Report: Apple Has Slashed its Vision Pro Headset Production Plans

Apple has reportedly made big cuts to its production plans for its Vision Pro augmented reality headset, which is more difficult to manufacture than expected. The Financial Times is reporting today that Apple has dropped its production target from 1 million units in 2024 to just 400,000, citing two people familiar with the matter.

“Two people close to Apple and Luxshare, the Chinese contract manufacturer that will initially assemble the device, said it was preparing to make fewer than 400,000 units in 2024. Multiple industry sources said Luxshare was currently Apple’s only assembler of the device,” the Financial Times reported.

The main cause for the “drastic cuts” to production forecasts is said to be the two micro-OLED inward 4K displays on the Vision Pro, which are the headset’s most expensive components. “Apple has been unhappy with suppliers’ productivity, said those people, especially with the yield of micro-OLEDs that are free of defects,” the report says.

The Financial Times’ sources claimed that the displays on the Vision Pro prototypes Apple showed to the public in June were manufactured by Sony and TSMC. Both companies declined to comment on their involvement in the production of the Vision Pro. However, Apple’s second-generation Vision Pro headset may use displays from Samsung and LG, and a more affordable version of the headset for consumers may or may not use a different display technology.

“In order to drive the price lower, the iPhone maker has explored using other display technologies, including mini-LED, but two people said Apple was insisting on using micro-OLED even for the non-Pro headset, even though all suppliers had so far failed to match its expectations,” the Financial Times wrote.

Apple’s Vision Pro headset will officially launch “early next year,” but it may struggle to find an audience with its $3,500 launch price. Apple seems to have done a good job at creating tools allowing developers to quickly optimize their iOS apps for this new “spatial computing” platform. If we already know that Microsoft Teams, Excel, and Word will be able on VisionOS, the Vision Pro is really going to need a killer app to convince early enthusiasts to purchase one.