A more affordable Apple VR headset will follow Reality Pro for those with patience

A front view of an artist's concept of the Apple Reality Pro VR headset
(Image credit: Antonio De Rosa / ADR Studio Design)

Apple hasn't yet managed to announce its first Reality Pro AR/VR headset, but we can safely assume that it's already looking into what comes next. That, according to one analyst, is not just one headset — but two.

We've heard rumors of Apple planning to replace its first $3,000 headset with two new ones eventually and now that's been reiterated by one Apple supply chain analyst.

According to that analyst, Apple will have high and low-end Reality Pro headsets in or around 2025.

A whole new reality

That analyst is the usually well-connected Ming-Chi Kuo who took to Medium to share details on a few of Apple's upcoming products. Those include the iPhone 16 Pro as well as the Reality Pro headset.

Apple's first Reality Pro is expected to be announced during the WWDC 2023 opening keynote on June 5. It then isn't expected to go on sale until later in the year, but when it does it's expected to cost upwards of $3,000. Now, Kuo has again said that there will be a cheaper version at a later date for those who want it, but not for a little while yet.

"The 2nd generation Apple AR/MR headset is expected to go into mass production in 2025," the analyst writes. "There will be two versions, a high-end and a low-end. Shipments of the 2nd generation in 2025 are expected to be around ten times those of the 1st generation in 2023."

It remains to be seen what that cheaper model will have in terms of features and capabilities and how it will differ from the other model. But the first Reality Pro headset is expected to feature some high-end technology including Mac-like chips, multiple cameras, and impressive displays to create an immersive experience for the wearer. We've seen a few tidbits leak, but we now have to only wait a matter of weeks before the full story comes into focus.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.