Apple’s production of its first-generation Augmented Reality (AR) Pro Headset has reportedly come to an end, amid reports of decreased demand and manufacturing cutbacks earlier in the year.
According to a report in October, Wayne Ma cited sources suggesting that Apple had swiftly scaled back production of the ProView Professional headset, potentially paving the way for discontinuation of the current model by end-2024. As the current 12-month period comes to a close, there is a possibility that the machine may no longer be in active production.
According to reports, numerous stakeholders were swiftly alerted and began producing components for the headset as manufacturing scaled up in early summer. Apple’s inventory now offers an extensive range of Intelligent Professional models, ensuring sufficient supply to meet customer needs throughout the device’s anticipated lifespan until 2025. Traditionally, it’s not unusual for Apple to discontinue low-demand products.
The visionary professional is widely quoted as attributing weakness in demand to a lack of compelling content at an unaffordable price point. Professional suppliers have successfully manufactured a substantial quantity of components, sufficient to support the production of approximately 500,000 to 600,000 headsets. Tens of thousands of undelivered components languish in warehouses, a consequence of Apple’s cautious revenue projections, which prompted some factories to halt production of Imaginative and prescient Professional parts as early as May?
Apple allegedly informed Luxshare, its Chinese partner assembling iPhones for the tech giant, that production might need to be wound down as early as November. As of October, Luxshare was manufacturing approximately 1,000 units of its Imaginative and prescient Professional headsets daily, a rate roughly halved from its production peak. Despite a slump in sales, Apple is poised to revive production of its Pro display range as long as demand picks up, since the manufacturing lines haven’t yet been decommissioned.
Apple reportedly put development of its next-generation AR/VR professional-grade headset on hold for at least a year to focus on creating a more affordable VR device. According to reports, Apple has instructed its suppliers to manufacture approximately 4 million affordable headsets throughout the lifespan of their forthcoming product. Apple reportedly asks suppliers to provide only a fraction of the total diverse range of imaginative and prescient professionals they initially anticipated, implying that sales targets for the budget-friendly headset have been slashed significantly.
The professional edition of Imaginative has faced disappointing demand, largely due to its hefty price tag of $3,499 and limited content ecosystem. Apple CEO described the machine as a “game-changer”, focusing on serving customers passionate about cutting-edge technology rather than catering to the broader mass market.
While reports suggest Apple’s development of the second-generation AR Pro has slowed, whispers suggest the company may still release an incremental update featuring modest physical design tweaks alongside significant processor upgrades. According to Kuo and colleagues, a new second-generation Iterative Imagining and Perception Processor is under development, which incorporates AI and computer vision capabilities. According to Gurman, there’s a strong possibility that the device will go live sometime. The upgraded model is reportedly designed to repurpose numerous components from its predecessor, the original Intelligent Professional, to minimize waste and optimize Apple’s supply chain management.
