If you’ve been waiting for an “affordable” Vision Pro headset, the wait is going to be a long one. Apple is rumored to be working on a less expensive version of the Vision Pro headset. The latest report from popular and trusted Apple analyst Ming Chi-Kup suggests that the rumors are likely true, however, it also suggests that the release of the alleged affordable Vision Pro may be delayed until 2027. “As I understand it, production of the cheaper Vision Pro has been delayed for some time beyond 2027”, Kuo wrote in a post on X.

The analyst claims that while Apple will launch a new Vision Pro headset next year, it will not be the much-anticipated cheaper version of the headset, but a new version with the new M5 chip. “This means that Apple’s only new head-mounted display device in 2025 will be the Vision Pro with the advanced M5 processor”, he says.

Kuo has also explained what could possibly be the reason for the delay. He says it could be a HomePod-like situation for Apple with the Vision Pro. He claims that Apple may have realized that simply lowering the price of the Vision Pro headset would not be enough to convince them to buy the product. This is similar to what happened with the HomePod – even with the more affordable HomePod mini, Apple’s smart speaker isn’t very popular.

“I think what drove Apple to delay the cheaper Vision Pro is that simply lowering the price won’t help create successful use cases. “It’s similar to the HomePod situation — even after launching the cheaper HomePod mini, Apple’s smart speaker failed to become a mainstream product,” Kuo writes.

The analyst is essentially insisting that the rumored cheaper Vision Pro may feature some technology that helps it stand out from the standard Vision Pro headset.

Rumors about a more affordable Vision Pro headset have been circulating in the tech industry for almost a year. Vision Pro generated a lot of excitement with its world’s first spatial operating system (VisionOS) that allows users to interact with digital content in their physical space using their eyes, hands, and voice. It never reached the Indian market, but the device created quite a stir in America. However, there was one small problem that kept the device from becoming as popular as expected. It’s price. The Vision Pro headset was launched in the US for $3,499 (approximately Rs 2.89 lakh). Rumors suggest that the affordable version could be priced around $1,000 less.