Apple Vision Pro launch nears as staff get special training
Apple is making final preparations for the highly anticipated launch of the Vision Pro, the $3,499 mixed-reality headset that it unveiled in June.
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By
Trevor Mogg
December 10, 2023 7:20PM 
Apple is making final preparations for the highly anticipated launch of the Vision Pro, the $3,499 mixed-reality headset that it unveiled in June.
As it’s a new product line for the tech giant, a crucial part of the preparations includes training Apple Store staff on how to present it and demonstrate it to potential customers.
The seminars for staff are being scheduled now and will begin in January, according to a Bloomberg report on Sunday by Apple tipster Mark Gurman.
According to Gurman, each Apple Store in the U.S. will send “a few” members of staff to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, for two days of training. They’ll then return to their respective Apple Stores and pass on what they learned to their co-workers.
Gurman describes the training as a “high-stakes endeavor,” explaining that the Vision Pro’s setup process “is going to be complex and not something that Apple wants to screw up.”
This is partly because the headset needs to be adjusted for each user for a good fit, and so those all-important first few moments with the device could be pivotal for someone considering whether to spend big bucks on the headset.
Shoppers will be able to order Vision Pro online, but Gurman believes that buyers will be encouraged to pick up their purchase at a store if at all possible, presumably so that they can be given a hands-on demonstration (and therefore the best possible introduction) of the mixed-reality headset.
Apple’s first major new product since the launch of the Apple Watch in 2015 is set to begin landing in customers’ hands — or on their heads — in the first quarter of 2024. Earlier reports suggested that Apple wanted to start shipping the Vision Pro in January, but with the company still to offer any word on the matter, and training only beginning next month, February or March now seems increasingly likely.
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Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Apple’s ‘foundational’ Vision Pro tool was secretly built 6 years ago
Long before Apple’s Vision Pro headset made its debut, there was rampant speculation that the company’s wider augmented reality (AR) efforts were part of a larger project toward building the then-mysterious device. Now, it seems that at least one of those technologies was built with Vision Pro in mind.
I recently interviewed Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations, and Steve Sinclair, senior director of product marketing for Apple Vision Pro, to find out how the company courted developers while prepping the headset. In the course of that interview, Sinclair shed some light on how Vision Pro intertwined with the company’s ARKit developer framework.
Exclusive: How Apple inspired creators to take a risk on its $3,500 Vision Pro
Apple’s Vision Pro headset hasn’t launched yet, but already it’s become one of the most hotly debated devices on the planet. Whether you think it’s the most exciting gadget in years or a potential waste of time and money, chances are Apple has got you talking about it.
The company has a lot riding on its first new product category since the Apple Watch, but it clearly can’t succeed if developers aren’t interested in building apps for it. After all, opening the Vision Pro’s app store to the sound of crickets chirping wouldn’t leave a good impression.
Here’s how Apple could drastically cut the Vision Pro’s price
Apple’s Vision Pro headset made a massive splash when it was announced in June 2023, and one of the biggest talking points was its $3,499 price. Despite reports that Apple is charging buyers at or near the cost of making the device, it’s still a massive amount for most people to shell out on a headset.
There could be some future relief though, as Apple is reportedly searching for ways to bring the price down, whether that’s a “Vision Pro 2” headset or a lower-cost version that omits a few of the more expensive features.
