According to the latest edition of Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter, Apple’s Vision group continues to experiment with various products to follow up on the launch of Apple Vision Pro earlier this year. These new products include a cheaper Apple Vision headset, a second generation of Apple Vision Pro, as well as a version of smart glasses.
Cheaper Apple Vision
Apple Vision Pro was unveiled at the WWDC keynote last year, and the headset will begin shipping to consumers in February 2024. While the launch was highly anticipated, the hype died down pretty quickly because, ultimately, not many people want to pay $3,499 for a mixed reality headset, even if it’s technically pretty impressive.
Apple is undeterred by the declining sales, however – and Gurman says the company remains on track to release a cheaper Apple Vision headset, “probably as soon as next year.” He also reiterates that Apple is still working on a second generation Apple Vision Pro, although the release timeframe is unclear.
It’s not entirely clear what Apple will do to cut costs on this cheaper model, but Gurman remains skeptical about whether or not this product will ultimately increase the popularity of Apple Vision headsets.
What’s the point? This category of device hasn’t captured the imagination of consumers yet, and it’s hard to say when it will. Unless the cheaper model costs less than $1,500, Vision devices will likely remain niche products.
Apple Smart Glasses
Gurman adds that in addition to two new Apple Vision headsets, the Vision group is still experimenting with display-less smart glasses, similar to Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses.
Gurman first reported on this idea in February, and it seems the company is still holding out on the product. He also adds that “the idea of making true augmented reality glasses has been put on hold due to technical challenges,” so it will likely be a while before we see a real “Apple Glass” product that many of us have been imagining for years.
Despite this, Meta Ray Bans are still a pretty cool product. They allow you to easily take photos and videos on the go, and you can also talk to them as a voice assistant. In addition, you can use Meta AI to answer questions about things around you since it has access to the camera feed. They are also lightweight and start at around $329. I think it would be pretty interesting if Apple launched such a product.
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