Apple has a history of experimenting with new products, sometimes updating them briefly, and then letting them quietly disappear without continued iteration. For instance, it launched the iPhone 12 mini in November 2020 and discontinued it in September 2023, and there are a number of other such examples. With the change in its top leadership, reports suggest Apple has shelved its Vision Pro headset, which was updated with a faster M5 chip and a more comfortable band in October 2025.
Apple’s plans regarding Vision Pro may sound sudden to some enthusiasts but it remained unpopular since its first launch due to its hefty price tag and its uncomfortable weight. The company managed to sell only around 600,000 units in total, but a MacRumors report suggests it received an unusually high percentage of returns, far exceeding any other modern Apple product.
Now, with a transition at the top leadership—Apple CEO set to step down on September 1 and John Ternus expected to assume the role—reports suggest Apple has decided to shelve the project, at least for a few years.
Team shift and cancelled plans
Apple has reportedly stopped working on the Vision Pro, as per the MacRumors report, and its team has been reassigned to other projects within the company. Some members have moved to the Siri team, which is currently led by former Vision Pro chief Mike Rockwell since March 2025.
Apple was rumored to be working on a new cheaper and lighter version of Vision Pro, but the report says, that project has also been cancelled last year.
Gurman confirms scale back
The MacRumors report has been corroborated by Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, who in an X post said the Vision Pro project has been scaled back and the company dropped plans for a cheaper, lighter version. He added that the product is now on hold while the company decides its future. However, Gurman says the Vision Pro has chances of returning as the company has not cancelled the product fully.
“Regarding the Vision Pro wind down — they killed the cheaper/lighter overhaul and the thing is on ice till they figure out its future. It’s not completely dead,” Mark Gurman wrote in an X post.
Apple’s next focus: Smart glasses
Readers need not lose their hearts as Apple is not leaving the mixed-reality space completely. The report says Apple is working on smart glasses that may include augmented reality in the future, but the first version is expected to be similar to Ray-Ban Meta glasses, with AI features and no built-in display.
Vision Pro not completely dead yet
And, there is still hope that Apple Vision Pro may not be completely dead and may return. Apple Insider in its report says the Vision Pro is not completely dead, even if it has reached the end of the line in its current form. It notes that the product was unusual for Apple, as the company dedicated a separate team to its development.
The headset received special attention from CEO Tim Cook, who saw it as the future of Apple and spatial computing. The report adds that Vision Pro and visionOS are still under Mike Rockwell’s oversight. Even if there is no new hardware soon, the software will continue to be updated.
The report suggests Apple is waiting for technology to catch up before launching a true second-generation model or its smart glasses. the company has walked down that road earlier as its former design chief, Jony Ive, had said the Apple Watch took years to develop because the technology wasn’t ready. The same could be true for a next-generation of Vision Pro.
