GoKawiilAccording to The Elec, Samsung Display has fully scrapped the development project of a component tied to the rumored lower-cost Apple Vision Pro. Here are the details.
Samsung Display to wind down panel development
The Elec reports (via MacRumors) that Apple has discontinued “a panel development project for a lower-cost extended reality (XR) device that had been under consideration as a follow-up to the Vision Pro.”
The panel, known as G-VR, was expected to enter mass production “sometime after 2028,” but the report notes that Samsung Display has decided to end its development process after the project “began being wound down earlier this year” as a result of Apple’s strategy shift toward AI smart glasses.
From the report (translation ours):
G-VR was an improved version of the silicon substrate-based OLEDoS technology used in Apple Vision Pro. It used a method of forming OLED on a glass substrate for displays. Because it could dramatically lower manufacturing costs compared with existing OLEDoS, it had been considered a likely candidate for Apple’s lower-cost, lighter XR device. Samsung Display had been developing a mid-to-low-cost panel in the 1600–1700 PPI range, about half the pixel density of the Vision Pro’s 3386 PPI.
Rumors about a lighter, cheaper alternative to the Apple Vision Pro have been circulating since before the actual device’s launch, but recent leaks have diverged on Apple’s actual plans for the product.
Last October, Bloomberg reported that Apple had “hit pause on a planned overhaul to its Vision Pro headset to redirect resources” toward the development of smart glasses. Then, last March, Mark Gurman reported that “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.” It is worth noting that the original report mentioned a pause, rather than an outright cancellation.
Ming-Chi Kuo has also reported on the shifting status of the so-called Vision Air, stating that “for now, only two smart glasses products remain visible in the roadmap,” with no sign of the immersive headset, contrary to the timeline he had shared months before.
9to5Mac’s take
... continue reading