AI strangled Apple Vision Pro in its cradle
Turns out a massively expensive, heavy, bulkly, uncomfortable device is the wrong direction. People want small, cheap AI glasses instead.
Apple stopped working on its Apple Vision Pro headset in favor of a cheaper, smaller future spatial computing device, according to a report from The Information. (The report is based on “at least one” supplier that claims Apple told them about the re-focusing.)
Big, if true. And it makes sense. Apple Vision Pro is a fantastic device. Except it’s way to expensive, bulky, heavy, uncomfortable and creepy (with the fake eyes). And using video to show you your environment (rather than just giving you clear glass) is psychologically unsatisfying and needlessly complex.
When Apple first revealed Apple Vision Pro a couple years ago, I’m sure it seemed like a sure hit. But it’s a new world now.
Specifically: When Apple CEO Tim Cook secretly unveiled an early version of Apple Vision Pro to a few prominent content creators in May, 2022, they didn’t know what would happen in November: OpenAI made ChatGPT public.
AI changed everything. Now, instead of augmented reality, the public wants an AI device that also does AR. Instead of spatial computing, the public wants an AI device that also does spatial computing.
Apple’s more than 5,000 patents related to Apple Vision Pro technologies couldn’t make the device shinier than free AI.
Now, a growing range of products is emerging that promise most of the value of Apple Vision Pro at a tiny fraction of the price, size and weight.
Yesterday, Xreal announced its Beam Pro product — a smartphone-like gadget that delivers a spatial computing experience to the company’s Xreal AR glasses: Air, Air 2, Air 2 Pro, Air 2 Ultra. The device runs on Android 14 and Xreal's NebulaOS.
The Beam Pro features a 6.5-inch 2K touchscreen display that allows users to control and interact with the AR content displayed through the glasses. It runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon platform and offers access to millions of apps and games from the Google Play Store, as well as streaming services and cloud gaming platforms. By making the Beam Pro mostly a smartphone (without the phone and texting functionality), Xreal isn’t imposing a learning curve.
The Beam Pro is has two 50MP rear cameras, which capture spatial/3D videos and images. It also has two USB-C ports, allowing the glasses and Beam Pro to be powered simultaneously. The device supports Nvidia CloudXR tech, harnessing Nvidia RTX GPUs for super-fast rendering.
Xreal Beam Pro is nowhere near as technologically impressive as Apple Vision Pro, but it’s a fuck of a lot cheaper, smaller and easier.
Beam Pro costs $200. A bundle deal with the Beam Pro, plus the glasses, can be had for 10% of the price of Apple Vision Pro.
And while Apple seems to have been caught off guard by public demand for Mac screen support in Apple Vision Pro, other companies have been working on delivering PC screens to AR glasses.
The Rokid AR Lite is a new spatial computing product that combines the Rokid Max 2 AR glasses and the Rokid Station 2 host unit. The Rokid Max 2 glasses are lightweight at just 75g and offer a 50-degree field of view with 1080p-1200p resolution and up to 600 nits brightness. They let you adjust for your vision, so you can see clearly despite the particulars of your eyesight.
The Rokid Station 2 ]runs on the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 mobile platform and Rokid's YodaOS. It enables system-level 3DoF (3 degrees of freedom) tracking and enables you to run up to three apps simultaneously across holographic screens. The "Giant Screen Mode" can enlarge a single app up to a 300-inch virtual display.
Also: I told you about Sightful’s Spacetop G1 laptop here, here and here. The product gives you a Chromebook-like device with a giant virtual screen at low cost.
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According to the supplier of Vision Pro components, Apple has notified at least one supplier to suspend the production of the next-generation high-end Vision headset.
Over the past year, Apple has gradually reduced the development priority of the next-generation Vision Pro internally, and the number of allocated employees has also decreased.
At the same time, starting last year, Apple shifted its focus to reducing the cost of components, or launching a low-cost Vision product named N109 before the end of 2025.
Due to the poor sales of Vision Pro, Apple has suspended the research and development of the next-generation high-end Vision headset, and instead concentrated efforts on launching a cheaper model before the end of 2025.
This change not only affects Apple's own product roadmap but may also prompt competitors to adopt a similar retreat strategy in manufacturing high-priced headsets, thereby affecting the development direction of the entire mixed reality industry.