Apple Is Working on Making Its $3,499 Vision Pro More Affordable — and Mainstream. Here's How. Apple's product is at least three times more expensive than Meta's version.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- The $3,499 Apple Vision Pro has gotten off to a slower-than-expected start.
- Developing a less expensive version of the headset that sells for $1,500 to $2,000 could help with sales.
- Bloomberg chief correspondent Mark Gurman wrote on Sunday that Apple's Vision Products Group is focusing on a cheaper headset and wants to release it as early as the end of 2025.
Apple's $3,499 Vision Pro mixed reality headset debuted in February. Despite Apple's efforts to make the Vision Pro mainstream, it remains "a costly niche product," according to Bloomberg chief correspondent Mark Gurman.
His Sunday Power On newsletter reveals new details about Apple's strategy with the Vision Pro as it aims to sell more units.
According to Gurman, Apple's Vision Products Group always strategized to bring out the Vision Pro first, and then a cheaper alternative down the line.
The group's focus is now on this cheaper headset, which could sell in the $1,500 to $2,000 range. Apple wants to release it as early as the end of 2025 and planned on doing so before even teasing the Vision Pro, Gurman asserted.
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Even if the cheaper Vision Pro sold at $1,500, it would be three times more expensive than the Meta Quest 3 and more than seven times as expensive than the Meta Quest 2, which has sold at least 20 million units.
Bloomberg wasn't the only one to pick up on Apple's push for a more affordable mixed-reality headset. The Information also published a report last week confirming that Apple wants to release a less expensive version of the Vision Pro by the end of 2025.
Wearing the Apple Vision Pro. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images)
Though Apple sold out of its initial stock of the Vision Pro, with about 200,000 pre-orders, the headset has still gotten off to a slower-than-expected start. In April, analysts sharply cut their Vision Pro shipment projections for the rest of the year, from around 700,000 units to about half of that, from 400,000 to 450,000 shipments.
The Vision Pro received mixed reviews and average or above-average return rates for Apple products from its first buyers. Customers who returned it didn't like the weight of the device, the current lack of apps, and the quality of the display.
Apple announced at its annual developer conference earlier this month that the Vision Pro would soon be internationally available, which could help boost sales.
China, Hong Kong, and Singapore will have access to the Vision Pro later this month; France, Germany, Canada, Australia, and the U.K. will have access next month.
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