It's been a long wait for Apple to get the AR glasses to the area Americans affectionately know as 'rest of world', but now Apple loyalists and developers can have a chance to climb on the not virtual, but augmented, bandwagon.
Customers in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore will get the first – well, second – bite at the cherry on June 13, while Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK will get the opportunity to pre-order from June 28 (when that initial wave starts to take delivery). The glasses will ship to customers in the UK and Australia on July 13.
While the Vision Pro is still very pricey, it might be a good time for serious customers to look at climbing on board as Apple took the opportunity at WWDC 2024 not just to announce the new territories but also to debut Vision OS 2 – the updated operating system.
Perhaps the most striking new feature was the massive virtual monitor features which will be powered in part by your Mac, so wherever you look it appears in high resolution (also taking advantage of the eye-tracking). It will be equivalent to a dual 4K display, according to Apple.
The system will also use AI to make old 2D photos appear 3D in spatial viewing.
Vision OS 2 will also make it much easier to share the device with friends and family, remembering the settings chosen by others.
“The enthusiasm for Apple Vision Pro has been extraordinary, and we are thrilled to introduce the magic of spatial computing to more customers around the world,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We can’t wait for more people to see the impossible become possible, whether working and collaborating with an infinite canvas for apps, reliving treasured memories in three dimensions, watching TV shows and movies in a one-of-a-kind personal cinema, or enjoying brand-new spatial experiences that defy imagination.”
The Vision Pro will cost £3,499 for the basic 256GB model (which is $3,699 in the USA). Optical corrections from Zeiss are £99, or £149 for prescription. The case is £199.
That's AU$5,999 for the goggles in Australia, with an additional AU$169 or AU$249 for optical corrections, and AU$349 for the case.
A bit of a different world, but I recently tried the DJI Avata 2 drone which has pass-through cameras in its goggles.
