Apple is famous for producing life-changing iPhones, but the tech giant seems to fail when it comes to other products.
The California-based company has reportedly canceled work on its next-generation Vision Pro as critics panned the current model.
The Vision Pro 2 was set to be a high-end headset, but now it’s on the back burner while Apple works on a cheaper Vision Pro.
The original $3,500 headset received a lot of criticism earlier this year when unhappy customers rushed to return the Vision Pro complaining that the small screen hurt their eyes, it was uncomfortable and the features weren’t worth the high price.
Apple has suspended work on its Vision Pro 2 VR model, due to be introduced next year, in favor of a cheaper alternative.
Disgruntled Vision Pro customers rushed to return the headphones, complaining that the small screen hurt their eyes, was uncomfortable, and the features weren’t worth the high price.
Apple initially had a sales goal of three million Vision Pro headphones sold in its first year, but reduced it to 900,000.
That compares to more than 200 million iPhones sold each year.
Apple is striving to create a more affordable headset for both consumer and production efforts while maintaining the same high-end components of the Vision Pro, according to Information.
Codenamed N109, the cheaper headphones will be “at least a third lighter” and will remove some features while keeping the high-resolution display.
Apple intended to release both the Vision Pro 2 and N109, but ran into financial problems and is now said to be ditching the more expensive model.
Apple said last year that it intended to align the price of the N109 with that of a high-end iPhone, charging consumers between $1,500 and $2,500.
It will potentially launch in 2025 without several features, but Apple has not yet confirmed which ones will be missing from the new VR device.
The company is reportedly working with Seeya Technology, a China-based company, to develop cheaper high-resolution displays.
But a person involved in its manufacturing told The Information that “Seeya has so far struggled to meet Apple’s standards and the effort could fail.”
The initial hype surrounding the launch of the Vision Pro in February saw pre-orders sell out in 18 minutes and more than 200,000 devices sold in just 10 days, but within a few weeks, Apple was seeing average and above-average return rates. .
Many early reviews of the Vision Pro concluded that it was ambitious, but served little purpose.
One reviewer described it as “a high-tech solution in search of a problem.”
Another user posted on
Apple has not yet released an app that takes full advantage of the Vision Pro’s capabilities, instead focusing on how it can insert more screens and displays into its environment.
“You find yourself in this virtual environment and you wonder what you’re doing here,” said Randy Chia, a product manager at a Los Angeles investment firm. Bloomberg.
He said the Vision Pro software had the most bugs of any first-generation product he had ever used, adding that the “wow factor” didn’t outweigh the fact that “I’m carrying this big thing on my head.”
Many early reviews of the Vision Pro concluded that it was ambitious, but served little purpose. One reviewer described it as “a high-tech solution in search of a problem.”
Users reported screen time lagging and occasionally freezing. One user said the Vision Pro software had the most bugs of any first-generation product he’d ever used, adding that the “wow factor” didn’t outweigh the fact that “I’m carrying this big thing on my head.”
Another person compared Meta’s lighter Quest headphones to the Vision Pro and said the latter option was the worst alternative.
“The thing is too (damn) heavy and everyone knows it, and I’m used to using these things,” the user told the outlet.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the company cut its shipments by about half, dropping from 700 to 800 units to just 400 to 450 units as its Vision Pro lost popularity.
“The challenge for the Vision Pro is to address the headset’s lack of key apps, price, and comfort without sacrificing the seamless user experience,” Kuo wrote in an April article. report.
“Apple is reviewing and adjusting its head-mounted display product roadmap, so there may not be a new Vision Pro model in 2025,” he continued.
“Apple now expects Vision Pro shipments to decline (year over year) in 2025.”
DailyMail.com has contacted Apple for comment.