An Apple Vision Pro successor may need to be tethered to an iPhone or Mac
A new report says that a more mass-market and lower-cost version of the Apple Vision Pro headset won't be as much of a stand-alone device as the existing model is.
Apple's headset could get a second model as soon as late 2025
Apple has been working on prototypes of a lower-cost AR/VR headset, following the debut of its original version. The future device is rumored to cut costs by narrowing the field of vision and other changes.
The major savings will come from requiring it be tethered to an iPhone or Mac for its computing power.
Such a move would both dramatically reduce the weight as well as the cost, along with an all-new design. Prototypes of the device, codenamed N107, are already being developed.
Bloomberg's latest "Power On" newsletter has suggested that the lower-cost version would be called "Apple Vision" to distinguish it from the existing Apple Vision Pro.
One possible change in the lower-cost model would be to remove the EyeSight feature that shows the user's eyes to people in the room. Reducing the quality of the internal VR screens has also been considered, according to reports.
While a price range of $1,500 to $2,000 has been suggested, Bloomberg reports that the company hopes to debut the lower-priced version by the end of 2025. It is still unclear if the lower price will improve demand for the spatial-computing headset.
Work on the next-generation version of the self-contained Apple Vision Pro, codenamed N109, is also proceeding -- contrary to previous rumors. The second-gen Apple Vision Pro is expected to support faster processors -- given that the M4 is already shipping in the iPad Pro. Also expected are improved external cameras.
The company hopes to reduce the weight and increase the comfort of the otherwise similar-looking version of the Apple Vision Pro. The new unit is thought to be unlikely to debut before late 2026.
Rumor Score: Possible
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Apple Less Vision Pro?
A survey here said that average yearly household spend on electronics was $1480:
https://pirg.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Repair-Saves-Families-Big_USP_Jan2021_FINAL1a.pdf
$319 on major appliances like fridge, washing machine.
$120 on small appliances like microwave, blender, kitchen products.
$1042 on TV, phones, consoles etc.
$3500 is more than 3x the average yearly spend on non-appliance electronics. $1500 is still high for a lot of families but it is attainable for a much larger amount of people. Apple's ASP for Macs (~25m units) is around $1300.
The Meta Quest headsets at $500 sell around 5-10m units per year. Apple can probably get close to this unit volume at a $1500 price point.
They may have an opportunity to partner with console manufacturers. The console manufacturers are struggling to sell their VR hardware but if a Vision Pro could be used with a Playstation, that would be a win for both companies. The console companies don't make much from the hardware, mainly the games:
https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/18/24104649/sony-pausing-playstation-vr2-production
It would be nice to have a lightweight wearable that can be plugged into a USB-C port on a Mac and have multiple 30"+ OLED displays show up. Wireless would be best of course but bandwidth is heavy for 4K90 and there's latency involved with heavy encoding. A cable would be ok in addition to wireless and using an iPhone as the processing device would be portable.
Apple Vision Pro minus EyeSight, minus M-chip, storage, RAM, fan assembly, only R-chip, lenses, cameras, sensors, displays can be much lighter and most likely somewhere around $1500-2000.
I personally feel that Apple releasing the first version of an entirely new product under the “Pro” designation created a bit of confusion when a lot of the current features are consumer oriented while the device itself is probably better geared toward business users. Business buyers are far less likely to choke on the AVP’s current price point because they can depreciate the device as a business computer over a fairly short period of time.
Obviously there are OEMs and system integrators that are sourcing AVPs as component parts of larger systems, for example in medical applications. I would imagine that business buyers would prefer that Apple continue to enhance the AVP hardware and software on a regular basis so they can expand the number of applications that benefit from its use. The high cost is not an inhibitor in true “Pro” applications.
Has Apple ever released a “Pro” version of a new product prior to having the base version available?
Are the features being queued up as candidates for downgrading based on Apple’s product vision or based on an assumed bill of materials cost for the current model? The reason I ask is because Apple may take a different approach with the AV Basic in addition to tethering. Rather than trying to cost reduce the current AVP Apple could significantly alter the base model’s design more significantly, for example going with hand controllers or other control mechanisms like an Apple Watch and/or a smart wrist band that are not as processing intensive. Or they could bake Apple Intelligence deeply into the design. From a Pro standpoint the AVP could also move up to M4/M5 with more focus on business apps, business buyers, graphic designers with the need for speed, etc., while holding its price close to where it is.
Hopefully Apple designed the current AVP with Apple Intelligence heavily in mind. Apple Intelligence in its later versions could quickly escalate platform requirements up to a point where the first release version of AVP becomes something akin to the current Mac Pro. If lower cost AV versions are built with Apple Intelligence as a primary use case they could become akin to the Mac Studio and its current relationship to the Mac Pro, at least for Apple Intelligence heavy applications.
Perhaps a cost reduction approach doesn’t make as much sense as a purpose built design/redesign. Apple Intelligence may be much more influential and impactful on several upcoming Apple products going forward, much like Microsoft’s Copilot is creating a bifurcation between pre-Copilot PCs and post-Copilot PCs. That is, if everything AI related goes according to plan.
I can't see that getting $1000 of the price.
if you gonna do that, i would pay 300 max,