Apple’s Vision Pro Could Begin Shipping Next Week

It seems that when Apple promised “early 2024” for the launch of its new Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, the company really meant it. While some reports suggested we wouldn’t see the groundbreaking new product go on sale until March, several reliable sources have suggested it could hit stores by the end of January.

Last week, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman revealed that things have been running “at full speed” to crank out enough Vision Pro units for a February retail launch, and today, veteran analyst Ming-Chi Kuo added his voice to the chorus with news that Apple is already preparing to begin mass shipments next week.

In a lengthy post on Medium highlighting predicted trends for 2024, Kuo calls the headset the ”most important product for Apple” in the new year and notes that the Vision Pro is in “mass production and will begin mass shipments in the first week of January 2024.”

If user feedback on Vision Pro is better than expected, it will help strengthen the market consensus that “Vision Pro is the next star product in consumer electronics” and the related supply chain stock price.

Ming-Chi Kuo

Kuo’s timeframe roughly aligns with Gurman’s information since even if the stores are stocked up by the end of January, Apple might still choose to wait until early February to begin selling the Vision Pro since stock levels aren’t the only piece of the puzzle.

Apple also has to ensure its staff is up to speed on how to sell the unique new product — something that Gurman says won’t begin until mid-January. Apple has reportedly begun interviewing retail employees who have applied for the training, which is expected to be available only to a select few at this stage.

Presumably, these employees will become “Vision Pro Specialists” tasked with not only explaining and promoting the headset in the stores but also receiving training on how to properly fit the headset to each customer by attaching components like the light seal, headband, and any necessary prescription lenses. Those employees will likely be expected also to transfer what they learn to their co-workers back home.

Kuo predicts that Apple will ship approximately 500,000 units of the Vision Pro in 2024, the bulk of which will likely be destined for the United States — the only country in which the headset will be launching at first, although Apple has promised to expand sales later in the year.

With 273 Apple stores in the US, that’s an ambitious number for a $3,500 headset, working out to over 1,800 headsets per store. Of course, it’s unlikely stock will be distributed evenly across all stores, but that still suggests that Apple expects to sell five units per store per day — five times higher than what Gurman said the company predicted two years ago.

Apple has already begun building some hype for the Vision Pro by adding Spatial Video recording to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max in the latest iOS 17.2 update and inviting journalists and other industry watchers to see how their iPhone-recorded footage looks when viewed through the Vision Pro headset.

Nevertheless, $3,500 will be a tough sell for most folks, especially for such a bleeding-edge first gen product. Many analysts expect the Apple Vision Pro to chart a path similar to the Apple Watch, which was also seen as very niche and exclusive when it launched in 2015 but has since taken the smartwatch market by storm. Apple is already hard at work planning a sequel for the Vision Pro and exploring the idea of a lower-cost model that could cut some corners and rely more on the iPhone for features like video recording.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]