(Yicai) June 11 -- The Vision Pro will start taking pre-orders on June 13 in the Chinese mainland, where Apple’s mixed reality headset is priced at 16 percent to 18 percent more than it is in the United States.

The 256 gigabyte, 512 GB, and 1 terabyte versions are priced from CNY29,999 (USD4,135), CNY31,499 (USD4,345), and CNY32,999 (USD4,550) respectively in China, compared with USD3,499, USD3,699, and USD3,899 in the US market, according to Apple's website.

The Vision Pro will be available in new markets, including the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore, on June 28, Apple said at its Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday. The device will launch in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom on June 28 and be available from July 12.

Cupertino-based Apple also unveiled its visionOS 2 at yesterday’s event. Available as a free software update this fall, visionOS 2 encompasses a range of new features, including a powerful way to turn photos into three-dimensional memories, intuitive hand gestures to easily access the Home View and important information at a glance, and much more.

The Vision Pro now boasts over 2,000 dedicated apps and 1.5 million apps compatible with iPhone and iPad, Apple noted.

Vision Pro shipments are expected to reach between 400,000 and 450,000 units this year, said Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities. The key to the headset’s success lies in its ecosystem, including its ability to integrate with other Apple products, he added.

Generative artificial intelligence was another key focus of yesterday’s event. Apple introduced a personal intelligence system for iPhone, iPad, and Mac that combines the power of generative AI models with personalized features, which will be available in its next mobile operating system, iOS 18.

Apple also announced it has reached a deal with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT to bring its large language model into Apple's products later this year.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione