Apple has reportedly made drastic cuts to Vision Pro’s production plans, citing potential challenges in mass-producing components of the headset’s hardware, according to sources at Apple and supply chain partners who spoke to the Financial Times.
The report cites Vision Pro’s complex design and advanced technologies as the reasoning behind the reported scale-back in production plans. Apple and its assembly partner Luxshare are currently aiming to produce no more than 400,000 units of Vision Pro for the entirety of next year, while two other suppliers stated the company has informed them to produce enough components for 130,000 to 150,000 units for the first year.
The report points to Vision Pro’s two micro-OLED displays as one of the biggest hurdles in the headset’s production. The two displays, which include more pixels than a 4K display for each eye, are the most expensive components in the headset, and Apple has reportedly been “unhappy with suppliers’ productivity” on the production of these displays.
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Apple has been unhappy with suppliers’ productivity, said those people, especially with the yield of micro-OLEDs that are free of defects. The displays are the most expensive component in the Vision Pro.
The latest cutback in production plans follows another report from last month in which sources claimed Apple was looking to produce around 150,000 units of the headset. Vision Pro is Apple’s first entry into the highly contested mixed-reality headset space and is not expected to be a mass-market device.
Work on the second-generation version of Vision Pro is already underway, with expectations the headset will be more affordable and more tailored to mainstream adoption.
Today’s report suggests that as a means of cutting down costs on the next headset, Apple is exploring potentially using mini-LED displays in replacement of micro-OLED. Though, the report cautions Apple is “insisting on using micro-OLED even for the non-Pro headset, even though all suppliers had so far failed to match its expectations.”
