I remember as a child in the 00's ordering the Pokémon games from America to get them weeks before their UK release dates and it looks like the days of region-specific releases are here again. Not with Nintendo's pocket monsters (thankfully) but the Apple Vision Pro.
The $3499 headset currently only has a US release date pencilled in, and it's very soon at that, February 2nd. So when can the rest of us expect to get and hands (and heads) on what has been billed as a revolution in personal computing?
Well according to leading tipster Min Chi Kuo there won't be too much of a wait, although we are still probably talking months rather than weeks. Kuo has stated that they expect the headset to be available worldwide by the time WWDC rolls around. So it should be with us by June at the latest. That'll mark one year since the first reveal of the headset, and Apple will be sure to celebrate that with something exciting.
In fairness even living in the US isn't a guarantee of getting an Apple Vision Pro. Apple is reportedly being quite cautious with stock, and the actual process of buying one requires you to go into a physical store (practically unheard of these days) and spend a fair chunk of time getting fitted (including a face scan) and acquainted with the headset.
So what's the reason for the delay? Well aside from the low stock, Kuo reckons it's because Apple is "ensuring that the sales process in the U.S. market goes smoothly," and because of the time needed to modify the algorithms to comply with regulations in other countries."
Apple is putting a lot of pressure on itself in creating this headset, so managing the domestic launch first is frustrating but understandable. This isn't a technology that most people are already used to using, and it will be interesting to say how big the market is. Is it iPhone-level or more Google Glass? Still, there's significant postcode envy on our end.
