The Apple Vision Pro recently celebrated its first birthday, but the headset may already be losing momentum – a new report suggests that Apple has now halted work on its high-end successor.
According to The Information, Apple has “told at least one supplier that it has suspended work on its next high-end headset.” The reason for the move? A contributing factor is apparently that analysts and supply chain partners “have flagged slowing sales of the $3,500 device.”
That reported drop in sales is something we also heard last month from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, but it doesn’t mean Apple is throwing in the towel on its ‘spatial computing’ headset.
The Information’s sources suggest that the company “is still working on releasing a more affordable Vision product” that’ll have fewer features than the current model and will land “before the end of 2025”.
Apparently, Apple’s original plan for its Vision line was to split it into ‘Pro’ and standard models, just like the iPhone. This move doesn’t necessarily mean the end of that ‘Pro’ model, with The Information stating that “it’s possible that Apple could resume work on a high-end Vision product down the road.” However, it could have major implications for the mixed-reality headset space.
Rumors have been growing about a high-end Meta Quest Pro 2 and a Samsung XR/VR headset, while Meta also announced in April that its Horizon OS from the Quest series will open up to new headsets from Lenovo and Asus. Given that the Vision Pro remains the flag-bearer for high-end mixed-reality experiences, this rumored move from Apple could potentially deflate the space and hit those projects.
A reality check for the Vision Pro?
We recently learned at WWDC 2024 that the Apple Vision Pro will finally be getting a global launch in several countries in late June, plus some cool new visionOS 2 tricks.
That doesn’t suggest that Apple is slowing development on its ‘face computer’ – and it’s important to note that this report from The Information is still only speculation. But the decision would tally with other recent Apple moves, like the reported cancelation of the Apple Car project, and a $3,500 (or £2,800 / AU$5,300) headset continues to be a hard sell in economically challenging times.
TechRadar’s Editor at Large Lance Ulanoff recently summed up the Vision Pro conundrum by stating, “I love Apple’s revolutionary headset, so why do I hardly ever use it?“. The problems, aside from the price tag, are that its incredible capabilities don’t make the headset lighter or compensate for the “plain weirdness of wearing a computer on your face.”
It seems that Apple’s next move will be fixing those issues with a cheaper, lighter Vision headset sometime next year. Only then can it create the upgrade path to a Vision Pro 2 or a Vision Pro successor, which will hopefully be retrieved from the cryogenic chamber that Apple has reportedly placed it in – for now.
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mark.wilson@futurenet.com (Mark Wilson)
