Apple is exploring four different concepts for a completely redesigned Vision Pro as it tries to solve the weight, complexity and cost problems that have limited its first headset, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
The project, known internally by the codename N224, remains at an early stage and Apple has not settled on a final design. Gurman reports that the company is considering several approaches, including one that would move some of the headset’s components into a separate external device.
That concept would follow a similar philosophy to Meta’s latest VR hardware, reducing the amount of technology that needs to sit directly on the wearer’s head by moving components elsewhere.
Other concepts under consideration reportedly focus on making the headset itself considerably lighter through different materials and changes to its construction.
Image: Apple
The report significantly expands on earlier details about Apple’s next Vision Pro project. As The Apple Post reported over the weekend, Apple remains interested in producing a slimmer and lighter successor despite shifting much of its Vision Products Group toward smart glasses.
What is now becoming clearer is just how undecided Apple remains about what that successor should actually look like.
Apple is said to be debating whether the next headset should remain a self-contained device or offload some of its hardware into a separate computing unit. Moving components outside the headset could make it substantially lighter, but would also introduce another device and potentially another cable for users to carry.
The existing Vision Pro already uses an external battery connected to the headset by a cable, while its processors, displays, cameras and other components remain inside the headset itself.
Weight has been one of Vision Pro’s most persistent criticisms since the original model launched in 2024. Apple has attempted to improve comfort through different straps, but the fundamental size and weight of the headset have remained largely unchanged.
Apple had previously been developing a separate lighter and cheaper headset sometimes referred to as “Vision Air,” internally known as N100. That project was shelved as Apple redirected engineers toward smart glasses.
N224 appears to represent a different approach. Rather than simply producing a cheaper version of the existing Vision Pro, Apple is reportedly reconsidering the fundamental architecture of the headset.
One possibility under consideration is using lighter materials such as plastic, titanium or other lightweight metals. Apple is also evaluating whether future iPhone-class processors could provide enough performance for visionOS while reducing the cooling requirements associated with the Mac-class chips used in Vision Pro.
None of those ideas has been finalized, and there is no guarantee that any individual concept being tested will become a shipping product.
There is also considerable uncertainty surrounding whether N224 will reach customers at all.
Gurman describes the project as being on “life support,” with Apple’s attention increasingly concentrated on smart glasses that have greater potential to become a mainstream wearable product.
Apple’s first smart glasses are currently expected to arrive in late 2027. Unlike Vision Pro, they are not expected to include displays. Instead, the glasses are expected to use cameras, microphones, speakers and Siri AI to let wearers interact with their surroundings while remaining close to the appearance and weight of conventional glasses.
The company is also working toward more advanced augmented-reality glasses with integrated displays further into the future.
That shift leaves the next Vision Pro in an unusual position. Apple has not abandoned the idea of another immersive headset, but the four concepts reportedly being considered suggest the company is still trying to decide what role such a product should play once its smart glasses arrive.
If N224 does make it to market, Gurman does not expect it before late 2028 or early 2029.
That would leave a gap of several years between major Vision Pro redesigns. Apple refreshed the original headset with an M5 chip in 2025, but retained essentially the same physical design.
For now, the four prototypes should be viewed as experiments rather than four products on Apple’s roadmap. The important development is that Apple appears willing to rethink Vision Pro much more fundamentally than simply making the current headset thinner.
The eventual successor could look familiar, use substantially lighter materials or shift some of its computing hardware off the wearer’s head entirely. Apple just hasn’t decided which direction it wants to take yet.