Apple Vision Pro Release Date & Pre-Order Details Announced

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Apple has finally announced a release date and pre-order details for its highly anticipated augmented and virtual reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro. As MacBreak Weekly hosts Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, Jason Snell, and Andy Ihnatko discussed in a recent episode, the Vision Pro will be available for pre-order starting January 19 for $3,499. It will begin shipping to customers on February 2.

There was palpable excitement from Alex and Jason, who plan to purchase the Vision Pro immediately. However, Andy is more skeptical about the mainstream appeal and viability of the product, especially at the premium price point Apple has set, and Leo continues to be bullish on the overall success of the product.

As Leo suggested, Apple has likely invested around $100 billion over the past decade in AR/VR technology leading up to this launch. By pricing the Vision Pro at $3,499, Apple is going after early adopters rather than mass market appeal. That leaves room for other companies to compete at lower price points.

Andy, in particular, was dubious that consumers would spring for what he dubbed as "at least 40% beta product" at such lofty pricing. He equated it to the early Apple Newton PDA, which was technologically advanced but failed commercially before the concept was properly validated.

Jason defended Apple's approach by noting this represents an entirely new platform for them – the first since the Apple Watch. Even if it doesn't find an audience right away, Apple has the resources to push augmented reality forward in the long run when the technology matures to sleeker form factors down the road.

The hosts concluded that iOS developers still have plenty of motivation to support the Vision Pro, given the higher disposable income of early adopters. We'll have to stay tuned post-launch to see if Apple's big bet pays off in pioneering a new era of spatial computing.

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