One pundit says the Vision Pro may take four generations to reach its ideal form

In his latest “Power On” newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that the Apple Vision Pro may take four generations to reach its ideal form — similar to the progression of the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.

“The truth is, we’re still learning about the Vision Pro’s weaknesses. Demonstrations of the device — for the press or Apple store customers — have been highly curated and controlled experiences,” he writes. “Apple only shows what works and wows: immersive video, high-resolution photos and expertly captured 3D home movies.”

I find the Vision Pro a lot less buggy and more promising in its current iteration than Mark does. But he’s right in that future versions will be greatly improved. 

According to The Elec in a December 2023 article, Apple is working on second generation of the headset will feature more advanced micro-OLED displays that offer higher brightness and improved efficiency.

The first gen Spatial Computer is due in early 2024 (likely late January or early February). It will cost US$3,499 (and higher) and apparently only be available in limited quantities at first. 

The Elec says the second gen Vision Pro will be upgraded from an WOLED display to an RGB OLEDoS display in 2027. This will offer higher brightness and other benefits.

Speaking of a future iteration of the headset, I’m a bit skeptical, but a DigiTimes report (which requires a subscription) claims that the second-generation Apple Vision Pro headset will include four versions, one of which will be more price-friendly.

According to DigiTimes, one of the four second gen Spatial Computers will be a direct follow-up to the first gen system. The second will be a more affordable model (perhaps $1,500 or so), and the report doesn’t clarify what the other two models might be.

In June 2023, Mark said that a second-generation high-end model and a lower-end headset that should include these features:

• The ability to show multiple Mac desktop screens when connected wirelessly to a Vision Pro (the first version only supports one desktop view at a time).
• The ability for multiple Vision Pro users in a several-person FaceTime conference to use Personas (the realistic VR version of a wearer based on a face scan). The first version will only support one-to-one chats with Personas.
• Fitness+ and the ability to work out while wearing the headset with virtual fitness content.

Mark’s info is from the free edition of “Power On”. If you like it, consider subscribing to Bloomberg.com—you’ll receive the newsletter earlier and get exclusive access to a Q&A section.