Apple to counter new Meta products with its own cheaper headset

Jason Hiner/ZDNET

Apple is reportedly cooking up a series of new AR headsets and smart glasses to attract more customers and better compete against the likes of Meta. In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the company is working on at least four new devices to serve as cheaper and friendlier alternatives to its expensive Vision Pro.

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Though the Vision Pro made a splash in the headset market early this year, the product is saddled with several drawbacks. At $3,500 to start, the device is much too expensive for the average consumer. It's also too heavy to lug around and hot to the touch. For those reasons, it seems likely to remain a niche product and unlikely to drive much profit Apple's way.

At the same time, Meta has been scoring goals with its Ray-Ban smart glasses. Though less ambitious than the Vision Pro, the Ray-Ban glasses are simpler, lighter, and cheaper. In September, the company revealed a prototype of its first true augmented reality glasses. Dubbed Orion, this product also promises to be lighter and cheaper than Apple's Vision Pro.

Trying to play catch up in the smart glasses market, Apple's Vision Products Group will unveil a lower-end and lower-cost Vision headset as early as next year, Gurman said. Priced at around $2,000, this model would use cheaper materials and a slower processor. It would also come without the current Vision Pro's EyeSight feature, which displays your eyes on the outside of the headset.

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With the lower price designed to lure in more buyers, Apple expects sales of this lower-end model to be double those of the existing Vision Pro, Gurman added.

Next on the agenda will be a second-generation Vision Pro with a faster processor. Slated for 2026, this model would build on the existing headset, though Gurman didn't shed any further light on this unit.

Looking to 2027, Apple is weighing the launch of smart glasses similar to Meta's Ray-Bans, as well as a pair of AirPods with cameras. The goal is to put the billions of dollars spent on the Vision Pro's technology towards creating more affordable glasses. As such, Apple's smart glasses will be able to scan your environment and provide helpful information in return. The idea is to take the ability of the Vision Pro to recognize and understand its environment and apply that to other products.

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The downside, according to Gurman, is that Apple has been slow in getting innovative new products into the marketplace. Meta's Ray-Bans are available now, while Apple's version may not hit the shelves for several years. The scenario is similar to that of AI, an area where the company is now struggling to catch up with Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, and other players.

"The world is not waiting around for Apple anymore," Gurman wrote. "It's no longer the leader in several critical new technologies, and that's scary -- especially when there are rivals innovating and inspiring a new generation of users. The company has a stable base of revenue, at nearly $400 billion a year, but Apple can't coast forever."