If you’d resigned yourself to a late Spring release for the new Apple Vision Pro, as many had, there could be good news this week, as Apple is expected to announce that it will go on sale by the beginning of February.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman was among those who thought we should expect the release to be “some time around March”, but he’s now changed his opinion. In his latest Power On newsletter, he now says, “Apple’s Vision Pro launch is imminent, with retail stores entering preparation mode.”
He goes on, “The device is already shipping in small quantities to warehouses across the US before distribution to Apple retail stores, with the company believing it’ll have enough supply stateside by the end of January for a launch by February.”
This times about right with a surprising report by the analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TFI Securities, who saw late January as the release date, following mass shipments in the first week of January, that is, right now.
Gurman says that Apple Store employees are being trained in Cupertino right now for an unnamed new product. Even if it’s not named, it’s overwhelmingly likely to be the Vision Pro. Later this month, apparently, there will be “rare, three-hour meetings for all employees,” where it’s believed training and sales procedures will be the focus.
So, when might we have the release date confirmed at last?
Gurman says, “I expect Apple to make an announcement related to the Vision Pro in the next week or so to take some of the spotlight away from CES, which begins Tuesday in Las Vegas.”
I’d agree that Apple does love to make a splash during CES, a show it never attends. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if the announcement came after the show. The release date is a big deal, after all.
Gurman wonders if online pre-orders will be available straight away. Having tried Vision Pro myself, I’d be astonished if there wasn’t some in-person element to a purchase, so I think online buying would require instore pick-up. After all, if you get the demo of the headset right, as Apple did when I tried it, it can take your breath away. You don’t want people getting it wrong at home and returning the product.
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