AppleInsider reports that Apple “has just laid off an entire team dedicated to VR development,” with at least 60 employees reportedly affected. Here are the details.
Apple reportedly scales back Vision team
According to the report, which cites reliable sources, “Apple has laid off at least 60 employees tied to Apple’s VR team, the Apple Vision Group, and similar positions.” Apple has not confirmed nor commented on the report.
More than a year ago, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple had broken up the Vision Products Group, while Mike Rockwell, who used to oversee the group, was put in charge of the Siri revamp. Last May, Gurman recapped his report as follows:
I reported over a year ago that Apple had broken up the Vision Products Group, or VPG. That means the staff went from a single entity that combined Vision hardware and software and were split up and moved to Apple’s larger hardware and software engineering organizations.
Gurman would go on to say that Apple remained committed to visionOS and its broader spatial-computing ambitions, even as it deprioritized major new enclosed headsets in favor of other AI wearables.
Today’s news also comes just two months after Spatial Insider’s Justin Ryan asked Apple Senior Director Steve Sinclair, who leads product marketing for visionOS, about reports that Apple had put Vision Pro “on ice” and broken up the team behind it.
Sinclair replied:
It’s still early innings for spatial computing. And so, there’s a lot of things that we’re doing, we’re learning, and continue to improve on and continue to invest in. And so I would hope that updates like visionOS 27 and all the things that we’re adding, and all the capabilities that we’re unlocking, whether it’s for consumer use or it’s for business use, serves as evidence that we are invested in this platform and we’re invested in this idea of spatial computing and building these capabilities that just can’t be done on any other device.
Sinclair’s response also echoed comments made by incoming CEO John Ternus in April, when he said Apple was still in the “early innings” of spatial computing and described Vision Pro as an “extraordinary product,” pointing to growing use cases in enterprise and medicine.
Last October, Apple Vision Pro got a hardware upgrade with the M5 chip, which enabled 10% more rendered pixels and refresh rates of up to 120Hz, while keeping the price at $3,499. Then, last June, Apple raised it to $3,699 amid the ongoing memory crunch, which also led to price hikes for other products, including Apple TV, iPad, Mac, and HomePod.
AppleInsider’s report also comes against the backdrop of Apple’s reported shift in priorities, with resources increasingly moving toward AI-powered smart glasses.
The first model, expected to be unveiled at WWDC 2027 and launch later that year, is said to rely on cameras, Siri, and Visual Intelligence rather than an AR display. Apple had reportedly hoped to unveil the glasses this year and launch them in early 2027, but pushed the timeline back as it rethinks privacy-related aspects of the product amid growing backlash against Meta’s AI glasses.
To read AppleInsider’s full report, follow this link.
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