A report a year ago said that we could expect an Apple Vision Air product in the second half of 2027. This was expected to address both of the issues that have led to the Vision Pro being such a niche product.
This week brought two reports suggesting that we may have to wait significantly longer for a Vision Air, if indeed we ever see one at all …
It’s almost exactly a year since analyst Ming-Chi Kuo posted a report on Apple’s roadmap for Vision products. He told us what we might expect in terms of timings for both future Vision headsets and the long-awaited Apple Glasses.
He said at the time that we should expect to see a Vision Air product in Q3 of 2027, with the first-generation Apple Glasses launched the same year.
Vision Air delayed or cancelled
However, two reports within the past week have said otherwise. While both state that we can expect to see Apple Glasses next year as previously suggested, the wait for a Vision Air product is likely to be significantly longer.
Bloomberg at one point suggested that Apple had shelved a Vision Air product altogether. Gurman changed his mind on Sunday, stating that the cheaper, slimmer, and lighter version of Vision Pro was still in the works but would not debut next year.
Apple has also been working on a slimmer and lighter headset to succeed to the $3,499 Vision Pro, but I don’t anticipate that to launch before late 2028 or 2029.
Kuo too has changed his mind, saying there are no supply-chain signs of the Vision Air at all as the company focuses exclusively on the glasses form-factor for Vision products.
The Apple XR headset and smart glasses roadmap I put together about a year ago is no longer a useful reference. For now, only two smart glasses products remain visible in the roadmap. The major overhaul was signed off by Apple’s next CEO John Ternus […] as Apple shifts resources toward smart glasses with greater mass-market potential.
I really want a Vision Air
When I first tried a Vision Pro headset, I was phenomenally impressed by the experience.
The graphics look amazing and it’s just fantastically easy to use! Once I experienced the mix of real and virtual worlds, I was totally sold! Partly for the practicality of things like being able to see a keyboard and trackpad, and partly just for the massively-reduced sense of being cut off from the world around me.
However, I was far less impressed by the weight and comfort.
I’d say that comfort is one of the biggest challenges with this tech right now. It was a relatively warm afternoon by UK standards, and I was definitely feeling the heat with my upper face enclosed by the unit. This mirrors my experience with the Meta Quest 2, which also feels warm. Vision Pro’s weight is also something I felt after about the first 30 mins.
I used it for a little over an hour and I definitely concluded that was about the limit.
I also couldn’t justify the price of the Vision Pro, so what I really wanted was something which was lighter, more comfortable, and more affordably priced. It had seemed like I was going to get all three of my wishes in the form of an upcoming Vision Air sometime in 2027, but now it appears not.
It’s disappointing but understandable
For me personally, I would be disappointed to see a significant delay – and really gutted if the Vision Air were cancelled altogether.
At the same time, from Apple’s perspective, I think the decision would be entirely understandable. The reason I want a Vision Air is that I use a 49-inch ultra-wide screen monitor on my desk, and I would love to have a virtual version of that experience when I’m traveling. But I fully recognise that even at a lower price point, this is still rather a niche product.
Apple Glasses, in contrast, are going to have a much better shot at turning into a mass-market product. Anyone in the Apple ecosystem who currently wears eyeglasses is very likely to consider switching to them, and there may others who see enough potential applications that they’d wear glasses at least some of the time.
So yes, if I were Ternus, I would absolutely be prioritizing Apple Glasses over Vision Air – and if the cost of ensuring sufficient resources allocated to the former required me to delay the latter, then I would do so without hesitation. But please, Apple, don’t give up on the project!
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