Apple seems to be planning on making a new version of the Vision Pro that would be reliant on a tethered Mac or iPhone, as reported by Bloomberg.
In the latest edition of Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that prototypes of Apple’s lower-cost Vision headset, are codenamed N107. Apple is reportedly working on an affordable version of the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset. The new affordable version is expected to work like an accessory for Mac and iPhone.
Apple Vision to get cheaper?
The report also explained that to cut-down on the cost of the device, Apple can remove the EyeSight display, the external display that shows a user’s eyes on the outside. The company is also likely to lower the display resolution of the internal screens with narrower field of view.
Early reports suggested that the Vision Pro during its launch entered a market crowded with lower-cost rivals from Meta Platforms, HTC and others that have mostly been confined to the video game market and failed to find a mass audience.
Gurman also explained that “Apple hopes to launch the cheaper Vision headset as early as the end of 2025. This has been the plan since before the Vision Pro was first unveiled last year.”
The future ahead
According to Reuters, Ming-Chi Kuo, an Apple analyst, had explained earlier that Apple had started to cut orders for the Vision Pro even before it launched outside of the US. His sources seem to claim that Apple expects to sell only around 400,000 to 450,000 units in 2024, compared to what Kuo says was a “market consensus” of 700,000 to 800,000. Reportedly, the demand for the $3,500 Vision Pro saw a fall much lower than the company was expecting. It looks like the ‘more affordable’ mixed reality headset might be the primary focus of Apple, as it can help in gaining back its popularity.
Currently, the company is also reportedly working on the second-generation Vision Pro headset. Despite rumours that it may abandon the successor altogether, Gurman notes that is not the case.
In addition to the ‘affordable’ Vision Pro version, the company seems to be working on a model that has been named N109 internally and appears to be similar to the current generation Apple Vision Pro headset, Bloomeberg reports.
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