Gurman: Meta's VR Glasses Are What Apple's Vision Pro Should Have Been

Meta's new VR Glasses are exactly what Apple should have created for its Vision Pro line, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman wrote in the September 27 edition of the Power On newsletter. The issue also covered Apple's own smart glasses plans and the uncertain future of its next headset.

What Meta shipped

Meta unveiled the VR Glasses on September 23. At $1,299, the device undercuts Apple's Vision Pro in both price and size: its processor, cooling fan, battery and other computing components sit in an external pack that can clip to a pocket or rest on a table. Meta's earlier headsets kept those parts inside the headset itself, while the Vision Pro leaves only the battery outside.

Apple's next steps

According to Gurman and secondary reports, Apple is still weighing what to do next with its headset line. PCMag reported that the company is shifting resources from the Vision Pro sequel to smart glasses, an internal project known as N50. AppleInsider reported that Apple aims to release smart glasses in some form by the end of 2027: the first version is expected to resemble Meta's Ray-Ban partnership, with audio, cameras and smart features but no display, while a later model would add one.

The future of the Vision Pro

The Apple Vision team is working on a "completely revamped" headset, codenamed N224, and is exploring four concepts, including moving some internal components into a separate unit, possibly a puck-like device. Some senior staff consider the tethered battery a poor user experience, yet making an all-in-one headset cheaper and lighter is an engineering challenge. Gurman warns that a launch is not guaranteed: the project is reportedly still on "life support", and he speculates it could arrive in late 2028 or early 2029.

The newsletter also noted that John Ternus gave Apple employees the week off for Thanksgiving, that Apple reached a new licensing agreement with Qualcomm starting in 2027, and that a former Apple engineer has launched an iMessage AI agent.