Apple Faces Challenges in Generating Interest for a More Affordable, Less Powerful Vision Pro

The Apple Vision Pro, priced at a steep $3,500, is struggling to capture the kind of excitement its features deserve. With impressive visuals and advanced hand tracking, the device initially seemed poised to dominate the VR landscape. Yet, only a few months post-launch, its momentum has largely fizzled out, thanks in no small part to that sky-high price tag. To make it a viable rival to the much more affordable Meta Quest 3, significant changes may be on the horizon—possibly at the cost of the very features that set the Vision Pro apart.

It’s clear that Apple is feeling the heat at its corporate headquarters in Cupertino. They’re apparently in the midst of developing a less expensive variant of the Vision headset, which is rumored to hit shelves next year with a price point between $1,500 and $2,000. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, slashing costs could mean saying goodbye to the EyeSight exterior display—a feature that mirrors users’ eyes but adds little to functionality. Doing away with this from the start might have been a smarter move, potentially lowering the price tag and maintaining initial interest.

This next iteration, currently going by the codename N107, may not pack the punch of the M2 chip utilized in the Vision Pro. Instead, Apple might opt for a less powerful processor, take down the sophistication of external passthrough capabilities, and trim the field of view. However, stripping away these elements risks losing what distinguishes the Vision Pro from the $500 Quest 3.

There are even more drastic scenarios on the table. Gurman reports, drawing on insider information, that Apple has pondered making this budget-friendly Vision depend on a connection to an iPhone or Mac. This shared power source model recalls products like the $1,800 Spacetop G1 and XReal’s Beam Pro, which lean on external devices for power but are far more lightweight than a full-on headset. The Vision Pro’s current external battery design is one of its major design flaws, and adding more cables could severely dampen the user experience for this upcoming version.

Looking further ahead, a revamped Vision Pro is now expected to emerge in 2026, under the codename N109. As per Gurman, this iteration might only need to enhance comfort and boost processing power to reinforce its standing as one of the most visually stunning, albeit costly, headsets available today.

Apple’s commitment to its mixed reality endeavors is unwavering. Despite dialing back sales expectations for 2025, the company continues to ramp up staffing within its VR division. The ultimate goal remains true augmented reality glasses, a vision shared by CEO Tim Cook, though insiders believe this breakthrough is still quite a ways off.

In the meantime, the Meta Quest 3 stands out as the more economical choice. Interestingly, Meta appears to be redirecting some of its focus toward products like the Meta Ray Bans, which have outperformed initial expectations in terms of popularity.

Recent advances in visionOS showcased at WWDC have done little to rekindle the spark for Apple’s inaugural VR headset. Persistent issues, such as lack of comfort and a prohibitive price, make it a tough sell when most people find a laptop or smartphone sufficient for work and entertainment. Requiring the headset to tether to these devices only emphasizes how extraneous it seems compared to portable tech you can easily carry with you wherever you go.