We’ve recognized in regards to the Imaginative and prescient Professional for greater than half-a-year now (to not point out the years of rumors), however Apple’s first “spatial computing” system is one among client electronics’ largest query marks heading into the brand new yr. The $3,499 headset was given an “early-2024” launch timeframe when it was unveiled at WWDC in June, however since then, the corporate hasn’t gotten extra particular.

Apple oracle Ming-Chi Kuo provided an early vacation reward on December 24, narrowing down what he believes will probably be a “late-January/early-February” launch date for the system. The analyst says that the primary wave of Imaginative and prescient Execs are being shipped to Apple in a few month, with complete shipments numbering round 500,000 for the complete yr.

The corporate’s exact goal for the yr stays an open-ended query. A couple of month after the system was revealed, studies prompt that Apple has scaled again expectations from round a million to “fewer than 400,000.”

Even the up to date 500,000 determine is small for a corporation of Apple’s large measurement and affect. Remember the fact that the corporate must be delivery greater than 200 million iPhones this calendar yr.

The Imaginative and prescient Professional, nonetheless, is extensively thought to be the most important gambit of Tim Prepare dinner’s 12-year tenure as CEO. Not solely is it a completely new class and kind issue for the corporate, it’s additionally prohibitively priced, even for patrons accustomed to shelling out further for apple merchandise. Add to that VR’s decades-long failure to reside as much as expectations, and also you’ve bought a giant uphill battle in your arms.

Kuo refers to Imaginative and prescient Professional as “Apple’s most necessary product of 2024.” Given the years of hypothesis and all of the money and time the corporate has little question poured into the headset, it’s a troublesome assertion to argue.