‘Cheaper’ Vision Pro could still cost six-times the Meta Quest 3S price

Apple is reportedly planning to double sales of its Apple Vision Pro by releasing a much cheaper model that would bring the price down to around $2,000.

That’s according to the seasoned Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman who believes a “lower-end” version of the Vision Pro could arrive as early as next year.

With Meta’s latest mixed reality headset, the Quest 3S debuting at just $299, Apple’s cheaper version could cost more than six-times as much.

In his weekly Power On newsletter, Gurman says that model would be able to knock around $1,500 off the asking price by using cheaper components and dropping the EyeSight feature. Eyesight is designed to enable Vision Pro wearers to continue communicating with the world around them, if they wish.

It controls whether the outer display is transparent, making the eyes visible and signalling to friends or colleagues whether the wearer is either completely immersed in VR or in using apps in AR and are thus and available to communicate with.

“Your eyes are a critical indicator of connection and emotion,” Apple said when announcing the product in 2023. “So Vision Pro displays your eyes when someone is nearby.” Whether this would be a big loss to users looking at the lower end model remains to be seen.

Gurman also says the lower-end model could have a lower-end processor. It’s not clear whether that would be in comparison to the original Vision Pro model or measured against a new, true second-generation Vision Pro that’s on the slate for 2026, according to Gurman.

He reckons Apple’s intentions with the $2,000 model is to improve sales. He wrote: “With the lower price, Apple is expecting unit sales of the device to be at least double the level of the Vision Pro. But that’s not saying much.”

Further down the line, Apple might launch a pair of genuine smart glasses as soon as 2027.