That cheaper Vision Pro you were waiting for? Don’t hold your breath. Apple reportedly shelved the project to redirect its focus on creating smart glasses to compete with Meta’s popular products.
Previous rumors indicated Apple would release a stripped-down version of its $3,499 Vision Pro headset by 2027. But Apple execs reportedly told employees last week that it’s putting the lighter, cheaper headset on the back burner.
Apple shelves cheaper Vision Pro
Apple pitched the Vision Pro headset, released to much fanfare in 2024, as a game-changer. And, indeed, the headset earned raves for its technological excellence. However, its fat price tag, antisocial vibe and a lack of immersive content made it a tough sell.
It was also viewed as a stepping stone toward the real prize: augmented reality smart glasses. These futuristic devices would be capable of discreetly displaying timely info, like showing the correct route to take through a busy town square or identifying an important contact at a cocktail party.
Now, with artificial intelligence ruling the tech landscape and augmented reality smart glasses the buzzy new product category, Apple seems behind the curve to many observers. Putting the brakes on the cheaper, lighter version of the Vision Pro would free up Apple’s engineers to leapfrog straight to the future.
Smart glasses are the future, and Apple needs to get there fast
Wednesday’s scoop from Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman cites the typical anonymous “people with knowledge of the matter” who say Apple shut down development of the cheaper Vision Pro.
They describe Apple’s move as a way to accelerate its bid to compete in an emerging product category capable of tapping AI in useful ways.
“The company is working on at least two types of smart glasses,” Gurman wrote. “The first one, dubbed N50, will pair with an iPhone and lack its own display. Apple aims to unveil this model as soon as next year, ahead of a release in 2027…. Apple is also working on a version with a display — something that could challenge the just-released Meta Ray-Ban Display. The Apple version had been planned for 2028, but the company is now looking to accelerate development.”
Apple’s smart glasses will depend heavily on two key technologies that haven’t exactly killed it lately: Apple Intelligence and Siri. Apple’s AI rollout didn’t go as smoothly or as successfully as planned. And the long-promised Siri with an AI upgrade is woefully delayed.
Apple wants the so-called LLM Siri, originally planned for release this year, to be capable of handling the types of complicated queries and commands that chatbots like ChatGPT field with ease. The smarter Siri, which could make voice interactions with smart glasses and other devices satisfying, likely won’t arrive until 2026.
Meanwhile, Meta keeps improving its smart glasses. The first version, called Ray-Ban Stories, came out in 2021. Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses scored with the public in 2023. And just last month, the company released Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses. The $799 smart glasses come with a built-in display in their right lens and a Neural Band that recognizes the user’s hand movements to control the device.
Cheaper Vision Pro might still happen
If Apple wants to compete with Meta’s smart glasses, it needs to pick up the pace. Sidelining development of the cheaper Vision Pro is one part of the equation. Making Apple Intelligence and Siri more useful is another.
Both those things need to happen in addition to nailing the hardware side for Apple’s smart glasses.
And, if you had your heart set on a Vision Pro but just couldn’t pull the trigger on the first-gen model, don’t give up all hope.
Apple still plans to release an upgraded Vision Pro with a faster chip as soon as this year. (In fact, it just popped up in a leaked documents from the Federal Communications Commission.) And the decision to put development of the cheaper Vision Pro on ice doesn’t mean the device will never see the light of day.
