Apple invites devs from New York and Sydney to try the Vision Pro with new Lab locations

One would think that the Quest 3 being out would subdue the pain of having to wait until next year for the VIsion Pro, but not really. I mean, we can probably suspect that the Vision Pro will become one of the best VR headsets around, just like the Quest 3 did.

But how will Apple achieve that? After all, Meta’s headset has a solid standalone mode with a Store that offers tons of awesome experiences. And Meta has managed to secure those over the years, as different Quest models came out.

Sure, the Vision Pro is said to run iPad apps, but… What about brand new, native versions or known apps or entirely new ones?

Well, the Big A is working on that. And one of the initiatives that the company has started is Developer Labs. Essentially, these are dedicated spaces around the world, where developers can go to try the Vision Pro. And two new locations just got added to the list.



It was about time, but Australia finally got its own Developer Lab and the US — with it being large and all — finally got a second lab, this time in New York. So in total, the locations right now are:

• Cupertino, CA, USA
• London, England, UK
• Munich, Germany
• Shanghai, China
• Tokyo, Japan
• New York City, USA
• Sydney, Australia
• Singapore

And that’s great! More locations is always better than less, right? Still, the criticism that it’s nowhere near as enough still stands.

Sure, for devs interested in VR, who are living close to these areas: the trip is a no-brainer and it could probably happen over the weekend. But for others, who need to travel to the other side of the country — or, you know — to an entirely different country… Definitely not as easy.

Oh, and it’d probably be costly too.

Freelance devs aren’t always in the most stable of positions when in pursuit of new financial avenues, which is what — supposedly — Apple is ultimately offering with these Developer Labs.

So, TL;DR: in most cases, you’ll have to spend a bit in order to get to see the Vision Pro live. And, you know, be an existing developer too, which is another topic entirely.

But there’s another side to this criticism: with how certain the XR industry is that this type of technology is the future, making this trip may not be an expense, but an investment. And maybe — just maybe — it’d be worth it, if the Vision Pro turns out to be everything that Apple has shown thus far.