Microsoft Announces HoloLens 2 Development Edition

After announcing the HoloLens 2 earlier this year, Microsoft has just announced the Development Edition of the HoloLens 2. You get the same hardware in the Development Edition as the regular edition- the difference is only in bundled software. The Developer Edition gets you $500 in Azure credits, in addition to a three month trial of Unity Pro and the Unity PiXYZ plugin.

HoloLens 2 Developer Edition- somewhat curiously- comes in at the same price point as the normal HoloLens 2. It’s unclear what the point of having both versions is.

With the previous version of the HoloLens, the Development Edition was quite a bit cheaper than the Commercial Suite. The Commercial Suite, which was announced first, came with a few enterprise features and was otherwise identical.

If this is anything to go by, maybe those few enterprise features are the only reason you would want to pick up a HoloLens 2 over a HoloLens 2 Development Edition? According to the above table, the Development Edition is also not intended to be used for commercial purposes.

Interestingly, this time around Microsoft is also offering a $99/month financing plan for the Development Edition.

Microsoft is not currently offering HoloLens 2 for pre-order, but you can sign up to be the first to know when it will be available.