All articles tagged with #apple vision pro
Apple reportedly laid off about 60 employees from its Vision Group, effectively disbanding the Vision Pro team and redistributing staff to other projects as the company pivots toward smart glasses, with reports of canceling a second Vision Pro and a cheaper “Vision Air,” and a potential headset launch pushed to late 2028.
Apple announced visionOS 27 at WWDC, a major update for Vision Pro that adds panorama-based spatial scenes, immersive panorama environments, improved Flyover in Apple Maps, a new Apple Intelligence with a more responsive Siri, curved windows, and eye-driven notifications, with a developer beta today and a fall rollout to Vision Pro users.
Apple, under new CEO John Ternus, is trimming its head-mounted hardware plans, reportedly killing Vision Air and Display glasses and narrowing the roadmap to two remaining glasses: AI glasses due in 2027 and Apple Glass AR by the end of the decade, with a Vision Pro follow-up in testing but described as “on ice.” The shift favors mass-market, AI-enabled wearables over an expensive headset, though WWDC may reveal further direction.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports Apple is developing a cheaper, lighter successor to Vision Pro that isn’t expected before late 2028 or 2029. The company is differentiating this future headset from the canceled Vision Air, while its focus shifts toward smart glasses; Apple plans its first glasses by late 2027, and Vision Pro got an M5 refresh in 2025.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says Apple isn't abandoning Vision Pro but won’t launch a new Vision Pro–style device for at least two years, as Apple continues to develop cheaper, lighter enclosed headsets and shifts hardware talent to smart glasses and related AI wearables; the previously rumored Vision Air was canceled and teams reassigned, with ongoing attention to Vision Pro’s retail launch issues from recent coverage.
The May 3 Hackaday Links note the farewell to Ask Jeeves as a pioneer in natural-language Q&A, a reported winding-down of Apple’s Vision Pro development due to slow consumer uptake despite its tech merits, a seven-fold rise in battery-reuse and recycling inventions flagged by the European Patent Office, and Visible Zorker—an online platform that lets you play the Zork trilogy with a live code view.
Apple has effectively given up on the Vision Pro after the M5 refresh failed to spark demand; despite a faster M5 chip, 120Hz refresh, extra battery life, and a more comfortable band, the $3,499 headset remains heavy and expensive, with insider reports of unusually high returns. The Vision Pro team has been redistributed to other projects (including Siri), and while rumors of a cheaper Vision Air exist, Apple has no plans for a new model and is focusing on AR glasses without a built-in display.
A British adventurer, Claire Lomas, was filmed for Apple’s Vision Pro immersive video series Adventure during a July 2024 Jordan desert flight when a crash on the plane killed her; the camera was mounted on the aircraft and the production faced safety concerns over long hours and harsh conditions. Apple and Atlantic Studios continued the project, releasing five Adventure episodes, including a Colorado shoot, but no new episodes have been published since last year.
Valve has released an early beta of Steam Link for Apple Vision Pro, enabling PC gaming streaming directly to the headset via Big Picture with 120Hz refresh, eye-tracking, and pinch gestures; while visuals are crisp, there’s noticeable input latency and UI flicker, and performance depends on a fast home network and a capable PC. This beta signals Vision Pro’s potential as a more open, game-friendly platform, but it’s not yet polished and SteamVR support remains limited.
iRacing will bring its premier motorsport simulation to Apple Vision Pro later this spring via visionOS 26.4 and NVIDIA CloudXR 6.0, with physics calculated on an RTX-equipped PC and frames streamed wirelessly to the headset for an immersive, hands-on virtual cockpit experience.
GeForce Now now streams in Quest 3, Pico, and Apple Vision Pro headsets at up to 90 FPS for Ultimate subscribers, with 1080p 90FPS by default and options for 1440p 90FPS on Quest/Pico or 4K 90FPS on Vision Pro via Custom mode. The service offers Free, Performance ($10/mo), and Ultimate ($20/mo) tiers, with Ultimate delivering higher render power for 90 FPS across supported devices; Xbox Cloud Gaming remains available on Quest for flatscreen titles.
An UploadVR opinion piece argues that eye-tracking is the essential missing piece in Meta's VR strategy, noting rivals like Apple, Valve, and Google are embedding eye-tracking into their headsets and platforms. It traces Meta's decade-long push toward a metaverse, highlights leadership reshapes and layoffs, and contends that re-emphasizing eye-tracking and embracing open, standards-based hardware could better align Meta’s ambitions with the evolving VR landscape.
A CNET reviewer watches a Lakers–Bucks game via Apple’s Vision Pro and finds the experience impressive in video quality and 3D immersion but lacking essential interactivity, multi-screen stats, and flexible viewing options; two years into Vision Pro’s life, the package remains expensive and not yet transformative enough to surpass traditional viewing for devoted fans.
In 2025, both Apple and Meta faced significant challenges in the VR headset market, with Apple shipping only 45,000 Vision Pro units and Meta experiencing a 16% decline in Quest shipments, amid a broader market downturn and reduced advertising. Despite the slump in consumer VR, the market for smart glasses is booming, with IDC projecting a 211.2% growth in 2025, and Apple and Meta exploring enterprise and educational applications for their devices. The market is expected to recover somewhat in 2026, especially for Apple with plans for a lower-cost headset targeting enterprise use.
Despite reports labeling Apple Vision Pro a failure due to low sales and production cuts, the device is positioned as a niche, high-end product aimed at early adopters and enterprise users, serving as a foundation for future AR and spatial computing developments. Its true success may lie in shaping the platform and developer ecosystem rather than immediate sales figures.