It’s widely acknowledged that while Apple is happy for any Vision Pro sales it can get, the primary purpose of the existing headset is to let the company take a first step in the journey towards an Apple Glasses product.
But while a cheaper Apple Vision still seems to be a couple of years away, along with the company’s equivalent of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, we are now seeing the potential emergence of smart goggles as an interim device – with TikTok entering the fray …
Vision Pro is just a step toward Apple Glasses
Even Apple CEO Tim Cook has acknowledged that the primary role of the existing Vision Pro model was to begin creating a mixed-reality ecosystem for the company.
“I think it’s just arguably a success today from an ecosystem-being-built-out point of view.”
The expensive device is expected to get an update this year, giving it a more powerful chip and comfier strap, but otherwise both headset and price are expected to remain unchanged.
A cheaper Apple Vision product is reported to be in the works, though the consensus view is that we won’t see that before 2027. That’s also the expected timing for Apple’s version of the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses that impressed us here at 9to5Mac.
But the real prize here is neither a bulky headset, nor smart glasses with limited functionality, but rather a device that can deliver augmented reality content in a true glasses form-factor.
Reaching that point, and especially being able to achieve the quality and usability we expect from an Apple product, is no easy task. It’s likely still years away yet.
But a fourth product category is emerging
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