Apple invites you to work on the Vision Pro in 6 cities around the world – including expert support. There are very few, as it is now said.
The Vision Pro mixed reality headset is Apple’s first major innovation product category since the Apple Watch. And for that you need as many developers as possible: That’s why Apple has been beating the drums for weeks, releasing beta versions of the visionOS operating system and simulators for the Mac, giving out test devices to developers – and recently inviting them to supervised programming at six locations worldwide. But these Vision Pro Developer Labs seem to be less popular than expected, according to the well-known Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, who has extensive contacts inside Apple.
Exclusive location selection
“From what I’ve heard so far, the Vision Pro developer labs (for testing applications on actual hardware) are understaffed – with a small number of developers,” he wrote on X on Wednesday. What could be the reason for this, however, remains in the dark. Gurman himself has heard some developers criticize where the Vision Pro Developer Labs are held. For example, there is only one location in the US. “Many developers express concern about the absence of Apple sessions on the East Coast,” he said. This is concerning as Cupertino is currently the only option available for the entire United States.” In addition, although Apple holds the events free of charge, it does not bear any travel and/or hotel costs. Some developers shy away from these costs.
In addition to Cupertino, Apple also offers headset development laboratories in London, Shanghai, Tokyo, Munich, and Singapore. Other locations are not offered. To participate in lab appointments, one must fulfill certain requirements.” These appointments are exclusively available to members of the Apple Developer Program or Apple Developer Enterprise Program who are at least 18 years old.” You must have an existing vision app under active development or an existing iPadOS app or an iOS app,” writes the group.
Wait and see what the developers think
It’s also conceivable that some developers initially want to wait and see how the market develops – or simply haven’t had the time to deal with the topic. Vision Pro itself is scheduled to be launched in early 2024, first in the US and later in other regions of the world. Due to the high price of at least 3500 US dollars – in Europe more than 4000 euros are expected – the target group for apps could initially remain quite small. According to reports, fewer than 400,000 units will be produced in the first year by the exclusive headset manufacturer, Luxshare. This is mainly due to the complex complexity of the hardware with a dozen cameras, high-resolution micro-OLED displays, and numerous sensors, which some analysts consider to be the most complicated consumer device of all time.
It is still unclear how many developers have decided to borrow a Vision Pro Developer Kit – and how many devices Apple has available. The offering was launched concurrently with the launch of Developer Labs. Apple makes numerous specifications here, so only the customer and his “authorized developer” can see the device at all, otherwise it must remain locked away. As with the developer labs, you also receive direct support from Apple.