Apple's $3,499 Vision Pro finally gets release date

World's largest technology company Apple has announced its long-awaited Vision Pro headset will go on sale on 2 February in the United States.

US customers have been given the option to pre-order the $3,499 mixed-reality device from mid-January, though no date has been set for launch for other countries.

It is the first major new product to be released by the firm since the Apple Watch launched in 2015.

After years of rumours during development, the company revealed the headset in June 2023.

But there have been issues since then. According to the Financial Times, the tech giant has more than halved its production forecasts, dropping from an estimated one million units to 400,000 in 2024.

As well as the release date, Apple also announced the device will have 256GB of storage, and it clarified that the headset's eye-tracking technology can function by monitoring just one dominant eye, for people who do not have full use of both their eyes.

But interestingly the firm is trying to separate the headset from other devices on the market, telling developers for the device to instead brand their apps as "spatial computing".

"Don't describe your app experience as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), extended reality (XR), or mixed reality (MR)," it said in a blog post targeting developers.

Apple has also released a trailer online, featuring characters from films donning goggles and helmets, in what feels like an attempt to recreate the hype around the launch of the iPhone in 2007.

If successful, this could be a new multi-billion dollar source of income for Apple. But as many people all over the world struggle to afford life's basics, the high price tag is likely to keep this in the realm of a toy for the well-off.