Apple’s Vision Pro headset will be available by appointment only as the tech giant continues to take a more boutique approach with its marquee new product. Select U.S.-based, major-market Apple Stores will have specific places to demo the $3,500 headset during its 2024 launch before expanding across the country, Bloomberg reports, during a slow and earnest rollout. Apple’s plans for international markets remain in flux. The company also recently reduced its production target from 1 million headsets to fewer than 400,000 in 2024, further tightening access.
By Todd Dybas, Editor at LinkedIn News
Buying Apple’s Vision Pro headset could require an appointment and a face scan
Apple’s $3,499 headset may be available by appointment only.
Apple is planning to sell its $3,499 Vision Pro headset on an appointment-only basis at launch, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. According to Gurman, Apple will create designated sections where customers can try on the headset in its stores, with the first ones appearing at stores in major areas like New York and Los Angeles.
Apple will reportedly ask in-store buyers to schedule an appointment to purchase the Vision Pro, similar to the rollout of the first Apple Watch in 2015. During the appointment, Gurman says Apple will ensure that the Vision Pro fits the wearer and also outfit the device with prescription lens inserts if needed. Gurman says Apple Stores will need to keep “hundreds or thousands of lenses” in stock as a result.
The other element he mentions is that Apple’s working on both an iPhone app and a physical machine that scans a person’s head to figure out if it has the right light seal — a component that prevents light from interfering with a wearer’s field of view. When the company opens online orders in the US in early 2024, it will reportedly have customers upload their lens prescription and their head scan data.
The demos at the last WWDC didn’t include that step, with only a vision test and ear scanning for spatial audio.
The headset, which is set to launch in the US early next year, won’t be available in other countries until late 2024, Gurman says. After it releases the Vision Pro in the US, Apple will reportedly bring the headset to the UK and Canada afterward, with other countries in Asia and Europe to follow. The company doesn’t plan on bringing the device to third-party retailers until at least 2025, Gurman notes.
Apple may also be working on some additional accessories for the Vision Pro. According to Gurman, it’s exploring a second strap that goes across the wearer’s head to help people with “smaller body sizes and heads” wear the headset for long periods of time. It is also looking into creating a shoulder pouch for the Vision Pro headset’s external battery pack, as some people who wear certain kinds of cultural apparel may not have pockets.
By Emma Roth, THE VERGE
