How Much Is Apple Vision Pro And When Can You Buy It?
Apple's first mixed-reality headset was no great secret, and neither were we short on predictions that the new augmented reality (AR) wearable would cost a pretty penny when the Cupertino company deigned to make it official. At WWDC 2023, Tim Cook & Co. confirmed that the Apple Vision Pro is indeed a real product, aiming to do for AR what the iPhone did for smartphones (and, for that matter, what the iPad did for tablets).
The handiwork of multiple years of development, a whole new operating system, and a brand new chip inside some very slick hardware, the result is possibly one of the most convincing visions (no pun intended) of what a mixed-reality headset should look like, and it's priced to match.
In fact, it'll cost a hefty $3,499 when it goes on sale, which Apple says should be early in 2024. That's in the U.S., at least; other markets will follow, but so far we don't have a detailed list of when and where, exactly.
A premium price for premium hardware
It is, there's no doubt, a beefy price tag. Apple's justification is that this is not just a new product but, the Cupertino firm argues with its characteristic lack of coyness, a whole new category. Then there's the fact that you're paying for brand new micro-OLED screens that deliver 23 million pixels to the wearer's eyes; cameras and sensors including LIDAR and eye-tracking; and not one but two processors — the Apple M2 familiar from the company's Mac range, and a brand new Apple R1 developed specifically for headsets like the Vision Pro.
During the WWDC 2023 keynote, in fact, Apple execs drew comparisons between the Vision Pro and a cutting-edge big-screen TV: the new headset not only can recreate that sort of display virtually, but it carries a similar sticker. Don't forget to budget for some more of Apple's interchangeable battery packs, mind. Since the Vision Pro doesn't have an onboard battery itself, it relies on the slim little external batteries — tethered by a magnetically-attached cable — to power it for up to two hours apiece.