The Vision Pro, Apple’s first mixed reality headset, was unveiled in June 2023. Apple started distributing the Vision Pro, which has a hefty $3500 price tag, in February of this year. Sales of the Vision Pro have been weak due to its high cost and a dearth of convincing use cases. Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted in a recent interview that the Vision Pro is an early-adopter device meant for people who wish to experience the technologies of the future now.
Apple Postponed the Release Of The Cheaper Vision Pro Until 2027
According to research by Appfigures, the development of new apps for Apple Vision Pro has declined significantly since its launch. In September, only 10 new apps were added to the visionOS App Store, compared to the hundreds of apps released in the first two months.
There have been rumors that Apple is also working on a more affordable version of the Vision Pro, potentially to be released in 2025 or 2026. However, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently revealed that Apple will only release an updated Vision Pro with an Apple M5 chip in 2025. He also stated that the release of Apple’s more affordable Vision Pro is delayed beyond 2027.
As I understand it, production of the cheaper Vision Pro has been delayed beyond 2027 for a while now. This means Apple’s only new head-mounted display device in 2025 will be the Vision Pro with an upgraded M5 processor.
I think what really drove Apple to delay the cheaper…— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) November 3, 2024
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also mentioned in his latest newsletter that Apple is planning to upgrade the chip inside the Apple Vision Pro. Gurman added that Apple is seriously considering a device that offloads computing components to an iPhone and serves as an accessory for content consumption. The Android ecosystem already has similar products, including Xreal, but they have yet to gain traction due to a suboptimal user experience.
The delay of the more affordable Vision Pro suggests that Apple may be re-evaluating its strategy in the mixed-reality market. It will be interesting to see how the updated Vision Pro and the potential iPhone-connected headset will perform, and if Apple can overcome the challenges it currently faces in this evolving spatial computing landscape.
