According to a Bloomberg report, Apple has shuttered an AR glasses project aimed at mainstream consumers.

Originally planned for release in 2027, the device, codenamed N107, was a Mac-connected pair of AR glasses which the company was positioning as a more accessible alternative to the $3,500 Vision Pro mixed reality headset.

The report, citing internal sources, maintains Apple initially planned for N107 to pair with iPhone, however processing power and battery life was a major factor, prompting the company to instead pivot the device to work primarily with Mac, owing to its faster processing power and larger batteries.

Apple Vision Pro | Image courtesy Apple

Still, the Mac-connected version of the device allegedly underperformed during executive reviews. In the end, it’s said that performance issues, shifting design goals, and expected price led to its cancellation.

Despite shuttering the project, which is likened to Meta’s Orion AR glasses prototype in function, the company isn’t giving up on its AR ambitions altogether, as underlying technologies are expected to make their way into other projects in the future, such as its custom microLED displays.

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This comes as competitors are gearing up their own XR projects targeted at consumers, including Google’s Android XR platform for MR headsets and AR glasses, and Meta’s ongoing research into AR, which is said to culminate in a pair of AR glasses slated to launch before 2030—based on technology developed for Orion.

Notably, Orion offloads processing and battery to a wireless, pocketable unit, allowing the internal prototype to maintain its glasses-like form factor. Whether that remains the case in a pair of consumer AR glasses from Meta remains to be seen, as it undoubtedly increases overall costs—something Apple likely wanted to shave as it was ostensibly hoping to rely on devices consumers already owned.

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Nevets

    Waiting to see what Apple announces in new or emerging product categories used to be a really exciting process. Now they're duller than the likes of Samsung and Xreal, and I'm much more interested in the latter than Apple.

  • xyzs

    Just release a VR headset that doesn't cost an entire African country's GDP, that will be a good start…

  • Albert Hartman

    AVP w/Sony gamecontrollers FTW

    • Arno van Wingerde

      Well, I like the haptics of the Sony controllers. But they feel like I have back to much worse than the Quest2. Clunky ring, hopelessly inferior battery life: the one advantage of the cables approach is that the battery of the headset does not run low, instead their controllers do…

  • STL

    Apple should buy Even Realities for its outstanding G1 glasses. This concept is the future!

  • ArtB

    Apple are so lost and so behind in VR, they have no clue.

  • Nevets

    You're best off following the likes of Xreal if you're hankering after interesting news about mixed reality glasses. They're much more exciting and innovative in this space than Apple! I think Apple will get there in the end but they are clearly followers rather than leaders.

  • Ondrej

    This anti-consumer corp put a frikkin' M2 superchip on Vision Pro and then banned its customers from using Mac software or any software not from its iPad store.

    Future of computing my a*** ;)