It's always been clear that the Vision Pro is simply Apple's first foray into the world of AR/VR headsets, and that a cheaper Apple Vision product will follow, but there have been mixed reports about when we might see one until now.
So far, we've seen reports suggesting that a non-Pro Apple Vision headset will be released in 2025, 2026, and 2027 — with the latter saying that the company is “ramping up” development work on…
A Cheaper Apple Product Vision Terms
Back in October of last year, Bloomberg reported that the device was on schedule, with a launch planned “as early as 2025.” Admittedly, Mark Gurman’s signature phrasing is a bit loose; technically, any year after 2025 would be appropriate.
Shortly after, Ming-Chi Kuo disagreed, saying that Apple was prioritizing an updated Vision Pro, with a cheaper model delayed until 2027.
By yesterday, Gurman had disagreed with both Kuo and his own earlier forecast, saying there was no sign of an updated Vision Pro in the works, but that a more affordable headset wasn’t likely to arrive until 2026.
What to Expect from a Non-Pro Apple Vision
Apple will have to tread carefully when releasing a cheaper model. On the one hand, it definitely needs to get the price down to a more realistic level for something that's going to be more than a very niche early adopter.
On the other hand, that can't eliminate too many reasons why someone would choose Apple's Vision product over any of the existing competing products, like Meta's Quest headsets.
EyeSight will certainly be dropped
EyeSight was one of the headline features of the Vision Pro, with Apple arguing that it had practical benefits, telling people when the user can see them, as well as psychological benefits, reducing the isolation experienced by someone using a spatial computer.
However, it is an expensive feature that requires an extra display, and the evidence shows that very few people seem to find it to be of much use. Users report that it does not live up to the marketing materials, and this is largely backed up by my own hands-on experience.
For both reasons, it is safe to expect that it will not be included in the cheaper model.
Lower-resolution displays are also a guarantee
The Vision Pro's much bigger advantage over its cheaper rivals is the quality of its displays, thanks to a type of OLED technology known as OLEDoS, also known as OLED on silicon.
Conventional OLED has a glass substrate; OLEDoS, on the other hand, mounts the display directly onto silicon containing the pixel drivers. This allows for much smaller pixels, increasing the maximum pixel density to several thousand per inch. The technology also supports the very high refresh rates needed to prevent motion blur.
Vision Pro not only has OLEDoS displays, but also displays with an extremely high resolution of 3660 x 3200 pixels per eye. These produce incredibly realistic images, but their production is an extremely delicate and expensive undertaking. Currently, only Sony is capable of producing OLEDoS at this resolution, and even then, it is limited to producing about 1 million units per year, which is enough for only 500,000 units.
Apple will almost certainly stick with OLEDoS technology for the lower-cost product to keep latency very low, but it is equally certain that it will lower the resolution to make the displays more affordable and also allow manufacturers to achieve the necessary yield levels for a more popular product.
Apple is reportedly looking at OLEDoS display samples from JDI and Samsung with a resolution of about half that, somewhere in the 1,500 to 1,700 ppi range. This will likely also translate into a narrower field of view to keep images looking realistic.
Less aluminum, more plastic
The Vision Pro contains a lot of aluminum, which adds to the premium feel of the product, but also makes it more expensive to produce.
Additionally, even a relatively lightweight metal like aluminum is significantly heavier than plastic, which is one reason users say it can only be worn for short periods of time.
For both reasons, we can expect the more affordable model to feature a mostly plastic construction.
iPhone tethering possible, but probably not
While I'd put money on the above predictions, what's much less certain is that Apple may require the device to be tethered to an iPhone. This would offload a lot of the processing power, again lowering the cost of producing the headset itself.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said last summer that Apple was “considering” this approach, but we haven't heard anything more about it since.
It would be a pretty radical change, especially since it already needs a tethered battery and it's unlikely the iPhone would be able to provide the necessary power. Dual tethering seems like a really clunky approach to me, so for now I'm going to put it in the “possible but unlikely” category.
Price in the $1,500-$2,000 range
If there's one thing that's drawn more criticism of the Vision Pro than anything else, it's the $3,400-plus price tag. Even CEO Tim Cook admits that makes it a niche product.
“At $3,500, it’s not a mass-market product,” Cook says. “Right now, it’s an early adopter product. People who want tomorrow’s technology today — that’s who this is for.”
Many people have suggested that Apple needs to price it around $1,500 to make it viable as a mainstream product, while others have argued that $1,000 is a cut-off point.
That was my own opinion until I tried it, at which point I decided that if Apple could solve the all-day comfort issue (which is a big “if”), then I'd probably be tempted by $2,000.
Best comment from Jason
Let's face it, the cost of this thing IS the screens, and the screens are what make it special. EyeSight and aluminum don't add huge numbers to the manufacturing cost.
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Right now, it's reasonable to invest in the $1,500-$2,000 range.
Would you buy this?
Let's leave aside the iPhone tether and assume it still works as a standalone device. Let's also split the projected price range in half and assume $1,750.
If it weren't for EyeSight, the lower-resolution (but still OLEDoS) display, and the plastic body, would you buy it? Please take our poll and share your thoughts in the comments.
Photo by Bram Van Oost on Unsplash
