Apple hitting roadblocks in Vision Pro assembly

Posted:
in Apple Vision Pro edited July 2023

A new report claims that major manufacturing are plaguing Apple Vision Pro assembly, with big cuts not just in 2023, but for the foreseeable future as well.

Apple Vision Pro
Apple Vision Pro



Apple will of course not confirm any orders or volumes of manufacturing for any of its devices. But a previous report about Sony as an exclusive supplier of the Vision Pro's screens said that company's maximum was 900,000 displays in the first year.

However, according to the Financial Times, Apple was actually expecting to make a million of the Vision Pro in a year -- and now cannot. It's claimed that Apple has now dropped its orders to around 400,000 Vision Pro units in 2024.

Reportedly, this is due to the sheer complexity of manufacturing the device, according to unspecified sources "close" to Apple and to supplier Luxshare. It's believed that Luxshare is the sole assembler of the Vision Pro.

The manufacturing difficulties are said to center on both the internal displays and the external, outward-facing and curved display. It's said that the yield from this device, the number of defect-free units that can be completed, is a major difficulty.

UK newspaper the Financial Times also reports that the second generation of the Apple Vision Pro has been delayed, though it is not clear how. The second generation is reportedly to feature displays made by Samsung and LG in, presumably, a different process.

That second generation model is expected to cost hundreds of dollars less than the first one. It's expected to be released in 2025.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    XedXed Posts: 2,855member
    If Sony could only offer a max of 900k displays, which would only work for 450k Vision Pro devices, then Apple never could've had 1000k on order since that would mean Sony would have to produce 2000k displays.

    Because of that, anything else about complexity of the build is pointless unless there's speculation of a price increase and/or a delay beyond what Apple has promised. I see no such change.

    tl;dr: Nothing to see here. Move along.
    williamlondonbyronlwilliamhwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 15
    danoxdanox Posts: 3,360member
    From now, until Apple releases, the Apple Vision Pro, get used to another variation on the theme Apple is ……….
    gilly33watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 15
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,930member
    This is one of the reasons why it costs $3500. Apple knows it's gonna be a pain in the ass to assemble and it would be a nightmare for them if it was affordable right now. And yes, before anyone quotes and chimes in the other part is the amount of next gen tech in the headset. 
    byronlwilliamhravnorodomwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 15
    Yeah this really is meant as a super cool status symbol and a marketing campaign for the gen 2 version. 
    williamlondonbyronlravnorodomtyler82watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 15
    No way a “lower cost” version is released in 2025.  $3500 is the baseline — get used to it.
    danox
  • Reply 7 of 15
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 13,086member
    Yeah this really is meant as a super cool status symbol and a marketing campaign for the gen 2 version. 
    Nah. It’s a first-gen product and one that is about half the price of the first-gen Macintosh adjusted for inflation. Gotta start somewhere. 
    williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 15
    williamhwilliamh Posts: 1,045member
    Firstly Xed made a great point about the numbers.  Secondly, the article is about a supply problem, not a demand problem.  Why would Apple cut orders?
    Xedwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 15
    multimediamultimedia Posts: 1,057member
    Demand will outstrip supply for several years. It’s a high end computer not goggles. I’m going to wait for an M3 model at least, maybe longer. I’m an early adopter who lives alone, but for this product I don’t feel any compelling curiosity to buy one of these right away. Maybe it’s because I’ll be older than 77 when it starts shipping. I like my screens away from my face. I have a 65” QD-OLED SONY TV (A95K), attached to my M2 Pro Mac mini only about 6-8 feet from my eyes. That’s immersive enough for me.
    edited July 2023 radarthekatgatorguyrezwitswatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 15
    XedXed Posts: 2,855member
    No way a “lower cost” version is released in 2025.  $3500 is the baseline — get used to it.
    If you’re talking about Vision Pro then you may have a point although I see those costs dropping, too. If you mean the Apple Vision product category then you aren’t even close to accurate.
    williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 15
    boxcatcherboxcatcher Posts: 274member
    > major manufacturing are plaguing

    Hmm
    blurpbleepbloopwatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 15
    gotwakegotwake Posts: 115member
    I think this has been the theme since iPhone 1.0. Someone “in the know” says Apple is having trouble producing a new product. They do this so they can get a stock pullback so they can buy it. 
    muthuk_vanalingamwilliamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 15
    pulseimagespulseimages Posts: 656member
    Never buy the first generation of anything.
    williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 15
    XedXed Posts: 2,855member
    Never buy the first generation of anything.
    Well that's fucking stupid.
    edited July 2023 rezwitsfolk fountainM68000williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 15
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,562member
    I can’t tell if the problem is manufacturing the displays or the integration of the displays into the final product. 
    watto_cobra
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