The Vision Pro is Coming to More Countries — But Not Until After WWDC
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Although Apple is still on track to launch the Vision Pro internationally soon, it seems the device won’t expand beyond US borders until sometime after its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) next month.
The latest update comes from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, contradicting a January report from Ming-Chi Kuo that Apple was “likely” to release the Vision Pro outside the US before WWDC 2024. Kuo doubled down on that prediction in February, although he also hedged by adding that “the actual release time will depend on Apple’s software modification schedule to comply with other countries’ regulations.”
Although Gurman has been hearing since last summer that Canada and the UK would be the most likely candidates to get Apple’s spatial computing headset next — sensible, considering they share a common language — Apple’s global rollout plans appear to be much more ambitious.
Several sources had already suggested China was high on that list, and in March, regional and language code found in visionOS 1.1 seemingly confirmed that while adding several others to the list, including Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea.
This also aligned with what Gurman had been told last year, when sources told him that Apple was already working on localizing visionOS for France, Germany, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea.
Despite this, few sources other than Kuo pointed to a specific time frame for when the Vision Pro would debut in any of those countries. However, a new report from Gurman reveals that Apple plans to “bring the Vision Pro to international markets for the first time after its Worldwide Developers Conference early next month.”
Apple has reportedly been bringing employees to Apple Park from stores around the world since last week for four-day training sessions on how to demo the Vision Pro to customers. While it’s not saying much about its launch plans, the places those folks are coming from offers a pretty big hint.
Apple has maintained its usual secrecy and hasn’t told employees in the training sessions where exactly the Vision Pro will be available. But the company is training workers from Germany, France, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and China, indicating that those areas will be some of the first international markets for the device.Mark Gurman
Conspicuously missing from this list are Canada and the UK, but Gurman added in a follow-up tweet that he isn’t ruling those two countries out.
It would certainly be very unusual for the Vision Pro to launch globally without Canada and the UK being on the list, and it’s possible Apple already conducted training sessions for its Canucks and Brits earlier on, which seems reasonable if those were in line to be the first two launch countries.
Meanwhile, the path for the Vision Pro has recently been cleared in China, with Gurman noting that China’s Quality Certification Center approved the Vision Pro for sale yesterday — a requirement for selling the headset in the country.
Apple has naturally declined to comment on its plans for a broader rollout of the Vision Pro, but if things are as close as they seem, it will likely use its WWDC Keynote to set the stage for the next phase of the Vision Pro, with broader availability in more promising markets like China and Japan joined by an announcement of visionOS 2.0.
[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.]
