When will Apple make smart AR glasses?

There have been many signs that the Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset is struggling to gain traction, both because of its exorbitant price tag and the heavy a design that limits the amount of time it can be worn by most people. What does failure of Vision Pro mean for Apple? on future virtual and augmented reality projects?

Vision Pro Interest

Interest in Vision Pro was high in February when the device first launched as it was a brand new product category for Apple, but it didn't last. The Vision Pro is certainly impressive, and marveling at a butterfly flying so close you feel like you can reach out and touch it, or seeing the rough skin of an elephant as it passes you is mind-blowing, but the magic wears off quickly for most.

Early reviews suggested that the Vision Pro was difficult to wear for long enough to incorporate into a real-world workflow, and it was hard to find a use case that would justify the $3,500 price tag. Nilay Patel of The Verge found the Vision Pro uncomfortably isolating, and Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal felt sick every time I watched the limited amount of Apple Immersive Video content available. Reviewers agreed that watching TV and movies was one of the best uses, but it makes for an expensive TV that can't be watched with someone else.

After a few months, the mood has not changed much. When the Vision Pro was launched, there was a lot of demand at the Apple Store and people wanted to try it in long lines. As soon as the demonstration ended, interest waned. As early as April, there were reports that enthusiasm for the Vision Pro had waned significantly, and by July there were reports of declining sales.

At MacRumors, several of us bought Vision Pros at launch and kept those headsets tucked away in their cases and basically never took them out except to occasionally watch Apple's latest Immersive Video or upgrade to the new visionOS software. MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera uses his Vision Pro about once a week to watch content, but only for about two hours because it hurts to continue using it after that. MacRumors Editor-in-Chief Eric Slyvka and I haven't found a compelling use case, and there's no content compelling enough even for weekly consumption.

I still can't wear the Vision Pro for more than two hours or so because it's too uncomfortable and I'm prone to motion sickness so sometimes I get nauseous if I move around too much. However, the biggest reason I don't use Vision Pro is that I don't want to block out what's around me. Sure, it's great for watching movies, TV shows, or YouTube videos on a screen that looks like it's 100 feet tall, but for that I need to isolate myself. I can't watch with other people and feel really guilty when my cat comes to pay attention and I'm distracted by my headset.

Watching movies on the Vision Pro is no better experience than using a 65-inch TV in front of my sofa. I'm a gamer, but there aren't that many interesting games out there, and a lot of the content available feels like I'm playing a less intuitive mobile game. Using it as a display for my Mac is the best use case I've found, but it's limited to a single display and isn't enough of an improvement over dual monitors to justify the inconvenience.

Aside from our own experience with the Vision Pro, traffic on MacRumors suggests a lack of interest in the headset. When we publish a story about Vision Pro, people don't read it. For example, I wrote Vision Pro's story about the first short film on a headset just yesterday, and it was our least trafficked article of the day. Maybe it wasn't even worth my time, and it's not an isolated incident.

There are cases of corporate use of the Vision Pro, and some people there really love the headset, so it has certain prospects, and Apple sells it to companies. Some examples from Apple and others:

• Porsche. Porsche engineers use Vision Pro to visualize car data in real time.
• KLM – KLM Airlines uses Vision Pro to train technicians on new engine models.
• Law enforcement – California police departments test Vision Pro for surveillance work.
• Medicine. A team of doctors in the UK used Vision Pro for two spinal surgeries. Doctors in India are also reportedly using it for laparoscopic surgeries, and an orthopedic surgeon in Brazil used it in a shoulder operation. UCSD is testing the use of Vision Pro software for minimally invasive surgery.
• Science. MIT students wrote a program to control a robot using gesture support in Vision Pro.

In May, Tim Cook said that "half" of Fortune 100 companies bought Vision Pro, but whether or not these Vision Pro headsets are actually being used is unknown.

Confusion about what's next

With Vision Pro sales falling short of Apple's expectations, we've seen some confusing rumors about Apple's next move. Apple was initially rumored to be working on two new versions of the Vision Pro, one that is cheaper and one that is a direct successor to the current model.

In April Mark Gurman of Bloomberg said Apple won't release a new version of the Vision Pro until late 2026 as Apple tries to find ways to lower the cost of the headset.

In June The Information reported that Apple has suspended work on the second generation Vision Pro to focus on a cheaper model. Later that month, Gurman said Apple could make the next Vision Pro dependent on a tethered iPhone or Mac, which could keep costs down, and he said a cheaper headset could be out as early as late 2025.

At the end of September, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple will start production of a new version of Vision Pro in the second half of 2025, probably in late 2025. He says the most significant upgrade will be a new M5 chip for significantly better processing power, with specs, design and price remaining largely unchanged. This is in contrast to Kuo's February rumor that Apple wouldn't release a new model until 2027.

None of these rumors are actually on the same page, so Apple's next move in AR/VR development is unknown . Kuo says a new Vision Pro with a faster chip will arrive in late 2025, while Gurman and The Information believe we'll be getting a cheaper version of the headset. Even Apple may not yet have a clear decision on what's next, so we'll have to wait and see how the company's AR/VR strategy develops.