Apple’s cheaper Vision Pro headset will sacrifice features to bring the price down – but its cost will still be high.

Apple's pricey Vision Pro augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) headset hasn't been a magnet for developers. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that there has been a significant slowdown in apps being introduced in the Vision Pro app store.

The Apple Vision Pro arrived in Australia in July with a hefty retail price tag starting from A$5,999. Like many of the other markets where it has launched, here too it has largely failed miserably to attract consumer attention.

Mixed reality headsets are niche products, but the big problem for Apple Vision Pro is that it’s a niche within a niche. At its $3,499 starting price, you could buy seven Meta Quest 3 headsets at their launch MSRP, or 11 of the recently announced Quest 3S if you really wanted to make your buck go further.

Apple is reportedly considering launching smart glasses in 2027 that would use the Vision Pro’s visual intelligence technology.

Apple’s ultimate goal is to ensure that the money invested in the development of its visual intelligence technology doesn’t go to waste. That’s why it plans to integrate this technology into more devices. The first on the horizon is the iPhone 16, which may receive the visual intelligence update in the iOS 18.2 update.

But there is one product which is still struggling to gain a foothold – the Apple Vision Pro. Unveiled last year and finally on sale in a number of markets, that device is an interesting one. Essentially a VR headset, Apple has leaned into the idea of Spatial Computing, in a bid to differentiate the device.

How submarine drama "Submerged" emerged as the first short film made for the Apple Vision Pro. How big is the movie by director Edward Berger?

A new app for the Apple Vision Pro lets fans watch Formula 1 races as if they were in race control, with multiple video feeds, 3D maps and stats. See it in action here.

Apple (AAPL) is set to release a lower-priced Vision headset as it aims to expand its mixed reality offerings for greater mass appeal.