Apple Vision Pro delivery timelines slipped into March for some people less than an hour after preorders opened.
David Heaney
Preorders opened today at 5am PT, and the first deliveries are set to arrive on February 2. For orders placed after the first few minutes, the delivery window listed depends on the storage tier (256GB, 512GB, or 1TB) and the US state of the delivery address.
Apple Vision Pro delivery dates already being pushed back a few weeks. Quickest model you can get right now is the base model on Feb 13-16. Guessing this will be unavailable soon.
— Dan Barbera (@danbarbera) January 19, 2024
512/1TB model March 1st-8th 😳 pic.twitter.com/kfT6BkqrUj
At 5:16am PT, less than 20 minutes after preorders opened, an Ohio-based MacRumors staffer posted a screenshot to X showing a delivery window of the first week of March, which he said was for both the 512GB model and 1TB model.
While UploadVR has already placed an order for launch day, at around 6am PT we tried placing a second order with a New York address to check the delivery estimate, finding it to also be pushed out to the first week of March. In-store pickup in remains available near launch for some storage models at some New York stores, but not all.
This backlog of more than a month for some comes a week after a reliable supply chain analyst claimed Apple will only have somewhere between 60,000 and 80,000 units of Vision Pro ready for February 2. While the per-state delivery system somewhat obfuscates the situation, I expect Apple will sell through this launch batch by the end of today, if it hasn't already.
For those who want to try out Vision Pro before ordering, in-store demos will be available from launch day on February 2.
David Heaney
Just before Vision Pro was unveiled The Information's Wayne Ma reported it would be Apple's "most complicated" device ever with many components tightly packed under a curved three-dimensionally formed glass frontplate, reportedly proving challenging for production workers. These challenges reportedly led the originally planned manufacturer to hand over the project in 2022 after more than four years of preparations.
The main constraint for Vision Pro's production though, Ma reported, was that its near-4K OLED microdisplays from Sony are even more difficult and expensive to manufacture, with low yield.
South Korean tech news outlet The Elec reported that Sony can't manufacture more than 900,000 of the microdisplays per year at most, limiting Vision Pro production to less than half a million units since Apple needs two per headset. The Financial Times also reported that Apple was unhappy with Sony's yield of defect-free microdisplays.
Apple Vision Pro's Sony-supplied near-4K OLED microdisplays
OLED microdisplays are manufactured directly onto silicon wafers with a process very different to smartphone or TV-sized OLED panels. While the basic technology itself isn't new, until very recently it was mainly only used in low-volume products like high-end camera viewfinders and in some industrial smart glasses. Mass production of near-4K OLED microdisplays is only just coming online this year.
A Chinese supply chain analysis startup estimated the cost of the near-4K microdisplays to Apple as $350 each, $700 together, reflecting the low production capacity and yield.
Apple is in talks with other OLED microdisplay suppliers for future Vision headsets, The Financial Times also reported, which could expand production capacity and lower the cost. For the first generation Vision Pro however, supply will remain limited - so if demand after this initial surge remains strong, it could remain backlogged for months on end.
via Mint VR