Apple's online store is down in the U.S. ahead of Vision Pro pre-orders, which are scheduled to open at 5:00 a.m. Pacific Time, ahead of the device's official launch on Friday, February 2.
Apple Vision Pro is the company's first foray into the world of mixed reality, or "spatial computing" as Apple likes to call it. The device has been in development for more than a decade and features an array of sophisticated technologies that allow it to display augmented reality content superimposed on the world around you, and entirely virtual content for immersive entertainment and gaming experiences.
Starting at $3,499, the wearable headset device features two micro-OLED displays that deliver over 4K resolution to each eye, and an external display called EyeSight that projects an image of your eyes so people can tell whether you're using the headset in an immersive mode or if you can see what's going on around you. For glasses wearers, there are custom prescription Zeiss Optical Inserts ($149) that can be attached magnetically to the headset's lenses, and optional readers ($99) will be available.
The device includes an array of sensors and cameras for monitoring hand gestures and mapping the external environment, and there are speakers on either side of the headset. Vision Pro is powered by an M2 processor and a separate R1 processor dedicated to processing information coming from these sensors. It also comes with 16GB of RAM and at least 256GB of onboard storage, with the potential for Apple to offer models with up to 1TB of storage, although this hasn't been officially confirmed. An external battery pack is included in the box.
Apple is planning to produce between 60,000 and 80,000 Vision Pro units for the February 2 launch of the device, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. With the small size of the shipment, Kuo believes that the Vision Pro will "sell out soon after the release."
Orders are limited to the United States for the time being, but Apple is likely to launch the Vision Pro headset outside the U.S. before WWDC 2024 in June, with Canada and the United Kingdom tipped as the first two other countries in which the headset will be available.
