Apple Vision Platform’s Future Outlook
▼ Summary
– A MacRumors report claims Apple has given up on the Vision Pro after the M5 refresh failed to boost sales, with the team redistributed and high return rates noted.
– The author refutes this, stating that Apple’s Vision Product Group continues work, with VisionOS updates and new hardware in development, including immersive headsets and a lower-priced model.
– The M5 Vision Pro update in October 2025 was a minor speed bump, not intended to drastically change sales, and Apple’s sales expectations were always modest due to supply constraints and high price.
– Apple executives like John Ternus and Greg Joswiak have publicly expressed enthusiasm for spatial computing’s future, asking for patience rather than signaling abandonment.
– The author argues that if Apple were to end the Vision platform, it would be announced internally first, not leaked to media, unlike the Project Titan shutdown.
Apple has not abandoned the Vision platform, despite a recent report suggesting otherwise. A MacRumors article claimed that the company “has given up on the Vision Pro after M5 refresh flop,” stating that the M5 model failed to reignite consumer interest and that the team has been redistributed. But that narrative does not match reality inside Apple’s Vision Product Group.
The report, written by Juli Clover, asserts that Apple sold only around 600,000 Vision Pro units total, with an unusually high return rate. It further claims that work on the Vision Pro has stopped and team members have been moved to other projects, including Siri. While it is true that Mike Rockwell, the former Vision Pro chief, has been leading the Siri team since March 2025, that does not signal a shutdown of the entire Vision platform.
In fact, the structure of the Vision team has evolved naturally as the product transitioned from a secret project to a public platform. Originally called the Technology Development Group (TDG), it became the Vision Product Group (VPG) after the Vision Pro unveiling. Later, hardware development moved under John Ternus’s hardware group and software under Craig Federighi’s software group. These are standard organizational shifts, not signs of surrender.
Sales of the Vision Pro have indeed been disappointing relative to initial hopes. But those hopes were never sky-high. The device launched at $3,500, with a practical cost closer to $4,000 for users needing corrective lenses. Supply constraints were also a factor: Sony could only produce a maximum of 900,000 displays per year, capping dual-display Vision Pro headsets at 450,000 annually. Apple itself reportedly expected to ship fewer than half a million units in the first year. The M5 speed bump in October 2025 was never intended to be a game-changer. It was a signal that Apple is still iterating, not a desperate attempt to rescue a failing product.
The idea that anyone at Apple expected the M5 update to dramatically shift sales is laughable. If it had, the company would have been caught flat-footed on supply. The speed bump was a routine refresh, likely improving margins since the M5 chip is also used in Macs and iPads.
The most damaging line in the MacRumors report is this: “Apple has apparently stopped work on the Vision Pro and the Vision Pro team has been redistributed to other teams within Apple.” If that means no one is working on a third-generation revision of the current Vision Pro hardware, that might even be a good thing. Apple needs to pivot to something more compelling , a lighter, higher-resolution Vision Pro and a lower-priced model, perhaps called “Vision Air” or simply “Vision,” starting under $2,000. But the article implies a complete shutdown of the platform, which is not accurate.
There is a VisionOS 27 update coming at WWDC, and new hardware is in development. That includes not just AR glasses but immersive Vision headsets. The number of people working on VisionOS software and immersive content is as high as it has ever been. The team is not oblivious to the challenges ahead, but they are not in panic mode either. They know the roadmap and understand the work required to make the platform a meaningful contributor to Apple’s bottom line.
It is strange for MacRumors to make such a categorical claim with sourcing as vague as “MacRumors has learned.” Just two weeks ago, John Ternus and Greg Joswiak gave an interview to Tom’s Guide, speaking enthusiastically about the future of spatial computing. Joz described Vision Pro as a product pulled into the present from the future, emphasizing patience rather than retreat. Apple executives know how to give non-answers, but their tone was not one of defeat.
Could the Vision platform ultimately fail? Yes, that is possible. But if Apple decides to shut it down, it will not come as a leak to MacRumors. When Apple ended Project Titan, the car project, in February 2024, the news was delivered at an all-hands meeting led by Jeff Williams and Kevin Lynch. The team did not learn about it from a leak. The same will be true for Vision if that day ever comes.
(Source: Daringfireball.net)
