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Apple Developing Version of visionOS for Future Smart Glasses

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Apple is reportedly developing a version of visionOS – its operating system for Apple Vision Pro – that will work with smart glasses, as part of continuing efforts to expand its AR product lineup beyond a cumbersome headset with something that has wider appeal.

Apple-Glasses-Triad-Feature.jpg

According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, the Vision Pro has so far been a flop. Many users find the $3,500 headset too heavy for extended use, expensive, and prone to overheating, relegating it to niche status. Interest in the device has reportedly waned since its launch, with sales falling short of Apple's expectations.

In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman reports that Apple's Vision Products Group is looking beyond the Vision Pro and considering launching smart glasses comparable to Meta's Ray-Ban collaboration. Executives involved in the effort reportedly don't think a product will be ready for three years or more, with plenty of research still to be done.

To that end, the company is currently conducting user studies at its offices "to gauge the appeal of features and interfaces," and is already working on a version of visionOS that will run on glasses, reports Gurman. Codenamed "Atlas," the studies are being led by Apple's Product Systems Quality team, part of the hardware engineering division.

The work continues at a secretive facility in Santa Clara, a town away from the company's home base in Cupertino. Apple laid off some employees from the site last year, while the remaining staff work on AR technology. Apple also has a manufacturing facility there to test future screens.

Apple still plans to revamp the Vision Pro headset to broaden its appeal, first by releasing a lower-end device with less expensive components. Apple is aiming to sell the more affordable model at the price of a high-end iPhone, which retails for up to $1,600. The aim was to release it at the end of 2024, but Apple is still working on a firm prototype.

Separately, Apple is also said to be working with Sony to bring support for PlayStation VR2 hand controllers to the Vision Pro for gaming purposes. The two have been collaborating for several months, and could bring VR controller support to the Vision Pro as an optional feature.

Article Link: Apple Developing Version of visionOS for Future Smart Glasses
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/01/27/apple-developing-visionos-for-smart-glasses/
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the visionPro is perfect for immersive Media and 3D movies (potentially games) - beyond that I am struggling to find use cases
 
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Why does Mark change his idea of what the Vision Pro is depending on what narrative he’s trying to push?
Makes it really hard to take someone seriously when one second they’re calling a product a “flop” then the next second they are saying that Apple “ doesn’t even have the capacity to ship these in large quantities”.
If they can’t even make large quantities, there is literally no room for the product to flop.
“Flop” absolutely does not mean “sold less than the iPhone”. If that were the case, the Mac would have been in trouble… decades ago.
For something to flop, there has to be an expectation of success, and there never was with the Vision Pro.
Everything down to the price, to the design, to even the fact that it launched in the middle of the winter screams “ not intended for most people”.
 
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I just want a new Vision Pro with the same quality but better fov and cheaper
 
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About time !!! The obvious choice is finally coming to conclusion… let’s hope it’s going to be positive …
 
Kylo83 said:
I just want a new Vision Pro with the same quality but better fov and cheaper
Click to expand...

Everyone wants the same (everything) for cheaper. But as the article says...

first by releasing a lower-end device with less expensive components.
Click to expand...

The path to this "Cheaper" Vpro Jr is subtraction of FABs. As I understand it, the most expensive part of it "as is" is 4K-per-eye. There is abundant competition at the cheaper prices we want with 1080p-per-eye or less. And that's likely a major part of what makes them so much cheaper. What's the gripe about THEIR cuts at this sort of product?

"BLURRY" ​

Nevertheless, as we fixate on cheaper, we're basically calling for blurry too. And when we get what we think we want, the gripe will then be "blurry:" "the price is much better but the blurriness makes me nauseous", "they took away the best part", etc.


As to glasses form factor, in imagination that will be ideal... much less bulky... much more "normal" looking in public settings. Such products also already exist. What's the issue with them? Without blocking out the light from AROUND the edges, daylight/bright light seeps in. Think about how your Mac or iDevice screens look out in the bright day vs. how they look in the darker night. If you don't block light, you get light intrusion... which then takes away from the experience of watching whatever you are watching.

What does the R in either VR or AR stand for? You inhibit the illusion of R if you allow light to "fog" the 'vision'.

When you go to the theater to watch a movie or live show, do they leave the lights up? No. Why not? Because the view of the screen or stage is much improved without the theater lights. Does your TV look better in brightest day/light or evening night?

Why do we wear sunglasses at all? To try to block out bright light from hitting our eyes and making our view of the world LESS. So why do we want virtual views with lots of light sneaking in the gaps all around the lenses? I presume we are imagining we can have the very same crisp, clear, Vpro view in a sunglasses form factor. And we are very likely WRONG about that for reasons just shared, among others.



I encourage all people with interests it BOTH concepts to go try the competition and see the blur and light intrusion experiences yourself. If it's fine to you, buy the competition. They generally cost a lot less than the "highest end iPhones." But if you don't like it because of blur and/or light intrusion, perhaps some of the "bulk" and "seals" of Vpro will suddenly make much more sense.
 
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contacos said:
What makes everyone think they can release glasses, when they couldn't even fit the battery into the AVP. Sounds like something 10 years away. Hardware and pricing limitations.
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Entirely different products. If Meta already has smart glasses that are compelling, I have no doubt Apple could too. Think AVP = iPad Pro and this product more like an Apple Watch. Different use cases.
 
Early adoption for any new tech will always be expensive. I definitely like the Vision Pro and would purchase a "glasses" vision. My only issue is I wear glasses, that limits the comfort from a lot of AR devices. Everybody wants something cheaper, and if enough people buy an item, the price usually goes down. It's hard to be critical of tech segment that is in the growing stage, still trying to figure out what people want, need, desire and what they are willing to pay for it.
 
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I will get excited about this when there is actually hardware to get excited about too

Right now they can’t even fix Siri and every iPhone release just rearranges cameras

I’m a little bit skeptical about their ability to execute well on something very aggressive like this
 
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harmonthe3rd said:
Early adoption for any new tech will always be expensive. I definitely like the Vision Pro and would purchase a "glasses" vision. My only issue is I wear glasses, that limits the comfort from a lot of AR devices. Everybody wants something cheaper, and if enough people buy an item, the price usually goes down. It's hard to be critical of tech segment that is in the growing stage, still trying to figure out what people want, need, desire and what they are willing to pay for it.
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Probably will have to wear contacts.
 
Forgive me if this is dumb, but

If the issue with smart glasses is that you can't fit a computer in the glasses... can't they just tether an iPhone-sized computer to a pair of lightweight glasses?

This wasn't so clunky as to stop them shipping it with Apple Vision Pro.

Move the heaviness to something that sits in your pocket out the way, so we can enjoy lightweight AR glasses sooner rather than later.
 
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Rychiar said:
how can anything that sold at all at that price point even be a flop? the general public laughs at prices like that.
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Exactly. It wasn't expected to sell more than 500k units because that's how many panels Sony could produce. The idea that this was going to sell millions and millions was a fantasy that only existed on the internet. Do we really think that Apple thought that a product that has a starting price higher than the average American's monthly take-home pay was going to be a smash hit? Nope - this was to show what is possible, get developers and content creators working on apps and use cases etc. Of course Apple isn't going to introduce it while saying "this is a tech demo for rich early adopters to help us improve our offering when the tech is more mature; it's not for you".

Now you can argue they should have announced it as a "developer preview" or waited another year or two, but as someone who uses mine daily, I'm personally glad they didn't.
 
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thekeyring said:
Forgive me if this is dumb, but

If the issue with smart glasses is that you can't fit a computer in the glasses... can't they just tether an iPhone-sized computer to a pair of lightweight glasses?

This wasn't so clunky as to stop them shipping it with Apple Vision Pro.

Move the heaviness to something that sits in your pocket out the way, so we can enjoy lightweight AR glasses sooner rather than later.
Click to expand...

That's what I wish they would try

I'd honestly be more interested in an AVP type of product that was as minimal and comfortable as possible by basically requiring a Mac or iOS device to use it.

I just wish they'd approach this more from a "let's make a minimum viable product" and get to a price point that might actually get some traction so an ecosystem could build here
 
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