Analyst Claims Affordable Apple Vision Pro Production Timeline Has Been Delayed Beyond 2027, Immediate Successor To Arrive In 2025 With Major SoC Upgrade

As production of the first-generation Apple Vision Pro is set to end by the end of the year, it hints that the company will pool its resources towards an affordable mixed-reality headset, which has been reported to launch sometime in 2025. However, it is entirely possible that there is a long waiting time for the less pricey headset because an analyst predicts that production has been delayed well beyond 2027. There are various reasons why this would happen, but for now, the next Apple Vision Pro slated to replace the current one will be its direct successor and is said to arrive with a notable chipset upgrade.

The reason for the low-cost Apple Vision Pro delay is the lack of successful use cases needed to justify a purchase; a price reduction alone will not attract customers

The price-competitive Apple Vision Pro was previously said to cost around $2,000 and will ship with cut-down features such as sporting an A-series chipset instead of an M-series one, along with a display with a significantly reduced pixel density. TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has mentioned on X that the production delay will go well beyond 2027, meaning that those who were discouraged to pick up the $3,499 model because of its ludicrous will probably have to wait several years before their budget allows them to experience mixed-reality content.

Kuo instead believes that the second-generation Apple Vision Pro will arrive in 2025 and is said to feature the M5 chipset. The analyst had previously talked about this upgrade, mentioning that the SoC will introduce spatial computing and Apple Intelligence support, with the new head-mounted wearable estimated to enter mass production in the second half of 2025. As for why the low-cost model is seeing an extended delay, it has more to do with finding successful use cases rather than reducing the price to make it ready for the masses.

As I understand it, production of the cheaper Vision Pro has been delayed beyond 2027 for a while now. This means Apple’s only new head-mounted display device in 2025 will be the Vision Pro with an upgraded M5 processor.

I think what really drove Apple to delay the cheaper…

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) November 3, 2024

A comparison is made between the Apple Vision Pro and the HomePod, with Kuo stating that even with the HomePod mini launch, the Cupertino giant failed to turn its smart speakers into mainstream products. Apple CEO Tim Cook has admitted that the latest headset was never meant for the masses but for customers who wanted to experience tomorrow’s technology today. Spending a decent chunk of change on a product whose novelty will evaporate in a few days is not an intelligent investment.

Thankfully, Apple has been attempting to increase the adoption of its headsets by bringing in an increased number of features in visionOS 2, which includes a Travel Mode and a Mac Virtual Display that offers a large ultrawide experience to get more work done. Then again, it could take years for this product category to mature, and perhaps the technology titan would find sufficient encouragement to resume work on a cheaper Apple Vision Pro.

News Source: Ming-Chi Kuo