Cheaper Apple Mixed Reality Headset Might Arrive In 2025

Of course, Apple likely won’t leave the rest of its customers hanging. According to famed analyst Ming-chi Kuo, Apple is already in talks with its suppliers about a second-generation AR/MR headset. The alleged model won’t be coming until 2025, the leak claims, but it also does suggest that the first generation is ready for mass production. The more important revelation is that there will reportedly be two headset models that year. One will be a typical high-end device, while another will be “more affordable,” the analyst alleges.

The note doesn’t go any further and doesn’t hint at the differences between the two anticipated headsets. The presumption here is that Apple and its partners would have already gotten the technology and production down pat to be able to cut a few corners here and there, whittling the price tag down as a result. This strategy of splitting product lines is one that Apple is well versed in, and it will be a necessary path to take if it wants its brand of mixed reality to really take root. It wouldn’t do well for its future services and apps business if only a very small number of people were able to afford to buy Apple’s headsets. Kuo predicts that shipments of these devices will reach 10 million units as early as 2025 or 2026 thanks to this second generation of Apple MR headsets.