Apple Develops Smart Glasses And Affordable Vision Headsets For Next Year

Apple Vision's headset will appear at a more affordable price (photo: x @Sajer Merritt).

JAKARTA - According to the latest edition of Mark Gurman's Power On bulletin, Apple's Vision group continues to experiment with several new products as a continuation of Apple Vision Pro's launch earlier this year. These new products include Apple Vision's more affordable headset, Apple's second generation Vision Pro, and smart glasses versions.

Apple Vision Pro launched at the WWDC keynote last year and began shipping to consumers in February 2024. Although the launch is highly anticipated, enthusiasm has eased quite quickly as many are reluctant to pay $3,499 for a mixed reality headset, although the technology is quite impressive.

However, Apple doesn't let sales declines reduce their spirits and according to Gurman, the company remains on track to launch a more affordable Apple Vision headset possibly next year. Gurman also confirmed that Apple is continuing to work on a second generation of Apple Vision Pro, although its launch time is not yet clear.

It's not clear what Apple will do to reduce costs on this more affordable model, but Gurman remains skeptical about whether this product will make Apple Vision's headset more popular. Products in this category have not been able to capture consumer imaginations, and it is difficult to determine when this will happen. If this more affordable model is not less than 1,500 US dollars (Rp.23.9 million), Vision's device will probably remain a niche product.

Apple Smart Glasses

In addition to the two new Apple Vision headsets, Gurman added that Vision's group is still experimenting with screenless smart glasses, similar to Ray-Ban Meta's glasses. Gurman first reported this idea in February, and it appears the company is still committed to this product.

He also added that the idea of making augmented reality glasses has actually been suspended due to technical challenges, so it's likely that we'll be waiting long enough before seeing the much- dreamed "Apple Glass" product.

However, Ray-Ban Meta is still a pretty cool product. They allow you to easily take photos and videos while traveling, and you can also talk to him as voice assistant. In addition, you can take advantage of Meta AI to answer questions about things around you, because it has access to the camera feed. These glasses are also light and start at about 329 US dollars. It would be very interesting to see Apple launch a similar product.