You'll need an appointment, a head scan, and prescription data to buy an Apple Vision Pro

[Daniel Sims]

The big picture: The Vision Pro's $3,500 price tag and recent reports of reduced production targets already indicated its anticipated difficulty to acquire upon the planned early 2024 launch. However, it appears customers won't be able to walk into a store and simply order one. Initial purchases will be by-appointment to allow Apple to customize the headset for each user.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman outlines early details of Apple's plans to release the Vision Pro AR headset. Availability for the $3,500 device will be limited upon its launch early next year, and ordering a unit requires buyers to go through a somewhat complex process.

To acquire a Vision Pro, customers must first schedule a fitting appointment. A special machine and an iPhone app will scan the user's head so Apple can determine the proper headband and light seal size. Online buyers can perform scans from home using the iPhone app. Users with glasses must provide the company with prescription data to ensure the headset includes appropriate lenses.

Although the company will sell the Vision Pro at all 270 US Apple Stores, demo stations will initially only be available in major regions like New York or Los Angeles. Furthermore, online purchases will not become available until 2025. So early adopters will have to go into a nearby brick-and-mortar store.

The company's stated reason for its current launch date is to give developers time to build compelling software, but manufacturing troubles may be the true cause. Early reports indicated that Apple cut its initial production goals for Vision Pro by almost 90 percent, from 1 million units to 130,000 to 150,000 in the first year.

Initial sales are limited to the US, with international sales coming in late 2024. The UK and Canada will likely be the first markets outside the US, with Asia and Europe probably following soon after. French, German, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean localization is also underway.

Additionally, the company has reportedly delayed the introduction of more affordable Vison Pro models beyond 2025. Apple's inaugural so-called "spatial computer" is clearly a first step, almost exclusively targeting early adopters and enthusiasts. Whether VR and AR headsets have attractive use cases beyond consuming 3D media remains to be seen.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/99326-youll-need-appointment-head-scan-prescription-data-buy.html

 

[brucek]

This obviously was never going to be a mainstream model anyway, but I wonder how the customization & prescription issues will be addressed over time. If each unit is specific to one buyer it'll cause problems for resale, for continued use as eyesight keeps changing (it is common for reading glass prescriptions to need to be stronger over time for example), and even for say providing service & support if it's hard for others to work on/with it.

 

[OortCloud]

You will definitely need your head tested if you buy one of these.

 

[YouShallNotPass]

Now they have more excuse when no body is buying after release.

 

[kiwigraeme]

So Apple moving into the bespoke luxury market - Saville Row - measured and made to order - for the well off.
I wonder it they will make a private area available to really ice the cake

 

[Eldritch]

Wait a minute....What about the other members of the family like wife, parents, kids etc? Even if your SO can not use it properly then how is it a home product? They dropped the ball hard on this one.

 

[wiak]

Soo you need a brain scan to buy apple products now? so that apple has the iq of their customers on file for later

 

[BuckarooBonzaii]

Just like prescription glasses made for you. Being custom fit also means higher pricing.

 

[Kashim]

Wait a minute....What about the other members of the family like wife, parents, kids etc? Even if your SO can not use it properly then how is it a home product? They dropped the ball hard on this one.

What do you mean? The solution is simple: buy a separate headset for each member of your family, obviously. How is poor Apple supposed to hit their next milestone of $4 trillion market cap with stingy customers like you?

 

[Fearghast]

Well, you certainly need a head scan when you plan on buying one.
This one painfully screams first gen product on all fronts.

 

[amghwk]

......and automatically, your, medical history will be registered with Apple. Which, may be accessed by the government, or leaked to the dark web.

 

[Geralt]

Better I don't buy and I avoid all the hassle and save my money for more important pursuits.

 

[NicktheWVAHick]

This contraption is starting to sound more & more like the Opti-Grab every day.

 

[Nobina]

Only snobs would buy this trash.

 

[VitalyT]

Do I need to enclose the receipt from my teeth fillings too?

 

[d5aqoep]

This Vitual Reality is not our future. No one will want a dystopian “Ready Player One” addicted to headset future. Total reality where some projector projects virtual objects around you is where things should be headed and not some retina burning high brightness screen 2 inches from your eyes all the time. I am surprised no one talks about bad effects of such headsets to our eyes?

 

[Uncle Al]

HAHAHAHA ..... just three more great reasons not to waste time with another Apple product!

 

[toooooot]

......and automatically, your, medical history will be registered with Apple. Which, may be accessed by the government, or leaked to the dark web.

I bet my phone was leaked 1000 times. Or else I would not be receiving 1000 calls daily.

 

[erickmendes]

This is the equivalent of running Crysis when it was launched, but with PCs... still none could run it smooth.