Apple Shelves Cheaper Vision Pro Redesign to Prioritize Smart Glasses [Report]

Apple is shifting its mixed-reality strategy, pausing development on a cheaper Vision Pro headset to prioritize a more urgent project: smart glasses aimed at competing with new AI-powered wearables from Meta, according to a recent newsletter from Mark Gurman to subscribers. The move follows the Vision Pro's underwhelming debut, which insiders have described as overengineered and too costly for the mass market.

Work on a cheaper, lighter version of the headset—codenamed N100 and previously slated for 2027—is now on hold, with staff reportedly being moved from that project to speed up development on glasses. Apple is now said to be developing at least two different models. The first, dubbed N50, could be unveiled as early as next year with a release targeted for 2027. A second model with a built-in display, aimed directly at Meta's new Ray-Ban Display, had been planned for 2028, but its schedule is also being accelerated.

The planned glasses are expected to lean heavily on voice and AI, with speakers, cameras, and a custom chip. They'll reportedly come in different styles, and health-tracking features have been explored—a strategy that lines up with earlier reports that Apple was accelerating its smart glasses development.


The pivot also underscores Apple's ongoing struggle with AI. A rebuilt Siri is needed to power the new devices, but its most advanced features were recently delayed until 2026. Meanwhile, Meta has been iterating on smart glasses since 2021, and its new Ray-Ban Display is already on shelves. Other rivals, including Amazon, Google, and OpenAI — working with former Apple design chief Jony Ive — are also racing to push out AI hardware.

This isn't the first time Apple's headset roadmap has shifted. The company previously scrapped a Mac-tethered device, and a leaked roadmap had already detailed a lower-cost 'Vision Air' for 2027—likely the same model now on hold. A smaller update is still coming, with a refresh of the current Vision Pro with a faster chip possibly arriving by the end of the year.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has long suggested glasses are a better bet than fully enclosed headsets. Back in 2016, as Vision Pro development was kicking off, he said: "Few people are going to view that it's acceptable to be enclosed in something, because we're all social people at heart."

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