The Apple Vision Pro may not have been the runaway success that most recent Apple products have enjoyed, but that doesn’t mean Apple is giving up on mixed reality just yet. According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple is continuing work on follow-up devices, including a second generation Vision Pro, a cheaper VR headset and a pair of smart glasses.
Gurman's Power on Newsletter claims the cheaper version of the headset is “probably coming as early as next year”. Gurman doesn’t specify when the second-gen Vision Pro will arrive, or what Apple might do to cut the costs on the cheaper model. However Gurman is pretty skeptical that such a device will help bolster the popularity of the entire Vision line.
“What’s the point? This category of devices has yet to capture the imagination of consumers, and it’s hard to say when that will happen,“ Gurman says, “If the cheaper model isn’t less than $1,500, the Vision devices will probably remain niche products.”
Which is true. Virtual reality hasn't really taken off the same way smartphones did, and even then only the cheapest models like the Meta Quest 3 are the ones with any semblance of popularity.
As for the smart glasses, Gurman describes these as something similar to Meta’s Ray Ban glasses. In other words it’s some kind of wearable without the bulky displays, but still not quite the true AR Apple Glasses that have been rumored for a number of years.
Gurman reported back in February that work on true AR glasses has been “tabled due to technical challenges”. Presumably the issue of having a lightweight pair of spectacles do any kind of meaningful AR features without a large battery pack or a hardwired connection to an iPhone or Mac.
The Meta Ray Ban glasses are a lot more limited than Apple Glasses were speculated to be, but the difference is they’re on sale right now — and for a much lower price than the Vision Pro. On top of that it lets you take photos, film video and talk to a voice assistant without a separate device. Given Apple’s big push with Apple Intelligence, that could be the kind of accessory it could benefit from — even if there are privacy concerns to be had with wearable face cameras.
If the run up to the Vision Pro announcement taught us anything, it’s that Apple’s plans are always in flux. So until we get any official announcements from the company, don’t get too excited about the prospect of these wearables coming anytime soon.
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