Apple’s not given up on VR & AR yet, analyst claims

Jitendra Soni
Vision Pro Apple

The original Vision Pro was not very well received, yet Apple is working on its successor along with a budget Apple Vision Pro headset.

Apple analyst Mark Gurman has said that Apple is unfazed by the lackluster performance of the first-generation Vision Pro headset.

He said that the steep price tag of $3499 was the primary reason behind the low sales numbers of the Vision Pro. However, he suggested that the company is still working on a cheaper version of Vision Pro, named Apple Vision. This cheaper Apple Vision headset is “probably coming as early as next year,” according to Gurman.

He hopes the Apple Vision will be way more affordable than the Vision Pro and suggested that a pricier headset will not be on the table.

“This category of devices has yet to capture the imagination of consumers, and it’s hard to say when that will happen. If the cheaper model isn’t less than $1,500, the Vision devices will probably remain niche products,” Gurman said to 9To5Mac.

Besides the more affordable Vision Pro, the company is reportedly working on Meta’s Ray Ban-like smart glasses. These smart glasses will not have a built-in display and will likely draw power from an iPhone or a MacBook tethered to it.

This is not the first time we’ve heard about compact smart wearables from Apple. In February, Gurman reported on the Apple glasses, stating that the “idea of making true augmented reality glasses has been tabled due to technical challenges.”

However, the “Apple Glass” is still in the works, though no timeline is attached to its launch. With the new and powerful AI-infused Siri, Apple’s multi-modal smart glasses complete the ecosystem.