Vision Pro Future Uncertain as All Headset Development Is Seemingly Paused

Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago

mgh2

30 points

26 comments

macrumors.comTechstory

skepticalnegative

Debate

40/100

Apple Vision ProAr/vr DevelopmentApple Product Strategy

Key topics

Apple Vision Pro

Ar/vr Development

Apple Product Strategy

The future of Apple's Vision Pro headset is uncertain due to a reported pause in all headset development, sparking concerns about the product's viability and Apple's AR/VR strategy.

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Oct 11, 2025 at 4:23 AM EDT
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Discussion (26 comments)

Showing 26 comments

bentt

3 months ago

1 reply

Good. It was at best the Newton of this era. At worst, a waste of time and focus.

And they do need to maintain focus.

Apple can’t even get a local LLM to back Siri and control our phones reliably. They have way bigger opportunities than a headset.

joshstrange

3 months ago

1 reply

They are shifting these people to their Smart Glasses (rumors say it’s in response to Meta’s new Ray-Ban Display glasses). The problem is Apple doesn’t have enough people skilled in this area to pursue both the headset and the glasses at the same time with reasonable timelines to release. So they’ve decided to focus on the glasses to move up their (previously) expected 2028 timeline (I think I’m remembering these dates correctly from previous leaks).

While I agree that Apple is floundering on the AI/LLM front, it’s not like the people working on the headset would be able to jump over to the Siri/LLM team and speed up that process. Sure, some could help, but probably not enough to be materially useful, especially when the glasses are Tim Cook’s stated end-goal. On that note, I’m worried he won’t leave/step-down before they finally ship those and that sucks because Apple needs someone else at the helm.

coldtea

3 months ago

1 reply

> They are shifting these people to their Smart Glasses (rumors say it’s in response to Meta’s new Ray-Ban Display glasses)

Another bullshit product that will go nowhere, the nth attempt of such "display glasses" (remember Google Glass? Even Instagram had a go at this).

Apple should focus, not follow competitors in crapshots.

@sillyfluke says it perfectly elsewhere in this thread: "Apple engaging in "me-tooing" speculative investor trends then chickening out when the hype bubble bursts is getting tiresome, almost conjuring into evidence it's being run by a visionless CEO".

bentt

3 months ago

Yes this post-Jobs era smells just like the Scully + Amelio era, just with a stronger start. iOS was a massive tee-up for Cook and he's done everything possible to leverage it. Now it's time for a new visionary to step in. Unfortunately I can't think of an example in the history of companies where the visionary founder was followed by a visionary. The more likely outcome is the company stagnates forever.

kotaKat

3 months ago

2 replies

Are we sure? The only "source" is one single Bloomberg writer who has a track record of getting it wrong who wants to come up with something new for his Sunday newsletters.

coldtea

3 months ago

1 reply

Hardly the only source: "An essential report from The Information claimed that Apple had suspended development of the Vision Pro 2".

"Meanwhile, by October, supply-chain leaks suggested Apple was winding down production of the original Vision Pro, citing weak demand and excess component stockpiles".

>one single Bloomberg writer who has a track record of getting it wrong

Mark Gurman has a good track record on Apple developments, and is one of the most respected in the Apple rumors game

kotaKat

3 months ago

1 reply

> a good track record on Apple developments

Yes, I too can write the same blog post year after year about "the next iPhone" and "the next Macs" too. I bet next year there will be an M6 iPad and a Macbook Pro, so where's my Bloomberg paycheck? Dude parrots the same crap YoY and people fall for it, every time.

coldtea

3 months ago

We all know there will be new models. It's the specific changes and specs that matter, Sherlock.

bombcar

3 months ago

It fits with the other rumors; if a Vision Air doesn’t show up next year, we can consider it a moribund product.

_fw

3 months ago

1 reply

This is disappointing, but not surprising. I think it’s clear the potential that devices like these have… they stand to be as much a step forward in computing as touchscreen and handheld devices.

If the Vision Pro was able to natively run Mac apps I think people’s attitude towards it would be a lot different.

At the moment, it’s a glorified iPad you can wear on your face.

But imagine if it wasn’t.

vunderba

3 months ago

Honestly I was shocked that it didn't debut with the ability to "sync with any Macbook/Studio/etc" and all the currently running applications would show up as separate floating windows within ostensible spatial computing environment - each of which could be moved around / resized / manipulated at will.

That way you get all the computing power of your main work machine, and enjoy the freedom of 3d computing. I know a lot of people dismiss spatial computing as a gimmick, but as somebody who does a huge amount of work walking around my house while writing on my whiteboards, I really enjoy being able to work in a non-static way.

Instead as I understand it, it just creates a single resizable floating monitor pane that is just a crappy mirror of what's displayed on your Macbook - not nearly as cool.

Also the front-facing virtual avatar display might be the biggest "who the hell wants this" added expense on a device that's already 7 times the price of the Quest.

walterbell

3 months ago

2 replies

VisionPro design is now part of iOS and macOS.

sillyfluke

3 months ago

1 reply

Given the general context, this feels of little consequence frankly. Who cares whether some OS of a prototype device has been shoved into iOS and MacOS when the design hasn't been battle tested with millions of users using killer apps to begin with, like say iOS or iPadOS?

walterbell

3 months ago

VisionOS leadership is now in charge of key iOS and macOS features and delivery schedules.

coldtea

3 months ago

If it is, it's a crap design.

mensetmanusman

3 months ago

1 reply

Hire me for $100,000,000 and I will fix Apple.

coldtea

3 months ago

I'll do it for $99,000,000

coldtea

3 months ago

2 replies

Stop trying to make VR happen. It's never going to happen.

Except as a niche product in certain fields, which is what it always ends up staying.

stevenwoo

3 months ago

1 reply

I could imagine the one described in speculative fiction that works by directly affecting the neurons in the brain to simulate a sensory organ input could be acceptable with a non invasive, comfortable interface, but it's essentially like magic for foreseeable future, i.e. off the top of my head, Three Body Problem with aliens making countdown appear in people's vision or The Expanse with aliens making pretty much anything appear in people's vision and hearing. Creating content for such a beast and transferring the data from source to destination are also big practical issues.

teeray

3 months ago

I think there’s an atavistic revulsion to the idea of tech companies inducing actual hallucinations in people for what will inevitably be used for advertising. This is to say nothing of the bugs in such a system, which will probably hospitalize people.

tartuffe78

3 months ago

It will happen when the tech is good enough to make us not sick.

gdubs

3 months ago

1 reply

I'm biased because I develop Vision Pro apps but, it's wild to see how the rumors build upon rumors and then people just talk about them like they're facts.

Last year's rumor was that the platform was abandoned. And then WWDC happened and there was a ton of software investment in the platform. New content announced like the NBA live-streaming immersive etc.

Apple themselves never announced a Vision Pro "air" — that was also a rumor. And at the time that rumor surfaced, the claim was that the Pro had been halted so they could focus on the Air.

Now the rumor is that the Air has been halted, but we're supposedly going to see an updated Pro with an m5 chip, etc...

hu3

3 months ago

The gossip I read on HN is that Vision is dead, long live a rumoured Glasses

sillyfluke

3 months ago

Apple engaging in "me-tooing" speculative investor trends then chickening out when the hype bubble bursts is getting tiresome, almost conjuring into evidence it's being run by a visionless CEO.

It can still turnaround it's mediocre position on the post-metaverse hype bubble that is AI. I'm concerned that they'll show the same analysis paralysis and lack of vision to follow through once the AI bubble bursts as well. But if they somehow managed to turn it around on both fronts that would be epic obviously.

estimator7292

3 months ago

Until a few months ago, I was still working in (a branch of) the VR/XR space. The entire industry held its breath for the Vision Pro's entire life and when it failed the industry collapsed. All our competitors went out of business and then we couldn't find a single buyer anywhere.

I think that all US based startups working on VR haptic controllers have failed. One or two are still technically extant, but the game is well and truly over. And nothing of value was lost /j

browningstreet

3 months ago

So Vision Pro was a mistake that beget the badly implemented Liquid Glass and then paused.

It’s like they decided that after Titan they will ship no matter what. Wrong lesson.

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ID: 45547553Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 12:44:40 PM

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