On June 28th, Apple's first head mounted display MR product, the Apple Vision Pro National Edition, was officially released. It is available in three versions: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB, with a starting price of 29999 yuan.
The homepage of Apple China's official website already has promotional photos of Apple Vision Pro, with the accompanying text: Welcome to the era of spatial computing. The Apple Vision Pro can be purchased on the Apple official website and the Apple Store App, or by making an online appointment for a demonstration trial in an Apple Store retail store. After completing the experience, you can purchase it.
It is reported that the Chinese version of Apple Vision Pro is limited to 2 units per person and supports 24 interest free installments. The three versions of the 24 installment plan cost 1250 yuan, 1312 yuan, and 1375 yuan per month, respectively. In terms of application ecosystem, Vision Pro's national app store has been launched, providing multiple native applications.
"If we make an appointment, we definitely won't have time this month and everything is fully booked." A reporter from E Company called an Apple retail store in Shanghai, and the staff said that the store has a prototype. Recently, there have been many customers who have made appointments to try out the Apple Vision Pro, and the appointment quota will not be released until early July at the earliest.
In addition, the reporter noticed that the official website of Apple China currently only supports iPhone or iPad users to purchase and schedule demonstrations and trials. Regarding this, Apple retail store staff stated that the ordering process requires customers to have iPhone or iPad devices to support facial ID unlocking, measure head circumference and other data, and provide corresponding parameters. "The later use does not necessarily mean relying on an iPhone device, it is only necessary to use it at the beginning of the purchase," the staff explained.
Apple released its first hybrid reality MR device, Vision Pro, in June 2023. MR stands for Mixed Reality and is a component of the XR terminal. Compared to VR (Virtual Reality), MR further integrates virtual and real environments by incorporating various virtual objects and images in the context of the real environment.
This MR product is Apple's first space computing device. At that time, Apple CEO Cook said, "Just as Mac brought us into the era of personal computing and iPhone brought us into the era of mobile computing, then Apple Vision Pro will take us into the era of spatial computing." On June 11th, at the Apple Developer Conference, Apple announced that it already has over 2000 apps on its Apple Vision Pro. In addition, Apple Vision Pro's Vision OS 2 has been released, which uses robot learning to create spatial and 3D images, and adds interactive gestures.
In January of this year, after the pre-sale of Apple Vision Pro in the United States, the booking server was overcrowded, and the purchasing price of a domestic e-commerce platform even reached 80000 yuan. However, in mid June, the price of the product (US version) on third-party platforms was basically between 22999 yuan and 30599 yuan.
Market research firm Counterpoint believes that pricing indicates that Vision Pro is not aimed at ordinary consumers, but rather at professional users and content developers. Regarding the statement that this product is "niche", Apple retail store staff told reporters, "After all, it is an information technology product, which is relatively niche. Many customers want to first understand the product, experience it in the store, and then decide whether to purchase it."
According to a research report by Donghai Securities, the high pricing of Vision Pro means that its first users will mainly be audiophiles and app developers, rather than the general public. Its purpose is to anchor the MR software and hardware standards through the first MR product, attract developers from the Apple ecosystem to join and cultivate the Vision OS software ecosystem, and launch affordable second-generation products when the time is ripe, thereby attracting consumers.
Guotou Securities pointed out that Apple Vision Pro is undoubtedly the benchmark for augmented/virtual reality devices at present, and its entry into China will have a positive impact on the product paradigm and content ecosystem of the AR/VR/MR industry. In terms of product paradigm, Vision Pro has established that VR+VST will become the core form and technical route of general MR products for a considerable period of time, and the technical solutions of optical display and core computing modules also have reference and follow-up significance. In terms of content ecology, the logic for domestic content manufacturers to launch Vision Pro is smoother, which is more conducive to the cultivation and development of domestic AR/VR/MR content ecology.