Apple Vision Pro pre-orders open, allowing customers to spend $3,900 on new goggles

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Apple’s Vision Pro has opened for pre-orders, allowing customers to buy the smart headset, which can cost more than $3,900.

Customers in the US can now order the headset ahead of its release date on 2 February. There had been much speculation that the Vision Pro would immediately sell out – but at the time of publication, around 15 minutes after it opened, Apple showed estimated shipping dates just a few days after launch.

Various rumours have suggested that Apple is severely limited in how many of the headsets it can make. The troubles seem to relate largely to the two detailed displays in front of each eye, and reports have suggested only a million or so of them can be made each year.

Pre-orders opening also meant that Apple revealed for the first time what it meant that the Vision Pro was priced “from” $3,499. The base version comes with 256GB of storage, but Apple will also sell 512GB and 1TB models – with the largest costing $3,899, before tax.

It also meant that Apple revealed the accessories it will sell for the Vision Pro. They include an extra battery, a hard travel case, as well as additional bands, light seals and the “optical inserts” that are used if people wear glasses.

Apple says that users will be able to share their Vision Pro, but that they may have to buy extra light seals and straps to ensure they fit properly. The light seals cost $199, as do the batteries and travel case, and additional straps are $99 each.

The pre-order page also confirmed that customers will be able to have the Vision Pro shipped to them, rather than being required to pick it up in store. Some had speculated that the complications of fitting and other specific requirements of the Vision Pro could mean that Apple would require customers to pick up their headsets in person.

Buying the Vision Pro requires an updated iPhone or iPad with Face ID, which is used to scan a users’ face and decide what size accessories to include. If customers wear glasses, they are asked to scan their prescription so that Apple can provide the proper optical inserts.

Apple is still yet to say when the Vision Pro will be available in countries other than the US, apart from indicating that it will arrive in “more countries later this year”. It warned that people buying it in the US and taking it somewhere else would run into issues: customers may not be able to use location-restricted apps, need US-registered accounts, and would not be able to contact support.

It did say that US-based customers who travel internationally will have a “consistent” experience, and noted that they can use a special Travel Mode that “adapts” the Vision Pro “to the unique motion of commercial air travel to give you the best experience”.