For the first time, Apple has named a second region of the world in which the Vision Pro will come onto the market. The information comes from Apple boss Tim Cook personally, according to a report from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. Accordingly, the mixed reality headset will reach mainland China “this year”. Cook told journalists on the sidelines of the China Development Forum in Beijing, according to CCTV on the short messaging service Weibo.
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For the first time outside the USA
So far, Apple has not given any information about when the Vision Pro will launch in other markets. The glasses were launched in the USA on February 2nd, and since then there has been speculation as to which countries will be next. Code leaks about the soon-to-be supported languages in visionOS suggest that – in addition to mainland China, which has now apparently been confirmed – Great Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea are the upcoming regions.
The rumor mill speculates that sales will begin before the WWDC 2024 developer conference in June, where visionOS 2.0 is expected to be presented. Smaller European countries, including Austria and Switzerland, will probably be left out for the time being. The pricing should receive particular attention; in the USA you pay at least 3,500 US dollars plus tax for the Vision Pro, which could easily be 4,000 euros in this country.
Apple Pencil goes Vision Pro
Another new detail about the Vision Pro concerns the Apple Pencil, Apple's stylus that is currently only compatible with the iPad. An “upcoming version” of the accessory is currently being tested internally with Apple's mixed reality headset, MacRumors sources claim. It could be used in drawing and sketching apps such as Pixelmator or Apple's own Freeform. You can already draw with your finger in the air, support for the Apple Pencil would possibly enable more precise sketching or drawing if the pen is connected to the Vision Pro via Bluetooth.
More detailed information about the technical implementation is still pending – as well as which software version of visionOS will be used to implement Apple Pencil support. Recently there have been several rumors that Apple will bring another stylus onto the market together with new iPad models at the end of March or beginning of April – this would be the fourth variant of the Apple Pencil.
(bsc)