDC. You’d think if this really was ready for prime time they’d drum up excitement with a keynote that showed off apps or experiences that will be available at launch.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

For the record, the original iPhone didn’t have a second keynote either.
It was announced at MacWorld in January 2007, its official release date was announced via a TV commercial.

Apple / AT&T Television Ad Says iPhone "Coming June 29th" [Official Video]

Apple and AT&T advertised tonight on television that the iPhone will be available starting on June 29th, 2007. The advertisement demonstrates...

www.macrumors.com

At WWDC that year, it had a segment near the end where the release date was verified and Apple went into detail about “Web apps” but it wasn’t a re-introduction or anything like that.

 

[klasma]

Do we know the release time frame for this and the non pro?

V2 will be in 2026 at the earliest, and the prospects for a non-Pro version are uncertain (latest rumor was they stopped development).

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

As cool as the device may be, my biggest frustration is that the device is basically single user. The fact that you can only have one primary user and everyone else shares a guest account is a showstopper. Apple would have been better off allowing at least 2 primary users. Most households are not going to invest over $7k...and we are not going to fight over who gets to be the single primary user. Maybe this will change when the come out with v2.

To be fair, this could be fixed as early as visionOS 1.1.

And we’re likely to see visionOS 2.0 at WWDC this year…

 

[4743913]

I want to see the games first. If they are just Occulus ports, I will stay with the 10% cost factor.

 

[Onimusha370]

When is the next version? After three years?

Who knows! My guess would be in around 18-24 months. Certainly can’t imagine any new hardware before WWDC 2025

 

[satchmo]

Always wait for 4th gen for new main devices

iPhone 4
iPad 4
Apple Watch 4

But hasn't this thing been in development for 10 years?

 

[Timo_Existencia]

I too find it odd that there's no event announced. But, then again, as someone above said, Super Bowl. And, it's the 40th Anniversary since the airing of this, also at the Super Bowl:

 

[Zimmy68]

Here is a bold prediction.
iJustine, who is notoriously harsh in her reviews will end up absolutely loving it after she gets her "loaner" unit.

 

[JordanCautious]

Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes a long that changes the way how we consume porn forever.

We were all thinking it 🤣

 

[klasma]

To be fair, this could be fixed as early as visionOS 1.1.

It was never “fixed” on iPadOS.

 

[Seanm87]

Here is a bold prediction.
iJustine, who is notoriously harsh in her reviews will end up absolutely loving it after she gets her "loaner" unit.

I wouldn’t really consider her a reviewer. Certainly not an unbiased one.

 

[poematik13]

Ill wait for the cheaper, simpler $1799 version

Man if this thing came out in 2020 when everybody was rich and stuck at home it would have sold gangbusters

 

[NightFox]

Man I hope this is available in the UK in the next few months, really don’t want to wait 6-12 months for something so awesome.

Quite seriously if this was the case, depending on how desperate you were, you can get return flights to the US from the UK for less than £300. Not my thing, but I do know people who've done this for other products in the past, within 24hrs too, sometimes even just to save money (depending on whether you get hit for import duties when you get home). It's a bit like a high-tech, more intense version of the booze cruises people used to do from the UK to France in the 80s/90s.

 

[Timo_Existencia]

I too find it odd that there's no event announced. But, then again, as someone above said, Super Bowl. And, it's the 40th Anniversary since the airing of this, also at the Super Bowl:

And, one thing Apple could highlight at the Super Bowl would be a 3D viewing of the Game.

 

[Timo_Existencia]

Quite seriously if this was the case, depending on how desperate you were, you can get return flights to the US from the UK for less than £300. Not my thing, but I do know people who've done this for other products in the past, within 24hrs too, sometimes even just to save money (depending on whether you get hit for import duties when you get home).

I'll bet this is geo locked based on your Apple ID region.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Agreed on this point though, the iPhone also had a dramatic drop in price after the 1st gen.

What price cut? They went from demanding full "unlocked-like" price up front to an AT&T subsidy model. It appeared to be hundreds of dollars cheaper... and eventually even achieving "free*" but every buyer of a free-to-few-hundred dollar iPhone paid full price too... just spread over time. And with AT&T behind it, many paid "and then some."

If that's the path to "cheaper", Apple could immediately cut this one to 1/12th, 1/24th or 1/36th the price by offering ApplePay terms of 12, 24 or 36 months. Apple could even do the car company trick of "free*" by deferring the start of payments a month or two. None of that would involve any actual price cut- just financing games (that do work, and I expect to see some of them with this product).

The only 4 real paths to "cheaper" are:

1. Wait for version 2 with new tech and this older tech one will cost less (see the precedent for all other Apple computing offerings)
2. Perhaps Apple offers cellular connectivity and this can be purchased through cell phone companies on 24-36 "locked" contracts to get about $1000 off (to be fully recouped in the contract commitment of course)
3. Returns in the refurb store by about August-October or so
4. Cut features from this one such as switching 4K per eye to 1080p (or less), cut the number of cameras to make it less functional, put in a weaker chipset, etc.

Too many envision a cheaper one to follow but I don't recall that EVER happening for an Apple computing without financing trickery, version 2 discounts to version 1 or tangible feature cuts. All calling for lower prices don't seem to ever name what features they want cut. Instead, it appears that the expectation is the same "loaded" device simply priced lower... which would involve cutting Apple's fat margin... which seems- to me anyway- to be the LAST thing AAPL would opt to cut.

 

[soyazul]

I find it hard to understand why the Vision Pro comes with an M2 Chip, instead of an M3. M3 was already launched in 2023, consumes less power, and has much more GPU performance, something critical in a VR/AR product. Is Apple not interested in the success of the Vision Pro or there are technical limitations?

 

[Andrish80]

After many years and countless products, I was curious, excited, and fascinated by everything software and hardware-related, from macOS X to all the iMacs, to the metal constructions of all the MacBooks, the iPods, the iPads, the advent of the iPhone and its various versions. But this thing here, the Apple vision, evokes no feeling in me other than boredom and apathy.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

It was never “fixed” on iPadOS.

True, but iPadOS didn’t ship out of the gate with a guest mode while visionOS has had one since the first beta.

Also, if I’m not mistaken, the iPad technically has had multiple users support since iOS 9 or so, it’s just been restricted to education profiles.

 

[JensenKA]

Best of luck to Apple on their insanely expensive product launch in a device category that has been fairly cool lately.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

After many years and countless products, I was curious, excited, and fascinated by everything software and hardware-related, from macOS X to all the iMacs, to the metal constructions of all the MacBooks, the iPods, the iPads, the advent of the iPhone and its various versions. But this thing here, the Apple vision, evokes no feeling in me other than boredom and apathy.

M2 costs Apple less than M3?

When something doesn't make sense through our consumer lens, it's usually about the money.