The new year has barely begun,and already we have a strong contender for our annual dead tech list,2026 edition – the apple Vision Pro.
Not that the iPhone maker’s Augmented Reality (AR) headset has passed on yet, exactly.The Apple Vision Pro (starting at $3,499) has been, to paraphrase Monty Python, just resting production at its Chinese manufacturer, Luxcorp. That’s according to analysts at International data Corp, which estimates Apple onyl sold 4,500 headsets worldwide in the holiday quarter of 2025 – new M5 chip version (which is reportedly made in Vietnam) included.
For comparison, that’s less than one-tenth of the half-million Vision Pros analysts say were sold in its launch year, 2024.
Apple doesn’t break out Vision Pro sales figures – but the company has all but given up on marketing the product, according to a scathing Financial times report. digital marketing for the device has been slashed by 95 percent. If you see a banner ad for a Vision Pro in the wilds of the internet, you might want to take a screenshot: You’re looking at an increasingly endangered beast.
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What went wrong with the Apple Vision Pro?
To be fair to Apple, slumping sales are a problem across the whole AR/virtual reality space – not to mention the whole U.S. retail space.
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Analysts at Counterpoint saw a global VR headset market decline of 30% in the first half of 2025. Meta’s Quest 3 is still the market leader, but even its sales are down year-over-year.
Apple Shifts Focus to Lighter, More Affordable AI Glasses After Vision Pro Struggles
Despite initial setbacks with the high-end Vision Pro, Apple is reportedly refocusing its augmented reality (AR) efforts on a more accessible and competitively priced pair of smart glasses, perhaps named “Vision Air.” This shift comes after disappointing sales and a pause in production for the original Vision Pro, and aligns with the growing success of rivals like Meta’s Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.
The move was highlighted in an October 2025 report indicating Apple is reallocating employees from the Vision Pro project to develop a lighter, cheaper model. This new device aims to directly compete with Meta’s AI-powered Ray-Ban display and Google’s forthcoming Android XR glasses.
Meta’s Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses have garnered notable attention since their 2025 launch, despite a somewhat awkward demonstration by Mark Zuckerberg. The $299 glasses – a significant price difference compared to the $3,499 vision Pro – have proven popular with early adopters and investors alike, driving up shares of EssilorLuxottica, the Ray-Ban manufacturer.https://www.reuters.com/business/shares-ray-ban-maker-essilorluxottica-soar-after-meta-ai-glasses-drive-revenue-2025-10-17/
the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses offer features like live translation,directions,and voice search,delivering on many of the promises of AR technology that date back to early iterations like Google Glass. Crucially, they maintain a familiar and fashionable aesthetic.
Apple’s strength lies in its design capabilities and understanding of consumer preferences. While the Vision pro’s bulky form factor and high price point may have limited its appeal, a lighter, more affordable “Vision Air” could resonate with a broader audience. The company might potentially be aiming for a device that can reach substantially more than the approximately 45,000 Vision Pro units sold per quarter.
Topics: Apple, Augmented Reality
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