The original Vision Pro felt like strapping a Mac Studio to your face—with all the weight and price tag that implies. Nearly 1kg once you factored in the external battery, $3,500 out of pocket, and a risk of strained necks by hour two. Apple’s most ambitious product in years turned out to be a niche flex, applauded by developers and early adopters, but ultimately undercut by its own bravado. Now, Apple’s winding back the bombast. According to Bloomberg’s , the next Vision headset isn’t just lighter and cheaper. It’s being reimagined for the world beyond Silicon Valley conference rooms.
Apple seems to be having its reality-check moment. The next Vision Pro (or as I like to say, the Vision ‘Air’) is reportedly shedding weight like it’s on a juice cleanse, targeting around 650g or 1.4 lbs (not including the cable-linked battery pack). Lowering the weight likely means compromises: fewer sensors, streamlined build materials, and possibly a reduced field of view. But at this point, it’s a necessary trade-off. When users are hunting for third-party support straps on forums just to get through a movie, something’s broken in the design DNA.
AI Visualization
The price cut is rumored to be significant. Halving the entry point to $1,500-2,000 isn’t exactly making it accessible to everyone (this is still Apple we’re talking about), but it at least acknowledges that $3,500 was firmly in “second mortgage” territory for most consumers. Meta’s Quest lineup has proven there’s an appetite for spatial computing at a more digestible price point, and Apple can’t afford to remain in its ivory tower if it wants visionOS and spatial computing to gain meaningful adoption.
There’s also talk of a tethered variant—an AR headset that plugs directly into a Mac. Imagine the Vision Pro as a high-end monitor for creative professionals, with ultra-low latency for tasks like CAD, video editing, or even surgical planning. Apple’s aim here seems surgical too: laser-focus on pro users who’ll pay a premium if the tech enables something truly transformative. That wired connection might sound regressive, but it offers a crucial win—zero lag, which wireless just can’t promise, especially in mission-critical environments.
This two-pronged strategy feels distinctly Apple, given its usual tendency to release Pro and regular or Air versions of the same product category, be it MacBooks, iPads, or now, potentially, even iPhones. One product is an absolute work-horse, while the other serves more of a mass-market need. Since Apple bet big on Spatial Computing in 2023, it only makes sense for them to flesh out their ‘vision’ with both product lines – one for power users, and another for, well, users.
Meanwhile, whispers of the persist. That model, reportedly in development with an M5 chip and a refined optical stack, could retain the all-out luxury appeal of its predecessor—faster, sleeker, and still wildly expensive. But it won’t be the one most people buy. The lighter, cheaper Vision ‘Air’ isn’t playing backup. It’s gunning for primetime.
And that’s a vision I can actually see clearly.
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