Apple’s budget Vision Pro may have been delayed till 2027

Apple Vision Pro

Apple unveiled its first mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, at its WWDC event in 2023. However, the device did not attract many buyers after its launch because of its exorbitant starting price of $3,499 and limited availability. Subsequently, rumours of a new affordable Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset have been circulating for months, sparking anticipation among tech enthusiasts.

According to a new post by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple has delayed its plans to release a more affordable Apple Vision Pro headset in 2025. The post further states that production of the cheaper version of the headset will be pushed beyond 2027. Further, Kuo claims that while Apple will launch a new Vision Pro headset next year, it will not be a new variant. Instead, it will come with the upcoming M5 chipset.

He compared the budget-friendly Apple Vision Pro to Apple's HomePod mini, and stated “even after launching the cheaper HomePod mini, Apple's smart speakers failed to become mainstream products.” Kuo also emphasized that simply lowering the price of the upcoming Vision Pro headset might not be enough to drive sales figures for the company.

However, the affordable Vision Pro headset is still in development as Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman indicates that Apple wants to develop a Vision-like mixed reality headset that utilizes the processing power of the iPhone. This model is expected to include only a display and a battery, transferring all data to a paired iPhone for computational purposes.