Apple has canceled AR glasses that would have required a connection to a Mac (or originally, Apple had hoped, your iPhone), Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports.
Gurman has a relatively strong track record of reliably reporting on Apple’s product plans years in advance, and successfully described most of Apple Vision Pro’s hardware and software before it was officially revealed.
In his latest report, Gurman says the canceled product was set to launch in 2027, and “would have looked like normal glasses but include built-in displays and require a connection to a Mac”, projecting a large virtual monitor for it. He goes on to say that it would have been a transparent optics device, with adjustable dimming, not camera passthrough.
According to Gurman, the original plan was actually for these AR glasses to be powered by your iPhone, but in practice the phone couldn’t provide enough processing power, and it “affected” the phone’s battery life too much. So Apple then pivoted to powering it via a Mac, but the glasses “performed poorly during reviews with executives”, leading to the cancelation this week.
Why Your iPhone Can’t Power An Apple Vision Headset
Mark Gurman claims Apple is “considering” making the non-Pro Vision headset “reliant on a tethered Mac or iPhone”. But this doesn’t make sense.
This cancelation comes just under two years after Gurman reported that Apple “indefinitely” shelved its plans for standalone AR glasses, and he stands by this in his latest report.
Less than a week ago though, Gurman reported that Apple is still developing microLED displays intended for standalone AR glasses, but stated that Apple executives don’t expect them to be ready for a product until 2028 at the absolute earliest.
Apple Is Still Working On MicroLED Displays For AR Glasses
Apple is reportedly still developing microLED displays for AR glasses, but an actual product won’t be ready until 2028 at the earliest.
With the cancelation of the Mac-connected AR glasses and the previous shelving of the standalone AR glasses, Gurman says employees in Apple’s Vision Products Group (VPG) now “believe there’s a lack of focus and clear direction within the team”, which is “hurting morale”.
In October, VPG’s leader Dan Riccio retired from Apple after more than 25 years at the company, and the VPG is now directly under Apple’s SVP of Hardware Engineering John Ternus, with Mike Rockwell continuing to run the daily operations.
Apple Vision Pro Refresh With M5 Chip Could Enter Mass Production In Late 2025
Mass production of an Apple Vision Pro refresh with an M5 chip should start in late 2025, prominent supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims.
What Apple still is working on though, according to both Gurman and supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, is a refreshed model of Vision Pro to succeed the current headset. According to Kuo, the main upgrade will be the M5 chipset, replacing the M2 of the current model, and it will enter mass production later this year or in early 2026, potentially in time for Vision Pro’s second anniversary.
Further, according to Gurman, The Information, and others, Apple is also working on a cheaper non-Pro Vision headset, which could drop the EyeSight front display and use an A-series chipset, used in iPhones. Kuo, on the other hand, claims this cheaper headset is delayed “beyond 2027”. But Gurman claims Apple is “ramping up development” of this cheaper headset, and tells his readers to “stay tuned for more details on that”.
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