Apple is attempting to revive its most troubled product, according to reports.
In 2024, Apple released its Vision Pro headset, its first proper step into augmented reality, which it hailed as the future of computing. It received positive reviews but drew criticism for its high price and relatively limited set of experiences.
Since then, the future of the project has been in doubt. While Apple has been repeatedly rumoured to be working on a new – cheaper, lighter and improved – version of the headset, reports have suggested that a number of those designs have been abandoned.
Now, new reports suggest it is working on a new device, codenamed N224, that completely overhauls the project. One design involves taking the computing parts and putting them into a puck to reduce the size and weight, while another uses the same basic design but new materials to make it lighter, according to Bloomberg.
But the company is still struggling to decide which if any of those designs it should pursue, the same report suggested. And it may not arrive until 2027 or 2028.
Until then, Apple is continuing to publicly suggest that it is still backing the Vision Pro. In comments made after the launch of the new iPhone, incoming chief executive John Ternus acknowledged questions about the headset but suggested it was “the beginning of a long journey”.
“I see it somewhat like the early days of computers. We are at the beginning of a long journey,” he said in an interview with Canal+, comparing it to the early introduction of personal computers.
He pointed to the ways that the headset is being used in surgery and film production, promising that “we will continue to grow and find more and more compelling use cases”. “I believe it has a very promising future,” he said.
The new reports come as Meta revealed its “VR Glasses”, a new and dramatically lighter augmented reality headset that it hopes will revive interest in the Metaverse. They cost only $1,300 – just over a third of the Vision Pro’s price – and are considerably lighter than Apple’s own headset.
Apple is also reported to be working on its own smart glasses, akin to the ones offered by Meta. It remains unclear exactly what features those will include – and Meta’s version has run into such vociferous criticism that they have become widely known as “pervert glasses”, because of accusations that they allow people to film others without their consent.
