They are the dream of many, but at the moment it is a totally unattainable dream for most. Obviously there will be a more affordable model, but how can Apple achieve this? And how much cheaper will they become?
Since June 5, only one thing has been talked about in the tech world: the Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s Mixed Reality Glasses surprised us all positively, seeing things we’ve never seen in VR glasses until now, but also negatively due to its price. The $3,499 before taxes will become over $4,000 in Europe when they will go on sale, date we still do not know. That’s a price out of reach for most users, and if there’s one thing for sure, it’s that Apple hasn’t invested millions of dollars in researching and developing a product that is not going to sell millions of units. A cheaper model is therefore essential, but how will Apple get it?
little profit margin
The Apple Vision Pro are sold almost at cost price. The materials alone are valued at around $1,800, plus all assembly, marketing, distribution, and R&D costs done prior to release. This $3500 seems to have little profit margin for the companyso to reduce its price, it seems almost obligatory to make a model “worse” than the current models, but of course, which maintain the essence of the Vision Pro, its magic and its main characteristics.
Inside the Vision Pro we have an M2 processor and another R1 designed specifically for glasses which is responsible for rendering the images captured by its 12 cameras in real time. Additionally, there are 5 different sensors, six microphones and two speakers capable of delivering Spatial Audio. deserves a special mention the two micro-OLED screens that offer us 23 million pixels in total, in comparison more than two 4K displays, and which have a refresh rate of 90Hz. We cannot forget another external screen that allows the projection of 3D images and which is responsible for the so-called EyeSight, the image of our eyes through the front glass of the glasses.
If these specifications seem little to you, we must add an aluminum body and laminated glass, with a cushion that adapts to our face that magnetically attaches to the glasses, and an adjustable textile headband. Finally, an external battery allows an autonomy of two hours, although they can be used directly connected to an outlet to use them without time limit.
The cuts will be forced
That these glasses are called Vision Pro already clearly indicates that there will be Apple Vision, nothing more. To reduce the price of its components, they could have a plastic body, which would also make them lighter. Another break could occur in the internal screens, with more “conventional” specifications, but It seems difficult that Apple can do without EyeSight, which is now part of the promotional image of the glasses. An opaque plastic face, like most glasses we know, would bring the price down a lot, but it would break the more “friendly” image of the glasses. The face cushion could be attached without magnets, and the headband could also be simpler, perhaps with the ability to buy higher quality ones later, like you can with the Apple Watch.
Other elements that seem dispensable are the speakers, opting for the use of AirPods to listen to multimedia content, and the external battery, which could be optional and thus use the glasses connected directly to an outlet, with the possibility to buy batteries from Apple. Store if we wish. However, it seems difficult to reduce the cost of processors, sensors or cameras, essential elements of this “magic” that everyone who has tried the Vision Pro talks about. For these elements, the passage of time will play in their favour, and if we finally see these more affordable Apple Visions only in 2025 (rather the end of 2025), the production price of these elements will have been reduced, and their R&D amortized. Time will also help the whole manufacturing and assembly process to save costs.
They will always be expensive
It may seem like the discounts we’ve been talking about seem a lot, and therefore its price can be significantly reduced, but the reality is that the “affordable” Apple Vision will continue to be expensive. As expensive as an Apple computer, because that’s what they are. Would you be willing to shell out around $2,500 for an Apple Vision? Maybe not today, but time will do Apple a favor again, because in two years there will be much more content, applications and uses for these glasses, and why not, maybe it will be your future laptop. Maybe the Post-PC era has already begun, now yes.
