Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Vision Pro May Now Be Out of Production
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Not every product. But products that are a paradigm shift with potential to do things that can not be done with any other tech tend to be. Eventually. Once tech catches up.
VR was first experimented with in the mid 90s. It was crap. It's getting there now though.
We've come a long way.
The idea was there 30-35 years ago or more, but the tech just wasn't available to do it yet.
Even back then the sensation of movement was there even with crappy low polygon non-textures graphics.
The idea was there 30-35 years ago or more, but the tech just wasn't available to do it yet.
Even back then the sensation of movement was there even with crappy low polygon non-textures graphics.
Oh man. Trip down memory lane. I remember watching lawnmower man and thinking “ok aside from all the murder and crazy sci-fi stuff, the tech seems really cool! Doubt it’ll be a thing in my lifetime”
Glad we finally got it. The AT&T “you will” campaign was also really good. Accurately predicted tablets, face time and smartphones among many other things. 10 years from now things are gonna be very interesting
We are bit by bit inventing Star Trek.
We have tablets, we have voice activated computing, the military has lasers, the next step is the visor.
You can easily take off VR/AR/MR glasses, of the sort that have folding earpieces, and put them in your pocket or on your desk. What would keep them stuck to your face when you're done using them?
I've worn glasses since I was about five, and while I'd prefer not to, I can assure you it hasn't been an isolating, "dystopian hell".
Last edited:
This is what always blows my mind about conversations like in this thread.
We all watch the same sci-fi movies. We see all the cool stuff. Holograms in Star Trek and iron man, cool hand gesture interfaces in minority report. We see all that and agree “heyyy man that looked cool as hell. Love that!”
But then when technology comes along and introduces those very same things that we would have marveled at a decade ago, many in society shut it down over these small inconveniences. “It’s a bit heavy” “too expensive for me!” “There’s not a million apps yet”. It’s almost like because it wasn’t released perfectly, they shut down the entire concept of this cool technology. Like I said in a previous post. We’re gonna be looking at smartphone bricks in our hand 20 years from now?! That sounds so unimaginative and lame.
And just as an aside: I re watched minority report the other night and the scene where Tom cruise is watching 3d videos of his son. I thought it was so cool when I first saw it. Now watching it I’m like “ehhh the effect actually looks better in Vision Pro”. In the movie it was low resolution and the light was all weird like it came from projectors whereas Vision Pro it’s crystal clear and perfectly 3d
Money, money, money - the global reach and amount of money that can be earned is why devs want to do that. They don't just go where the consumers are, they go where there are consumers who spend money.
On MR the perception is the VP is a failure with the same joke rehashed about the "100 people who bought VP...."
Apple's first-generation Vision Pro headset may have now ceased production, following reports of reduced demand and production cuts earlier in the year.
In October, The Information's Wayne Ma reported that Apple had abruptly reduced production of the Vision Pro headset ahead of potential plans to stop making the current version of the device completely by the end of 2024. With the year now coming to an end, this means that the device may no longer be in active production.
Citing multiple people "directly involved" in making components for the headset, the report said that the scaling back of production began in the early summer. This indicated that Apple now has a sufficient number of Vision Pro units in its inventory to meet demand for the device's remaining lifespan through to 2025. Historically, it is not unusual for Apple to do this with low-demand products, such as the iPhone 12 mini.
The Vision Pro is widely reported to have seen weak demand due to insufficient content and its high price point. The Information said that Vision Pro suppliers have now produced enough components for between 500,000 to 600,000 headsets. Some factories suspended production of Vision Pro components as early as May based on Apple's weak sales forecasts, and warehouses remain filled with tens of thousands of undelivered parts.
Apple is said to have told Luxshare, a Chinese company that serves as the Vision Pro's assembler, that it would need to wind down production in November. Luxshare was making around 1,000 Vision Pro headsets per day as of October, which was half that being produced at its peak. Apple will apparently still be able to resume Vision Pro production if sales pick up since the production lines are not yet due to be dismantled.
Moreover, Apple has purportedly suspended work on the original second-generation Vision Pro for at least a year to focus on developing a lower-cost headset. Interestingly, Apple told suppliers to prepare to build four million low-cost headsets over the entire lifespan of the future product. This is half the total number of Vision Pros that Apple told suppliers to produce, suggesting that sales expectations are even lower for the cheaper headset.
Weak demand for the Vision Pro has been attributed to its high $3,499 price point and insufficient content ecosystem. Apple CEO Tim Cook described the device as an "early-adopter product," targeting users interested in cutting-edge technology rather than the broader mass market.
Although Apple's work on the second-generation Vision Pro has apparently stalled, there are some indications that the company could release "an incremental update to the product with limited changes to its physical design," such as a chip upgrade, according to The Information. Corroborating this, Kuo and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman have indicated that a more iterative second-generation Vision Pro is in active development, adding the introduction of an M5 chip and Apple Intelligence. Gurman has projected the device could launch between fall 2025 and spring 2026. This updated model is expected to reuse many components from the first-generation Vision Pro to offset the surplus inventory in Apple's supply chain.
Article Link: Apple Vision Pro May Now Be Out of Production
The Meta Quest 3 is apparently a success and the VP is a failure (at least based on MR perception).
In the first 8 months, the Quest 3 apparently sold 800,000 units around the $500 mark ($400 million). The VP has sold 500,000 - 600,000 units (in fewer countries) around the $3,500 mark ($2.1 billion) and the VP has only been on sale in one country for at least 8 months.
R&D costs are not available for comparison but on pure sales revenue Apple has $2.1 billion against Meta's $400 million. Meta is selling through third party channels who take a cut whereas Apple is selling through their own stores. In other words, third parties have a cut of the $400 million.
I would guess also Apple's profit margin is higher than Meta's.
Perhaps the VP hasn't sold enough units to lead Apple to a second generation. It is just interesting that some view the Quest 3 as a success and VP as a failure when the revenue tells a different story.
I see it differently. Minority report, kinda cool voice and hand controlled gestures, on a screen in front on him...it doesn't attach to or augment his body. Holodeck, well that is a complete virtual reality that involves all five senses, and doesn't require augmenting or attaching to the body.
AVP is lame, period. If that is our future, then our future sounds lame. The best tech is tech that disappears into the surroundings when you're not using it, or you use it for you need it for and then you walk or put it away.
Fun fact. The revenue from just the Vision Pro is more than the entire meta division
The Vision Pro also has a presence on steam despite not being built for it.
If meta was a normal company that priced their quest 3 like how other companies that wanna make money do, the quest 3 would be 1200-1500. Companies don’t normally sell at cost and set fire to r&d and profit
You've highlighted part of the problem yourself.
A lot of people who have to wear glasses don't want to wear them. The form factor is a hard sell for a consumer electronics item, much harder than a handheld device. The use cases need to be super compelling.
by definition the money is not in a platform with < 500k users.
That is why the market has to be made. The money is also not with the budget conscious, weak alternatives. Early adopter market is definitely with industries that are used to big license payments.
They will only make it when they can sell the hardware. Again, nobody is developing for platforms that hardly anybody uses.
The market starts with user adoption, the dev support follows.
HDTV in the early 2000’s: why am I buying an hd tv when there’s no hd content?
Hd content came and it all made sense. Then it became so required to make content in hd standard def was abandoned in favor of superior technology.
This happens with everything. You make a product, other people make stuff for it over time and then over x amount of time span it’s a fleshed out product.
Is the black magic camera for immersive content even out yet? We are SO early on when it comes to immersive experiences it’s insane
Sigh....Sounds isolating. I don't want immersive, I want shared. I'm not a hermit, and prefer people over tech.
The reason your vision (ha) sounds awful is because it's isolating. I don't want to block out those around me, and I don't want to replace them with avatars.
I'm just fundamentally against hiding myself in a pair of goggles outside of specific, work settings.. I don't want to disappear into my entertainment.
Because HD Tv's could handle standard definition content in the same way non hd TV can and thus the end user can wait for content to be available. It is useful without the HD content.
The bold bit is just not true. Who do you think the developers are who are spending their time developing apps for a platform that hasn't established a user base? There will be some but not enough to make the platform compelling.
Quote here from Ars Technica.
And why is that? The iPhone and iPad were compelling to consumers. Less consumer interest = Less developer interest.
If you need developers to make your product compelling, that is a problem.
how this ever got greenlit at that price will never make sense to me
I agree with people who doubt whether even lightweight AR/MR/VR glasses will replace pocketable phones for most people, especially worn all the time as people who need to wear glasses for vision correction do, but that doesn't mean they won't become popular among many people for what they've already shown they can do, which is going to improve. Fishing a pair of lightweight AR/MR/VR glasses out of one's pocket to wear for a moment or a few minutes, and then putting them back in one's pocket, for tasks that aren't done as well with their pocketable phone, might turn out to be fine for plenty of people who don't need to wear vision-correcting eyeglasses, and if so they may support an ongoing product category in numbers that may be large enough to justify it.
While I think it's likely that most people won't want to carry around both a pair of AR/MR/VR glasses, no matter how lightweight, and a phone, the number of people who might, plus the number of people who might choose to carry just their AR/MR/VR glasses if they get phone connectivity, could be significant, even when it's used for tasks and other things we currently do, without needing the introduction of a new, super-compelling use case, though that would certainly boost adoption.
Last edited:
From the previous stories, basically the entirety of the engineering team said it wasn't ready, but Cook overrode them and forced it to market.
..and it's looking like they were right.
you don't seem to get that it's the other way round.
Do you recall the Mac Mini with Apple Si ? The provided the A12Z SoC to developers for free with a $ 500 deposit - in case I am not mistaken - this time they SOLD some 500 k to developers and people who wanted it.
That's a nice an meaningful monetary contribution to the financial results of a multitude decade endeavor.
IMHO a very clever move and win you see the numerous posts in this thread alone a very sound marketing activity.
Very nice since the introduction of the AVP
This is an enthusiast forum, not the public. I work in a hospital unit with about 60 people, highly-educated and highly-paid, and about 3/4 of them iPhone users. If I did a poll, there might be two people that have even heard of the Vision Pro.
I've talked to several about it, as we have a couple we were trialing in surgery, not a one had a clue what it was. Surgery decided the AVP wasn't acceptable in it's current form.
Last edited:
I work in an ultra high tech environment and all have heated about many things related to technology but none of them owns a Porsche or a Berkel ham slicer or even a Santoku knife for the kitchen and heat these things are sold in very reasonable volumes.
I don't think medical craftsmen are the target audience for a ultra high end early adopter MR device.
BTW - again two more comments adding to the jungle drum for audience for the product - in case the AVP is so useless and with no interest it generates a lot of noise here and that alone should be a very good proof point 🤣
BTW 2 - I have every year 30 .. 40 dentists that I coach for medical photographic documentation - most of them are very technology averse and hate computers and everything electronic - most of them happen to be arrogant egocentric personalities - to say the least - I was very very negatively surprised - I am sure no-one of them would ever read in a MAC forum.
I didn't say they didn't own it, I said they haven't even heard of it...and I don't think it's a ultra high-end device. I think it's an overengineered, overpriced tech demo, with creepy as hell eyes (goosebump-inducing) on the front.
I'm not an early-adopter, personally. Never have been. I always wait it out for a few months/years before hoping on; let everyone else be the guinea-pigs..but this is one device I'm staying away from in it's entirety. I'm anti-full immersion if it means isolating myself from those in my vicinity.
Last edited:
I sold my Quest 3. It was gathering dust. Subpar pass through along with mediocre screens just wasn’t doing it for me. I love my AVP. It gets more use than my quests have ever done.
Yep, it’s stupid expensive, but it’s also a much nicer experience.