Apple is ramping up its preparation for Vision Pro’s retail launch, according to a new report from Bloomberg. Apple has reportedly started scheduling Vision Pro training sessions for retail workers, while also sending retail stores the equipment they’ll need to manage Vision Pro when it launches in “early 2024.”
Top comment by AppleDev
Can't wait! It may take a few years before Apple's AR efforts really get running, but this will be a really big deal in the future. Apple is the only company that seems to have a vision that makes sense with their focus on making it a computing platform.
I bet parents will be demanding these get implemented in schools eventually with Myopia in kids being a decades long problem. School recess was created to help curb Myopia by exposing kids to natural light for dopamine production in the eye and help relax eye muscles partway through the day, but having a headset that can adapt to the needs of a child's eye health could take this further. It is partially genetic, partially too much focusing at a fixed distance for studying and entertainment, and partially related to low dopamine from not enough sunlight. Headset use along with some outdoor time should improve kids vision development more than recess alone. With Apple's health focus, I wouldn't be surprised if they get the right wavelengths of light in the headset to further curb Myopia and help with seasonal depression.
In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple has started scheduling two-day Vision Pro training sessions for retail employees. Through this program, Apple will fly “a few people” from each Apple Store in the United States to California for training. Those employees will then head back to their respective stores and train the rest of their staffs.
These seminars are getting scheduled now, and training is set to begin in the middle of January. Each employee will be trained for two days, I’m told. It’s a high-stakes endeavor: The Vision Pro’s setup process is going to be complex and not something Apple wants to screw up.
The device needs to be customized for each person, and a poor fitting could ultimately ruin the user’s experience. Every step will be carefully orchestrated, including how retail employees approach a customer and how they place the device on a user’s head.
Furthermore, the report says that Apple Stores will soon start receiving “new equipment to assemble and box up” Vision Pro headsets. Gurman also says that “it increasingly sounds like” Vision Pro customers will be “pushed to pick up the device at a store,” even if they place their order online.
Several weeks ago, Gurman reported that Apple had initially hoped to release Vision Pro in January, but would miss that deadline. In today’s newsletter, he says that he “would expect a release to at least occur before March — barring any unforeseen snags.”
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