Apple CEO Tim Cook stands next to the new Apple Vision Pro headphones during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on June 5, 2023 in Cupertino, California.
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apple Open the Vision Pro Development Kit application On Monday, the $3,499 headphones are scheduled to launch in 2024.
When a device starts up, it will need a catalog of applications built for its unique hardware and capabilities. By opening apps to developer kits months before launch, Apple allows select developers to use actual hardware to build and fine-tune apps.
But Apple’s developer kit isn’t a soft launch of the product. The device was loaned, not sold, and it will remain the property of Apple, which will be returned after the Vision Pro headset launches. Apple representatives will also contact developers and provide code reviews to software makers and companies that have rights to the hardware.
Under the Apple Developer Agreement, developers are asked what they’re building and which Apple tools they’ve used in the past, and must agree to nondisclosure agreements, including that the device must remain at the shipping address, cannot be used in public, and must be locked inside a Pelican hard case when not in use.
Family members, friends, roommates or household employees cannot access, view or manipulate the hardware. Apple also prohibits any public discussion of hardware in person or on social media. Apple reserves the right to review the list of employees authorized to work on this device.
Apple in June unveiled the Vision Pro, its new virtual reality product, which the company calls its first “spatial computer.” It’s Apple’s first major new product since the Apple Watch was launched in 2014.
The headset uses powerful cameras and sensors to integrate real-world and virtual objects onto the headset’s high-definition screen located millimeters from the user’s eyes.
Many of the Apple-designed apps previewed in June were essentially iPad apps floating in space. But Apple also hinted that the device will be able to execute full VR apps, immersing users in virtual worlds, and previewing some full custom apps that break out of windows and boxes of computer graphics.
Apple is interested in developers porting VR apps from other platforms and building new apps specifically for the Vision Pro. The company said it would prioritize app makers who want to take advantage of the new hardware’s capabilities, rather than porting existing iPad apps to the device.
Apple said it will also allow some developers to use hardware in “labs” in cities such as London, Shanghai and Tokyo.