After announcing that Vision Pro was to be made available to developers soon after WWDC 2023, that day has come, with Apple opening up sign-ups to receive a developer kit of the headset.
In its developer section, you can apply for a 'loaner' device where you can borrow one for a certain amount of time, and if you're successful, will also be given an onboarding session with a representative to make sure Vision Pro is set up correctly. You'll also be able to check in with 'Apple experts' to help make your app work as best as it can for Vision Pro.
If you're not a developer but have an Apple Developer Account, you're going to be declined, as this is strictly for developers in making sure their apps work with Vision Pro.
We've been here before where Apple opened up signups for its Developer Kit with an Apple silicon Mac back in 2020, where developers could use a Mac mini with an early version of the M1 chip. So we may start to see similar benchmarks and testing once these headsets start to arrive for developers.
How to sign up
Before you press apply, you have to make sure that you meet the following requirements:
- Account Holder in the Apple Developer Program
- Provide details about your team’s development skills and existing apps
- Agree to the Terms and Conditions
Once your application is submitted, Apple will review it and, if approved, you'll receive Vision Pro and you can start to test it out with your app.
But once you get the headset, it has to be in a private place, "accessible only by you and your authorized developers,” and Apple will check in to make sure it's being used, as you said in the application form.
It's not clear as yet if there will be a fee for this, as there was for the Apple silicon Developer Kit, which was $500, but we wouldn't be surprised to see a $1000 fee for Vision Pro to gain access to it as well.
Regardless, it should be an interesting time as developers will start to try out and judge the headset, and it could also spur many to create brand-new apps they never considered before.
