China approves Apple Vision Pro for launch weeks ahead of expected release

The Apple Vision Pro went on sale in the United States this past February and while it was an initial hit among early adopters, it's that that retail interest in the mixed reality headset has started to die down. There has so far been little information on when we can expect the spatial computer to go on sale outside the United States, but there have been reports that something could happen within weeks. Apple's own website simply says that the Apple Vision Pro will go on sale internationally in 2024.

Now, we might have our best indication yet that a larger launch is in the offing and we might even know one of the countries that will be included in the second wave of Apple Vision Pro launches. China is one country that had previously been tipped to be involved, and now the country's regulatory outfit has approved the Apple Vision Pro for sale.

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The news was shared by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in a post on the X social network that confirmed China's Quality Certification Center approved the Apple Vision Pro for sale on Monday. This is the last major hurdle that Apple needs to overcome before the Apple Vision Pro headset can go on sale in China, suggesting that a launch is imminent.

Previous reports, again by Mark Gurman, had hinted that Apple was planning on taking the Apple Vision Pro global following its WWDC event. That'll kick off on May 10 and run for most of that week which means that we may see confirmation of the launch at the event itself. If so, we can then expect the devices to go up for preorder possibly the Friday of that week before they officially go on sale a week or so later.

If China is indeed one of the countries involved, questions now remain over which others will also see an Apple Vision Pro launch. A previous MacRumors report had hinted that Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom would all be included, with Gurman recently sharing information that employees from some of those countries had been given training ahead of the launch. Not all of those countries were listed, however, with Canada and the United Kingdom two notable absentees.

If a launch is imminent, concerns still remain over how much the headset will cost locally. US customers pay $3,499 for the 256GB model with additional storage available for those willing to pay more. Apple is thought to be working on a new, cheaper version but it isn't set to be available for some time yet.