Apple stops Vision Pro production amid weak demand and customer dissatisfaction

[DragonSlayer101]

Facepalm: Apple is believed to have ended production of its Vision Pro headset amid weak demand from customers. The news comes months after a report claimed that the company would wind down manufacture of the much-hyped mixed-reality headset by the end of October.

Apple is said to have scaled back production of the Vision Pro last summer after building up a large inventory that it believed would last through the year. Now that production has ended, the company reportedly has enough units in stock to meet demand for the device's remaining lifespan through 2025.

According to an earlier report by The Information, most Vision Pro suppliers produced enough components by October for 500,000 to 600,000 headsets. However, some of them apparently stopped manufacturing components as early as May 2024 based on Apple's weak sales forecasts.

Luxshare, the Chinese contract manufacturer producing the Vision Pro, was reportedly told by Apple in November that it will need to wind down production by the end of this year. Toward the end of its production run, Luxshare was believed to have been making around 1,000 units per day, about half of its peak production rate.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple sold fewer than 500,000 units of the Vision Pro since launch. While many returned the product after experiencing headaches, vision issues, neck pain, and motion sickness, even the people who kept it are reportedly not using it as much as Apple expected, largely due to the lack of compelling apps and games.

It is worth noting that an earlier report claimed Apple will release an updated version of the first-generation Vision Pro with a faster chip, but we haven't heard anything about it in a while. It's unclear whether that project is still in the works, or if Apple has canceled those plans permanently.

The Vision Pro was unveiled in June 2023 at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference and became available for purchase in February 2024. The device launched to mixed reviews from the media and never set the sales charts ablaze, mostly due to its astronomical price-tag.

Apple is rumored to be working on two new mixed-reality headsets: a second-generation Vision Pro and a new low-cost model that could bring in more sales. However, the company is believed to have suspended development of the former for at least a year to focus on the affordable variant. Cupertino is betting big on the low-cost headset, and has reportedly told suppliers that it expects to sell four million units of this device over its lifespan.

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Apple stops Vision Pro production amid weak demand and customer dissatisfaction

 

[opckieran]

Anyone else remember when Apple wasn’t 4-8 years late to the party?

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Nothing says VR/AR ain't ready quite like Apple throwing a $3500 headset at the problem and still failing.

Too many issues inherent to the format as it stands, from weight to motion sickness, to battery life and ergonomics.

I think it's just one of those things that will stay niche until the techbros can genetically engineer a better consumer for the product.

 

[Billybobjoey]

$3500 for a VR/AR headset without any controllers than can't play a majority of the well known VR games was always going to be a recipe for disaster. Nobody wants to work in VR unless you're developing VR software. "But it gives you extra displays for working!" you know what's cheaper than a $3500 headset? Extra monitors, you could buy at least 6 decent ones for that price.

If they really want these to sell, it needs to be $500 max. Get rid of the goofy and uncanny eye/face display on the front, that's a good cost cutting start.

 

[passingposeidon]

Anyone else remember when Apple wasn’t 4-8 years late to the party?

The thing is, nobody else has nailed a headset either. Apple has just shown that even given more or less the best package for normal consumers that you can put together, there still isn't much interest in this product form. Who wants to strap a screen to their eyeballs? It just doesn't make sense. The apps would have to be incredible, but nobody seems capable of making them. Even if Apple fixed the issues it has, made it 50% lighter and so on, it'd still be a niche product.

 

[Eldrach]

The thing is, nobody else has nailed a headset either. Apple has just shown that even given more or less the best package for normal consumers that you can put together, there still isn't much interest in this product form. Who wants to strap a screen to their eyeballs? It just doesn't make sense. The apps would have to be incredible, but nobody seems capable of making them. Even if Apple fixed the issues it has, made it 50% lighter and so on, it'd still be a niche product.

I’d say the quest 3 is pretty damn close when you compare price vs features. The Steam VR wireless compatibility is the extra sugar on top for that headset

 

[Kirby1]

It was a bad idea from Apple to begin with considering the lack of VR content, but on top of that, the meta quest 3 is simply a superior product even at a fifth of the cost. Apple failed miserably.

 

[Anton Longshot]

I wouldn't put such a ridiculous contraption on my face if they paid me, and they wanted ME to pay a pile of money for that? Hahaha!

 

[Revolution 11]

Feels like a product that is still 15 years away from being viable. Apple either was too late to enter this market with a lower-cost product (like the Quest headsets) or too early to justify such a premium-priced product.

 

[kiwigraeme]

I’d say the quest 3 is pretty damn close when you compare price vs features. The Steam VR wireless compatibility is the extra sugar on top for that headset

Ignoring META , seems to get a lot of likes, for just sheer ease of use and fun games . Think farcebook may have reduced account reqs IDK

Does it work fully with steam or restricted like new PS one ?

 

[Eldrach]

Ignoring META , seems to get a lot of likes, for just sheer ease of use and fun games . Think farcebook may have reduced account reqs IDK

Does it work fully with steam or restricted like new PS one ?

Only restriction I’ve seen is that when I use the remote desktop functionality, some streaming services won’t run, could be a software issue more than DRM, but I suspect it to be DRM restrictions.
Don’t know -why- they do it, you’re still paying for the subscription, but could be the same DRM that kicks into place when you try using streaming services through virtual desktop software. As for Steam it acts like all other natively supported VR units

 

[p51d007]

Look at it this way. Considering they didn't sell a ton of these, in 10-20 years, they'll be worth many times more on "ebay" for crazy people willing to spend the money on them!

 

[Watzupken]

In my opinion, this product is expected to be DOA. When you have a new tech, you probably want the maximum users to encourage app developers to spend time and resources to optimize their apps for it. But at a dumb starting price of 3.5K USD, some dangling power bank, outdated SOC, measly storage and RAM and having to wear a "giant goggle" that makes you look like a housefly, the success rate is essentially 0. This is not something that the Apple label can save. As I mentioned previously, I think Apple may find better success selling cars than this in the short term. Furthermore, it is proven that general consumers are not into AR/VR technology. There are a lot of good and also reasonably priced AR/VR that don't sell well, which should have been a very strong evidence that Apple should never have wasted time and money on this.

 

[Gautamb30]

Whats the future of this then?

 

[PCNP543]

Look at it this way. Considering they didn't sell a ton of these, in 10-20 years, they'll be worth many times more on "ebay" for crazy people willing to spend the money on them!

That sounds more like someone from Apple making a last ditch effort to juice sales. I just checked ebay (why you put it in quotes is anyone’s guess), and Newtons go for about $150, iPhone 3Gs for $50, and G4 Cubes for around $500. Even fully working Apple IIgs systems complete with monitor, drive and mouse are listed for less than $500. The Apple reality distortion field is alive and well!

 

[Inthenstus]

AR is the future, VR needs to die until we can matrix/ready player one it.

 

[FaTaL]

Whats the future of this then?

it has no future.

 

[Semmi]

The thing is, nobody else has nailed a headset either. Apple has just shown that even given more or less the best package for normal consumers that you can put together, there still isn't much interest in this product form. Who wants to strap a screen to their eyeballs? It just doesn't make sense. The apps would have to be incredible, but nobody seems capable of making them. Even if Apple fixed the issues it has, made it 50% lighter and so on, it'd still be a niche product.

I think you may have missed a few things. Ever heard of the Meta Quest 3?

 

[Eldrach]

AR is the future, VR needs to die until we can matrix/ready player one it.

Meta quest 3 AR is pretty decent - not great as it’s pretty grainy in poor lighting (which is what’s recommended) - but I reckon if they put a couple of camera upgrades (need two for depth perception) the quest 4 would nail it

 

[Kirby1]

Ignoring META , seems to get a lot of likes, for just sheer ease of use and fun games . Think farcebook may have reduced account reqs IDK

Does it work fully with steam or restricted like new PS one ?

I just made a new meta account that has no personal I do tied to it when I got mine. Like anything these days, you have to sign in with a free account but that's it. Beyond that you just use steam link for everything.

 

[purpleduggy]

Until Apple takes gaming seriously, and invests billions into tried and true game ideas and executes them to the satisfaction of players, instead of treating gaming like a side feature, with bland ports of games from other platforms, no Apple VR/AR/XR headset will not make any sense. Apple needs to make its own console or handheld steamdeck with Apple silicon with exclusive new games franchises developed by its own studios. Apple needed like 20x Half Life Alyx VR games for the Apple Vision Pro. Why weren't there any games to that level? Apple should deeply study what games sell the most on steam and on nintendo switch and make a lot of them for a mac mini m4 like console, or a handheld m4, with a focus on gameplay and story. Graphics don't matter. Ask Nintendo who sells millions of games that look outdated but play super smooth. And don't pull an xbox and just have zero exclusives with everything other consoles have.

 

[KnightSayNI]

The only way its going to really go mainstream is if they get it down to the size of a regular comfortable pair of glasses. Full VR and AR. And that's going to be 50 years from now. Well maybe less. Maybe a remote brick streaming in.