Vision Pro

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that the launch preparations for Apple Vision Pro are in full swing, across Apple’s retail division and the supply chain.

Gurman writes that the headset is already shipping to distribution warehouses in the US, seemingly in enough quantity to be able to stock Apple retail stores for a February launch.

A new Qualcomm spatial computing chip has been announced, intended to allow companies to create their own Vision Pro competitors.

Five companies will be using the new chip, as they work on mixed reality headsets designed to go, uh, head-to-head with Apple’s spatial computer – and the first of these is set to be revealed on Monday, January 8 …

We’re officially in the “Year of Vision Pro.” Apple’s first headset – or spatial computer as it calls it – is set for a release sometime in the next several months. Read on for the full details and a recap of what we know so far about Vision Pro’s release date.

Spoiler alert: it’s coming sooner than many of us had predicted.

While you probably didn’t find a Vision Pro under the Christmas tree this morning, it won’t be too long until you can hand over $3,500 to Apple and get one. A new report from Ming-Chi Kuo today reiterates expectations that Vision Pro will be available for purchase sometime in February.

Get your wallets ready. Bloomberg reports that Apple is ramping up production of its impending Vision Pro headset. The current goal is for the first units to be ready by the end of January, with a retail launch planned for February.

We’re nearly within a two-month window of when Apple is expected to launch its Vision Pro headset. Amid the run-up, Apple is sending out reminders to developers to “Get ready” with a list of tips for finishing up Vision Pro apps.

In his latest Power On newsletter at Bloomberg, Mark Gurman shares what he’s expecting from Apple in 2024. While the company will naturally launch the iPhone 16 lineup in the fall, Mark highlights that the company’s wearables will “take center stage.” Here are all the details.

With Vision Pro just around the corner, Apple continues to offer media demos. Brian Tong includes some new developments with visionOS after his most recent hands-on time with the device. This includes a first impression after typing with the Vision Pro virtual keyboard.

Apple has given another group of journalists the opportunity to try Vision Pro. This time around, Apple invited select members of the press to relive their own spatial videos using Vision Pro. This comes after Apple launched iOS 17.2 with support for recording spatial video on iPhone 15 Pro.

Readdle is out with an update for its popular Documents iOS app today with a new capability it is calling “Air Gestures.” The feature aims to make interactions “more natural and accessible” and big picture, Readdle is looking to follow where Apple is headed with Vision Pro and Apple Watch.

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.”

Bloomberg last month reported that Apple is working on a 2nd-gen Vision Pro headset which could reduce the price by around half, and that is today backed by a new supply-chain report.

The report says that the company is currently working on no fewer than four variants of a future headset, and that Apple is aiming to halve the manufacturing cost with one of these …

Apple’s decision to use tethered Vision Pro batteries raised a few eyebrows when the upcoming product was announced, with the decision apparently made to reduce the weight of the headset.

However, the company was concerned that the front-heavy weight balance of the device could cause neck strain, and a new Apple patent application puts forward a potential solution – which borrows from a Meta Quest headset accessory shown above …

The popular messaging app Telegram is available on different platforms, including iOS, macOS, Android, and Windows. Soon, Apple Vision Pro owners will also be able to access Telegram with a new visionOS app, as shown in a teaser shared on Tuesday.

Apple released iOS 17.2 developer beta 2 on Thursday, enabling iPhone 15 Pro hardware to capture spatial videos for the first time. The public beta version just dropped as well, and so have some early press reviews of personal spatial videos on Vision Pro.

Alongside other camera updates with the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple also announced in September that the device will be able to capture spatial video for Vision Pro. That feature is now live with today’s release of iOS 17.2 beta 2.

A new report from The Information today says that Apple is researching ways to use Vision Pro to diagnose and treat mental health issues. According to the story, Apple wants to use Vision Pro’s array of cameras and sensors to detect when a user might have “depression, anxiety, stress or post-traumatic stress disorder.”

As Tim Cook continues a rather comprehensive tour of China with a visit to a Luxshare Apple Watch factory, the WSJ has an interesting profile on how the Apple supplier worked its way up from making iPad cables to becoming one of Apple’s most important manufacturing and development partners.

The story of Luxshare founder Wang Laichun, aka Grace Wang, is a true rags-to-riches one. She started out as a Foxconn production line worker, manually adding components to circuit boards …

The FCC in the US has officially given Apple, Meta, and Google the go-ahead to tap into the 6GHz band for wireless devices. This comes four years after the companies teamed up to petition the FCC for access to this spectrum, with one of the biggest use cases being for augmented reality and virtual reality devices.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is in China this week, visiting Apple Stores, touring Apple supply chain partners, and meeting with government officials. Amid reports that iPhone 15 sales are off to a slower start than the iPhone 14, Cook met with China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao and discussed a “win-win development” for the two parties.