Report: Apple Vision Pro Is Still Failing to Catch On

[MacRumors]

Apple's Vision Pro headset is still failing to see appeal among consumers, according to a new report from the Financial Times.

Data from IDC claims that Apple shipped 390,000 Vision Pro units in 2024. IDC expected Apple to ship just 45,000 new Vision Pro units in the latest quarter of 2025. The Financial Times stressed that this compares to millions of iPhones, iPads and MacBooks sold each quarter. Luxshare, the Vision Pro's assembler, apparently halted production of the headset at the start of 2025.

According to Sensor Tower, Apple has apparently reduced digital advertising spending for the Vision Pro by more than 95% over the past year in key markets including the United States and United Kingdom. The report also noted that Apple did little to expand the device's international rollout in 2025.

Morgan Stanley analysts told the Financial Times that "the cost, form factor and the lack of VisionOS native apps are the reasons why the Vision Pro never sold broadly." Since the device's debut in 2024, critics have highlighted practical shortcomings such as the device's weight, discomfort during extended use, and limited battery life.

Apple is said to be struggling with a platform adoption problem, with an insufficient number of users to motivate developers and insufficient apps to attract users. Apple says around 3,000 apps are designed specifically for Vision Pro, a figure that lags far behind the rapid growth of the iPhone App Store after its launch in 2008. Appfigures notes that this total likely includes niche and industry-specific software.

The challenges facing the Vision Pro reflect broader weakness in the virtual reality market. According to Counterpoint Research, global VR headset shipments declined 14% year on year. Meta still dominates the sector, accounting for around 80% of sales with its Quest headsets, which are significantly cheaper than the Vision Pro but less technologically advanced. Even so, Meta has reportedly scaled back its own marketing spend for VR hardware, suggesting limited consumer momentum across the category.

Article Link: Report: Apple Vision Pro Is Still Failing to Catch On

 

[maika1305]

Pretends to be shocked (*insert pikachu face*)

 

[joshwithachance]

It's an awesome proof of concept, but is it a product with universal appeal? Definitely not.

And then you price it at a level unattainable by the masses to begin with, and this is what you get...

 

[TheGhostWalker]

I have a sneaking suspicion this is because it is $3,499

 

[TonyC28]

1. It’s too expensive
2. It’s too impractical

That’s the whole list.

 

[blairh]

Heavy. Uncomfortable. Expensive. Most people don’t want to wear a headset to use a Mac or watch media.

 

[Mazda 3s]

$3,500 for a glorified tech demo that makes you look like a doofus when you wear it? Who could have possibly imagined this would be the result????

I want something closer in concept to the Meta Ray-Ban Display that looks more akin to sunglasses than a hulking mass that isolates me from the world.

 

[Yourbigpalal83]

Its not rocket science here...its the price and the lack of a killer app. I have the meta quest 3 and its a wonderful device for VR gaming....but thats about it. Apple, on the other hand, with its ecosystem is far more functional, but the problem is is that it costs 3800 dollars with tax and thats not including a case for it, apple care, the playstation controllers that it now uses for gaming and what have you, its heavy and its battery life isnt great.

I want one so bad, but short of winning the lottery sometime soon, i just dont see it happening. Which is a shame cause i do see so much potential in the tech. But you got to get the cost down BY ALOT. Even if you got this down to 2500-2000 dollars thats still a huge amount of money for most people to buy on a device they would only use casually.

Its Not the next iphone or even ipad, its very much a cool idea that just costs too much for people to afford and its practical uses are limited.

 

[zilchfox]

It costs $3500.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I have a sneaking suspicion this is because it is $3,499

While true, that doesn't explain why the people that have bought it end up letting it gather dust. Other than a big screen, there is nothing to do on them.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Not a lot catches on at that price.

 

[rbbloom99]

I was very excited about the product and almost bought one when it was first announced. It would’ve been the most expensive paperweight I’ve ever owned.

 

[Gengar]

Pro is too expensive. Maybe release an Air or standard version?

 

[jclardy]

AVP is in a chicken/egg scenario - it needs software features/experiences built for it, but for those to be built it needs more users. And at $3500 for essentially the same experience as you could buy 2 years ago, it's not going to attract a lot of new customers.

AVP is great for remote work. Huge screens anywhere, multiple windows (have slack/email off to the side to unclutter your mac workspace) and facetime remote meetings are a huge leap better than zoom calls. The problem of course - is nobody has one, so zoom calls it is.

I think for Apple, $2k is the magic number that turns the tide...but getting the device down to that price is going to take some work.

Meta has a rumored Quest Pro 2 in the works that is likely going to give the AVP a run for its money, especially in the comfort/form factor department, not to mention being a leading gaming headset.

 

[Naraxus]

This "flop" brought in $157 million dollars in a single quarter.

We should all be so lucky with our "flops"

 

[citysnaps]

"Data from IDC claims that Apple shipped 390,000 Vision Pro units in 2024. IDC expected Apple to ship just 45,000 new Vision Pro units in the latest quarter of 2025. The Financial Times stressed that this compares to millions of iPhones, iPads and MacBooks sold each quarter. Luxshare, the Vision Pro's assembler, apparently halted production of the headset at the start of 2025."

Apparently the Financial Times is flummoxed that AVP isn't selling in the millions every quarter like iPhones/iPads/MacBooks.

 

[alphaswift]

I have the Meta 3 headset. It's really cool and different, but a pain the ass to use beyond the initial excitement. The software works really well and the display is really good, but I don't think I've even charged it in six months. I just don't have a use-case that makes it better than picking up a phone, Ipad or PC.

I regret buying it.

 

[MacDevil7334]

There are a number of levers Apple could pull if they really wanted to drive adoption. They could pour money into putting out immersive content (especially sports) to make it a must have entertainment device. They could pay major developers to port key apps. Heck, they could even put effort into making sure that all Apple’s bundled first party apps are actually written for VisionOS rather than being ports of iPad apps. The fact they haven’t done these things shows how committed Apple is to this product.

 

[fjsalcedosotoca]

Absolutely shocking news!!!

 

[kagharaht]

Zero plans on buying this...specially with my cost skyrocketing starting 2026...

 

[MacLawyer]

I don't think we needed the Financial Times to explain what we already knew.

 

[cdsapplefan]

Meta’s AR Headset only costs $300-$400 vs The Apple 🍎 Vision Pro which starts at $3500. The AVP is just too expensive. Apple 🍎 has even stopped research development on the AVP and now focusing on competing against META Ray Ban AI glasses 👓 and coming out with their own ray ban glasses 👓

 

[alecto42]

If 390,000 units is correct and assuming that all of those are the base model at $3499 for simplicity…

That’s at least $1,364,610,000 Vision Pro revenue in 2024.

Conclusion: Apple is doomed!

 

[Howard2k]

It's a definite maybe for me at 1/10th of the price.

 

[sflagel]

Thats because it does nothing better than existing hardware (except movies if you watch them by yourself).