Layoffs in Apple's Vision Products Group reduce VR staff
A source has exclusively revealed to us that Apple has just laid off an entire team dedicated to VR development, which aligns with incoming CEO John Ternus reportedly putting the category "on ice."<br>Apple Vision Pro was a necessary product launched to let Apple develop visionOS in public. The category is expected to eventually result in a set of full AR glasses we've dubbed Apple Glass.<br>According to a reliable source speaking to AppleInsider, Apple has laid off at least 60 employees tied to Apple's VR team, the Apple Vision Group, and similar positions. We've heard this tale before, and while this doesn't mean the end of Apple Vision Group, it is a sign of a cooling off for that category.<br>Apple Vision Pro arrived with a high price tag and a high barrier to entry with its heavy design and limited developer support. In the years since, Apple hasn't done much to move the needle, though it isn't clear if it needs to.<br>Apple Vision Pro isn't dead, yet<br>With component pricing increasing as it has been, Apple had to raise the already high price of the Apple Vision Pro. If the device was out of reach before, it most certainly is now.<br>Combine that with the fact that consumers are looking to smart glasses as the near future, not heavy VR headsets, and you've got the perfect storm. The technology either doesn't exist or is too expensive to make a thinner, lighter model that's more affordable.<br>Rather than have a product group sitting on its hands, restructuring has occurred in recent months within Apple. The priority is on Siri AI and smart glasses, not a headset that can't feasibly be built today.<br>We have some information about the layoffs that we'd like to confirm before we talk about it more, but for now, it seems the team hasn't been totally disbanded. Expect Apple to continue work on Apple Vision Pro, its future iterations, and smart glasses running visionOS.<br>However, the team dedicated to VR has shrunk in light of the difficulties. It is highly unlikely that John Ternus plans to kill the product line entirely, but downsizing the team and focusing on the smart glasses makes sense for now.<br>This news will undoubtedly lead to speculation around Apple having abandoned the Apple Vision Pro. Given that we just got visionOS 27 in June and Apple's work on future iterations is still ongoing, that doesn't seem to be the case.<br>Update August 20, 5:49 PM ET Added that an entire group got laid off, and a general number of employees that are now gone.
it’s great Apple can afford to, and does, take shots with products like this
Not to call this a failure, but most products fail. But you learn. You move on. And what comes next will be better because of this.
https://forums.appleinsider.com/discussion/comment/3507616#Comment_3507616It has received a lot of software updates and has a loyal fan base willing to spend a lot of money to buy one. Apple is wise to keep the software updates coming and the developer community to grow.
Apple is so full of cash that it makes no sense strategically to lay these people off unless they are actually cancelling the Vision Pro. You can't just get them back, and the hiring market for this expertise is not unlimited.
https://forums.appleinsider.com/discussion/comment/3507614#Comment_3507614Reality check: AVP has in 3 years received a strap and a processor swap. Global rollout stopped 2 years ago. Even vibe coding couldn't save the visionOS AppStore - titles are few due to a lack of users. Product is dead.<br>To keep a dead horse in the run doesn't bring Apple any goodwill. As for visibility… is there any? Apple killed Mac Pro - the company isn't doing niche verticals and has no goodwill problem.<br>And it is OK - it happens to products. It would however be a failure to insist on keeping AVP, FineWoven, butterfly keyboards, and Touch Bar. Cook should take out his own garbage and let Ternus focus on AR + future.
When you bring out a product like the AVP that did not turn our to be a mass market product but seems to be used primarily in "niche" but high value areas like product visualization, repairability checks and medical ( for VR medical procedures) you don't expect a lot of sales, but you do get a lot of goodwill and visibility. If you then drop that product you will never, ever be trusted again by those companies or doctors who got burnt and just wasted substantial amounts of time in implementation of procedures using your product.
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