Apple’s AR/VR headset ambitions might take up to four generations to materialize.
According to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, the Vision Products Group (the team working on the headset) believes that the device likely needs four more generations to reach its “ideal form.”
This would be similar to the progression of the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
This is because the first-gen Vision Pro is likely an experimental device that Apple will use to gain valuable customer feedback. The current-gen device has several downfalls. It is heavy, it doesn’t have many apps because not all developers are currently on board, it has a below-average battery life, and according to Gurman, “the visionOS operating system suffers from more bugginess than you’d typically expect from an Apple product, even a first-generation one.”
Gurman also suggests that the Vision Pro could one day replace the iPad, albeit not without a few hardware upgrades, software updates, and better support from app developers. All of this, as speculated, might take up to four generations of the AR/VR headset to be in an ideal place.
The Vision Pro, as it is today, is undeniably cool. However, it isn’t enough to replace Apple’s iPad for entertainment, or the company’s MacBooks for productivity. Until the necessary upgrades and updates take place, the AR/VR headset remains a $3,499 (roughly $4,700 CAD) prototype that users can test.
You can learn more about the Vision Pro in our hands-on.
