Once upon a time, in the global XR circle and even the technology circle, the most concerned product was Apple's Vision Pro. This product is considered to be the most innovative hardware product released by Apple since the iPhone.
With the extension of the launch time, the news about the hot sales of Apple's Vision Pro has gradually fallen silent; The market news turned to the decline in the market demand for Apple's Vision Pro, the "cold" first sales in the Chinese market, and the sharp discount in the second-hand market.
In fact, in the case of Apple mobile phones, after the official release, the popularity often lasts for a few months, or even longer. However, it has only been more than 4 months since the Apple Vision Pro was launched in the United States, and there have been frequent bad news in the market.
Whether the Vision Pro, which Apple has given high hopes for, can lead and define the era of spatial computing remains to be tested by time. Previously, industry insiders were optimistic that Vision Pro would stimulate the vitality of the XR industry and greatly boost market demand, but now it is generally believed that its pulling effect is limited.
And the recent news about Apple's new headset is once again in the dust. According to foreign media sources, Apple suspended the follow-up product research and development of the Vision Pro and shifted to the release of cheaper models by the end of 2025.
01. Apple's high-end headset pressed the "pause button"?
Recently, foreign media "The Information" reported that in the face of the slowdown in Vision Pro sales, Apple has decided to suspend the research and development of Vision Pro follow-up products, and instead focus on the development of a streamlined and affordable version of the Vision headset, and plans to bring this product to the market by the end of 2025.
In February of this year, the Vision Pro went on sale in the United States, and there was a buying spree. Foreign media reported that more than 200,000 units have been sold 10 days after opening for pre-order. However, as the timeline lengthens, after the buying boom, Apple's Vision Pro sales have not shown a sustained good state.
In the face of the Vision Pro, which has a starting price of $3499, many netizens said at the time that the price was high, and the frequency of use was reduced after the novelty. For example, previously, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman pointed out in a report that the demand for the Apple Vision Pro demo experience in Apple retail stores in the United States is declining significantly, and people who make appointments usually do not show up. In terms of sales (at least in some places) it has gone from a few units a day to a few units a week.
Mark Gurman, for example, said that he used the Apple Vision Pro every day (sometimes several times a day) for the first few months when he got his hands on it, but now it's down to once or twice a week.
In addition, in May this year, foreign media reported that a second-hand trading platform said that more than 4,000 Vision Pros had been marked as "new" by private sellers, and the prices were all $3,180 lower. In addition, due to a number of factors, the real number of these low-priced new Vision Pro headsets may be less than 4,000. But in any case, the private Vision Pro stock is indeed very large.
This phenomenon has been widely discussed in tech circles, with some early buyers disappointed, believing that Apple's high pricing strategy has caused the rapid depreciation of the value of the products they buy.
In China, recent news shows that recently, the pre-sale of Apple's Vision Pro national version has not triggered a buying boom, but cold news. Previously, it was reported that a few days after the pre-sale, Apple's Apple Store retail stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Nanjing and other places showed that the Vision Pro could be picked up on the day of the release.
It is understood that the Apple Vision Pro national version 256GB version is 29999 yuan, the 512GB version is 31499 yuan, and the 1TB version is 32999 yuan. The pre-sale of the product began on June 14 and officially launched in the Chinese mainland market on June 28. Although the Vision Pro has many technical highlights, the high price and practicality issues have become the bottleneck of its market expansion. In the face of the Apple Vision Pro national version with a starting price of 30,000 yuan, many netizens said that it was too expensive and useless.
There may be many reasons for the slowdown in the sales of Apple's Vision Pro, but the high price, heavy equipment, not as practical as smartphones, and the small amount of content ecology are all important factors. Perhaps this is also an important factor in the birth of an affordable version of Apple's headset.
According to market sources, the affordable version of the Vision Pro may retain the Vision Pro's high-resolution display components, remove some unnecessary features to reduce the weight, and reduce the weight of the whole machine by one-third. At the same time, the product pricing will target the price range of high-end iPhones, which is expected to be between $1,500 and $2,500.
02.Will the affordable version of Vision Pro be competitive?
In fact, it is not difficult to find that compared with some other brand products, the price of Apple products is often much higher. In the field of headsets, will the affordable version of Apple's headset gain a competitive advantage?
First of all, the price of the affordable version of the Vision Pro does not seem to be low, according to the market pointed out 1500-2500 US dollars, it is equivalent to more than 10,000 people. Some netizens said, isn't the Meta Quest 3 about $500 fragrant?
Previously, Meta boss Zuckerberg had said that he initially expected the Quest to be more valuable for most people because it was "seven times cheaper" than the $3,500 Vision Pro. However, after testing a competitor's product, he came to the conclusion that the Quest was "a better product."
此外,似乎平价版Quest 3也被Meta提上了日程。 此前,Meta或许不小心透露了其下一款头显的名称——Quest 3S。 外媒消息称,多个Quest官方应用商店页面列出了对"Meta Quest 3S、Meta Quest 3、Meta Quest Pro 和 Meta Quest 2"的支持。 这或许预示着,Quest 3S正在测试准备中,发布时间已经临近。
Although Meta has not officially released any relevant information, according to well-known whistleblower Lunayian, the Meta Quest 3S will be equipped with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 3 chip as the Meta Quest 2, and is expected to be equipped with dual 4MP RGB cameras and support 18PPD mixed reality technology. Although the sensor arrangement is different from that of the Quest 3, its specifications match those of the Quest 3 and provide users with a rich VR experience.
In terms of display, the Quest 3S's single-eye resolution is only 1832x1920 pixels, which is in line with the resolution of the Quest 2, but far lower than the Quest 3's 2064x2208 pixels. The Quest 3's 445 ppi resolution increase was one of its main highlights, but the Quest 3S has not made a corresponding improvement in this regard.
As early as March this year, there was news about the Quest 3S, which is also regarded as an affordable version of the Quest 3. Compared to the price of the Quest 3 at $499, industry predictions suggest that the price of the Quest 3S may be around $300.
In addition to Meta, news about PICO's new headset is also coming frequently. Not long ago, a new headset score chart called "Pico A9210" circulated on the Internet. The product is considered by the industry to be the most likely PICO 4S, or equipped with up to 12GB of RAM. The industry generally predicts that this product may be released in the second half of this year. The latest news shows that the PICO 4S may have been certified by South Korean regulators, hinting at an imminent launch.
On the other hand, the current smart glasses and AR glasses markets are also rising strongly and menacing. For example, the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are estimated to have sold 1 million units by a third party. At the same time, Meta teased its next major product, the first AR glasses.
Meta said that the Quest 3 provides an engaging mixed reality experience, allowing users to fully immerse themselves in the physical world and digital content at the same time, while Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses allow users to enjoy the practicality and entertainment of MetaAI, and AR glasses will integrate the two technology paths to achieve the "best of both worlds".
In other words, if Apple makes an affordable version of the headset in the future, it will not only face competition from products such as Quest and PICO, which have a very advantageous price, but also face the competition brought by AR glasses in the XR field. In the future, compared with the pricing of other brands, will the affordable version of Vision Pro, which is still much more expensive, be able to go through the C-end market?