Virtual & Augmented Reality and 3D News - Page 9

Apple's Vision Pro is currently available for preorder but it won't go on sale until February 2. That hasn't stopped Apple from continuing to work on getting visionOS into an even better state ahead of time though, and visionOS 10.0.1 will be ready and waiting once the headset goes on sale.

The new software isn't expected to be a big update and it's believed that the release is a delta over-the-air update rather than a full one, suggesting yet further that we shouldn't expect any big changes. However, any new software update is a good thing because it means that Apple has improved some facet of the Vision Pro experience to the point of wanting to ensure that it is available for early adopters.

The Vision Pro headset is Apple's first foray into the world of mixed reality, or spatial computing, and it's clear that it wants to make as big of a splash as possible. The headset comes with a high $3,499 price point which also means that it will be scrutinized more than any other headset of its ilk, and Apple is right to try and make sure its visionOS software is as stable and functional as possible.

Apple's Vision Pro first went up for preorder on Friday, January 19 after it was first announced way back in June of 2023, but it won't go on sale until February 2. The headset is set to be a huge deal for Apple as it marks the company's first entry into a new market since the Apple Watch back in 2014. And now it appears that people who were able to get their preorders in quickly are already starting to see their headsets ship from Apple's factories.

That's according to a new report by 9to5Mac which notes that people who check their Apple Store order status will continue to see that it is preparing to ship. But as is the case with iPhone buyers around launch time people can instead head over to the UPS website and check their tracking there. Entering the orderer's phone number, sans the last two digits, as the reference number is often enough to find their order's delivery status. However, the 9to5Mac report does note that using the USPS My Choice platform is instead the better way to go thanks to unspecified changes to the normal tracking system.

In the case of the order checked by 9to5Mac, the Vision Pro order departed an Apple facility in Shanghai and weighed more than 10 pounds. However, this doesn't mean that anyone should expect the headset to start to arrive any time sooner than the February 2 release date. Apple often ships its preordered products out early like this before having couriers hold them locally to their delivery destination to ensure that they are available in good time.

Last week Apple made pre-orders available for its highly anticipated Vision Pro mixed reality headset, and while the price is certainly high-end that didn't stop hundreds of thousands of people pre-ordering the device.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has estimated that Apple sold between 160,000 and 180,000 Vision Pro units over the weekend, a truly astonishing number considering the headset is priced at $3,499, and $4,000 with extras. While Apple is undoubtedly very happy with the number of pre-orders for its first-generation device, the company reportedly only has between 60,000 and 80,000 units in stock at launch on February 2.

The demand for the Vision Pro has resulted in delayed shipping times, with customers now being informed they will have to wait between five and seven weeks to receive their order, while in-store pick-up will also be unavailable. Notably, analysts believe that Apple will be able to reach 500,000 units in 2024, but after those orders are filled Vision Pro demand will begin to taper off.

Apple's Vision Pro headset is now available for preorder and that means that people can finally put their name down to get one of Apple's fancy new spatial computing headsets. But there is no denying that, starting at $3,499, the headset isn't a cheap thing to buy. In fact, it's quite a costly one but amazingly it's easy to turn that figure into a rather astounding one if you start adding the upgrades.

That $3,499 asking price gets you the base 256GB configuration, but if you upgrade that to the fully maxed-out 1TB configuration you'll pay an extra $400. Add AppleCare+ and some ZEISS lenses and the figures soon start to get into silly figures. In fact, by the time you're done adding the essentials you can expect to pay a brain-breaking $4,795.95.

Those are the figures put together by MacRumors and they're quite staggering. Alongside the 1TB upgrade, insurance, and optical lenses, the setup the outlet put together includes the Apple Vision Pro Travel Case which costs an additional $199. There's a battery holder as well, although that's a snip at just $49.95 considering the figures we're talking about here.

Apple's Vision Pro is now available for preorder in the United States but there is no indication of when the spatial computing headset will be made available for purchase internationally. That has led some people to import a headset from the United States rather than wait, and it seems that those people should expect problems when it arrives.

That's after MacRumors reported that Apple's Vision Pro preorder web page says that there are a number of things that people need to keep in mind including the fact that they will need to have a US-based Apple ID in order for the device to work. What's more, AppleCare will not be offered internationally, although that will likely change once the Vision Pro officially drives in more countries.

According to MacRumors, the following caveats need to be considered.

Apple's Vision Pro headset is now finally available for preorder after months and months of waiting. The headset was first announced in June of 2023 but with preorders now live the headset will finally go on sale on February 2. Those who order a headset today might have to wait until the middle of March for it to arrive, but those who ordered quickly will receive their headset on February 2. But how many headsets were sold? Given an expected limitation on the number of headsets that would be ready for launch day, one analyst believes that Apple was able to sell up to 180,000 headsets.

According to a report posted to the Medium website by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple likely sold between 160,000 and 180,000 during the first three days of the preorder window. And while Apple selling through its initial availability of the headset is perhaps not a surprise, Kuo suggests that there is still a concern to be noted here.

Writing in the same post, Kuo suggests that while delivery estimates ran anywhere to seven weeks pretty quickly, that estimated delivery window has not changed since. Whereas an iPhone preorder window normally sees these windows expand initially once stocks are exhausted and then continue to do so as more preorders rack up, that doesn't appear to have been the case here. Instead, the same delivery estimate remains in place today which might suggest that Apple has not been able to sell through all of the headsets it expects to be able to produce in a second wave of availability.

Apple's new Vision Pro headset will cost you $3499 for the base model, scaling up to $4800 if you opt for 1TB of internal storage... but you will NOT want to damage it, as repair costs are as high as $2400 if you don't have AppleCare+ protection.

The company opened up pre-orders for its new Vision Pro headset a couple of days ago, where if you buy the minimum 256GB internal storage model, you're looking at $3499, while 1TB of storage will set you back $4800.

You'll want to get AppleCare+ protection which costs $499, because without it, if you damage something catastrophic (expensive) like the display or another part of the Vision Pro headset, you could be looking at spending $2399 on repairing your expensive new headset. AppleCare+ protected? $299 for that same repair.

Apple announced the Vision Pro AR/VR headset way back in June 2023 but it didn't give us all of the details that you might have expected. But now, as the headset gets ready for its big June 2 release the company has started to share more and more details about what we can expect when the headset finally arrives. As a part of that, we now know what apps the headset will come with preinstalled.

Apple has shared a full list of the apps that will come installed on every single new Vision Pro when buyers first put it on, and there is a total of 25 apps for people to look forward tousing. However, out of those 25 apps a surprisingly large number aren't Vision Pro apps at all. Instead, they're iPad apps that have been preinstalled on the headset to make up the numbers. And perhaps more worrying is the fact that some of them are core apps that you might have expected Apple to focus on getting ready for the big day.

Of the 25 apps that Apple will preinstall, the following have been redesigned and optimized for the Vision Pro:

Apple's Vision Pro spatial computing headset is available for preorder now and people will start to receive their new devices next month and we're still learning new things. As part of the preorder window going live Apple has started to publish a number of new support documents to its website that details the headset, its capabilities, and more. And one of those has confirmed that other people will be able to see what Vision Pro owners see if they want them to.

That's thanks to the magic that is AirPlay, with Apple confirming that the headset will be able to send its display content to an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, or any other AirPlay-capable smart TV or device. The move means that others will be able to see whatever the Vision Pro wearer can see, something that we were not aware of until now.

There is one big limitation in terms of how the AirPlay experience will work, however. While each of the displays inside the Vision Pro headset are 4K affairs, sending that content over AirPlay will see Apple limit the resulting image to just 720p. That might not be an issue for those watching on an iPhone, but it does mean that throwing the image onto a big screen via a projector, for example, could be problematic.

Apple's Vision Pro mixed reality headset is now finally available for preorder and it will officially go on sale on February 2. That's when those who placed a preorder can expect the headset to arrive, while in-store orders will also begin on that same date. But Apple has shared a new support document that could be enough to give some people pause before placing an order.

The Vision Pro headset is, like any other AR/VR headset, prone to causing certain issues including dizziness and headaches. To that end, Apple has shared a new support document that outlines the medical conditions that people should be aware of. If you suffer from one of these medical conditions, Apple says, you might find that it aggravates symptoms or increases the risk of discomfort and even injury. In short, you might want to have second thoughts about spending $3,499 on a new Vision Pro if you suffer from one of those issues.

The list of medical conditions that Apple mentions specifically includes: