Although Apple Vision Pro is an interesting piece of technology and engineering, it failed in the commercial market and could not fulfill its apparent potential. The bulky design and $3,500 price tag made Vision Pro inaccessible to many Apple customers and enthusiasts.
However, the Cupertino tech giant is not putting the Vision Pro out to pasture because it has poured billions of dollars into the program. Instead, Apple wants to make it cheaper, lighter, and integrated with some of its best-selling products. Rumors about a cheaper Vision Pro model began circulating late last year, and Mark Gurman's latest Power On newsletter sheds more light on the upcoming models.
Gurman says Apple has two new Vision Pro models under development, each catering to a specific customer group. The first model aims to be lighter and cheaper to address the current model's main flaws. The Vision Pro headset weighs 1.5 pounds (680 grams), which makes it tiring to wear for a long time.
The $3,500 price is also believed to be one reason for the headset's commercial failure. It was previously reported that the cheaper Vision Pro might arrive in 2027.
According to Gurman, the second Vision Pro model can be plugged into a Mac device and used to watch content. It is said to offer the same level of immersion as the original Vision Pro headset.
"The idea is to create an ultra-low-latency system for streaming a user's Mac display or for connecting to high-end enterprise applications. Some customers have been using the Vision Pro for things like viewing imaging during surgery or for flight simulators. Those are two areas where a user would want the least amount of lag possible — something that can't be guaranteed by a fully wireless system."
Looking beyond these two new models, Gurman revealed that Apple engineers are working towards a grand vision set by Tim Cook: creating true augmented reality glasses that users can comfortably wear all day. The alleged Apple AR glasses could resemble Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses but with a touch of Siri and visual intelligence.
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