Cheaper Vision Pro still on the way – Rumors about smartglasses from Apple
According to a report, Apple's Vision Group is continuing to work on a cheaper headset. Smartglasses and AirPods with a camera also remain on the horizon.
Vision Pro: Here in the sales pitch.
(Image: Apple)
Things have been relatively quiet around the Vision Pro: Released in the USA in February and in Europe in the summer, followed by a rather inconspicuous upgrade to visionOS 2. However, Apple's "Vision Products Group" continues to work in the background: apparently several projects are underway at the same time. The desire to (significantly) reduce the price of the Vision Pro is still there. As the often well-informed Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman writes in his latest newsletter, a lower-end model is expected to land at just under 2,000 US dollars.
Cost-cutting efforts in the Vision Products Group
That still sounds like a lot of money, especially if you compare it with Meta, where the Quest 3 and its low-cost variant Quest 3S are sold virtually at cost price. But for Apple customers, this kind of pricing would certainly be a kind of sweet spot –, especially in view of the fact that Apple charges just under 4000 euros for the Vision Pro in this country.
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To achieve this, Apple wants to work with a slightly slower SoC and do away with the – rather unnecessary – EyeSight functionality with external screen. The materials are also expected to be simpler overall, with less aluminum and more plastic. Gurman does not provide any information on the display of a possible "Vision" this time. However, a reduction in resolution is foreseeable here, as Sony's 4K screens are by far the most expensive component of the headset. Gurman believes that a Vision Pro (with an M4 SoC, for example) will be released next year, followed by a Vision Pro in 2026.
More in the future: Smartglasses and AirPods with camera
Furthermore, Apple – is still interested in smartglasses without a screen, in contrast to a smart ring –. These are supposedly reminiscent of Meta's Ray-Bans, which – have sold well so far, at least according to Meta –. Here, normal glasses would be combined with a camera and AI in the rim of the glasses, for example to communicate with Apple Intelligence on the go and have the world explained to you.
Apple could use its internal "Visual Intelligence" technology, which is soon to be available on the iPhone. At the same time, Apple is reportedly continuing to work on a proper augmented reality glasses format, even if the company is encountering many technical difficulties here. Finally, Gurman also mentions AirPods with an integrated camera, which could be an alternative to smart glasses. These would be more inconspicuous – With the Meta-Ray-Bans, some bystanders feel disturbed in their privacy by the visible lenses.
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