Apple’s Innovative Vision Pro Available for Pre-order Starting Next Friday, Priced at $3,499

On January 9th, according to media reports, Apple announced on its official website that the Vision Pro will begin accepting pre-orders at 5:00 AM Pacific Time on January 19th, with an official release scheduled for February 2nd. Some lucky pre-order customers will be able to experience Apple's revolutionary spatial computing device on the same day.

Similar to the pre-order and release schedule for new Apple products like the iPhone, both the pre-order and release times for the Vision Pro are set for local time on Fridays.

However, as previously announced by Apple at the initial launch, the Vision Pro will be initially available only in the U.S. market. Pre-orders starting on January 19th and the official release on February 2nd will be limited to Apple’s official website in the U.S. and all their retail stores in the country. Availability in other markets will be announced later.

When Vision Pro was introduced last year, Apple stated that the starting price would be $3,499, equivalent to approximately ¥25,045. When announcing the start of pre-orders and the release time on Monday, Apple disclosed details about the $3,499 version with 256GB of storage. Whether there will be versions with larger storage capacities will be revealed when pre-orders officially begin on the 19th, and prices will be disclosed at that time as well.

Additionally, Apple announced on its official website that a new App Store has been prepared for Vision Pro, offering a large number of applications compatible with iOS and iPadOS, totaling over one million. Users can also explore new experiences through Vision Pro’s unique features.

Vision Pro will start accepting pre-orders on the 19th and be available on February 2nd, aligning with analysts’ expectations.

Guo Mingchi, a well-known Apple product analyst who has accurately predicted Apple’s new product releases multiple times in recent years, predicted at the end of last month that a large number of shipments would begin in the first week of January, possibly hitting Apple retail stores by the end of January or early February.

A senior journalist who has long been following Apple mentioned last week that shipments in small batches are en route to warehouses in the U.S., with sufficient inventory expected in the U.S. by the end of January for the product’s launch in February.

Vision Pro was introduced by Apple on June 5th at the Worldwide Developers Conference last year, marking their first augmented reality (AR) headset. Described as a revolutionary spatial computing device, it seamlessly integrates digital content into the real world, offering users a new 3D interactive experience.

In terms of hardware, Vision Pro features a high-precision display with two 23 million pixel microLED screens, supporting wide color gamut and HDR. It also includes an advanced spatial audio system that immerses users in sound from all directions. The headset has a sophisticated eye-tracking system, utilizing high-speed cameras and a ring of LEDs to project non-visible light images to the user’s eyes for instant intuitive feedback. Like other AR headsets on the market, Apple’s Vision Pro is equipped with numerous cameras, sensors, including 12 cameras, 5 sensors, and 6 microphones.

Vision Pro adopts a unique dual-chip design, both developed by Apple. The M2 chip delivers unparalleled performance, while the new R1 chip processes information from cameras, sensors, and microphones to ensure content appears in front of users without any delay. Apple claims that the R1 chip can stream new images to the display within 12 milliseconds, eight times faster than the blink of an eye.

On the software side, Vision Pro runs on the world’s first spatial operating system called visionOS. It features a new 3D interface, allowing users to control it through eye movements, gestures, and voice commands. The interaction model lets digital content appear as if it exists in the real world. The new App Store for Vision Pro allows users to discover apps and content provided by developers, and many apps running on iPhones and iPads can seamlessly run on Vision Pro’s new system from the initial launch, providing a rich application ecosystem.

The upcoming Vision Pro, when paired with an external high-performance battery, can be used for up to 2 hours, and when connected to a power source, it can be used throughout the day.

Vision Pro represents a major new hardware product launched by Apple since Tim Cook took over as CEO. Cook believes that just as the Mac ushered in the era of personal computing and the iPhone led us into the era of mobile computing, Vision Pro will take us into the era of spatial computing, providing users with an exceptional experience and exciting new opportunities for developers.