Apple’s next CEO cut Vision roadmap to two smart glasses

Apple’s Next CEO Scales Back Vision Headset Roadmap, Pivots to Smart Glasses

Apple is abandoning its plans for future Vision Pro headsets, with incoming CEO John Ternus signing off on a dramatic overhaul that leaves only two smart glasses products in active development, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

A Drastic Shift From Seven Products to Two

In a post on X on Tuesday, Kuo revealed that of the seven head-mounted wearables Apple had in various stages of development as of mid-2025, only two remain on the active roadmap: display-less AI glasses expected to ship in 2027, and display-equipped AR smart glasses powered by optical waveguides now pushed to 2029. The update removes all potential Vision Pro successors from Apple’s product pipeline.9to5mac

“The major overhaul was signed off by Apple’s next CEO, John Ternus,” Kuo wrote. Ternus, Apple’s current hardware chief, is set to become CEO on September 1, 2026, succeeding Tim Cook.reddit

Vision Pro’s Rocky Road

The retreat caps a turbulent stretch for Apple’s spatial computing ambitions. Bloomberg reported in October 2025 that Apple had paused development of the lighter, cheaper Vision Air headset — codenamed N100 — to redirect engineering resources toward smart glasses. The current Vision Pro, updated with an M5 chip in October 2025, failed to generate consumer interest, and MacRumors reported in April that Apple had “all but given up” on the product line, redistributing Vision Pro team members to other projects.macrumors

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported this week that Apple is still working on a slimmer headset to eventually succeed the Vision Pro, though not until 2028 or 2029 at the earliest. That timeline appears to conflict with Kuo’s assertion that no headset successors remain in active development — suggesting the project may be in its earliest conceptual stages rather than formal development.the-gadgeteer

Smart Glasses as Apple’s Next Bet

Apple’s pivot mirrors the broader industry trend led by Meta Platforms, whose Ray-Ban smart glasses have found commercial success. Apple’s first pair, codenamed N50, will pair with an iPhone and lack a built-in display, functioning as an AI-powered audio and camera device. The more ambitious display-equipped version, originally targeted for 2028, has slipped to 2029 under the revised timeline.latimes

With WWDC 2026 set for June 8, Apple is expected to showcase visionOS updates but no new Vision hardware. The company’s head-mounted future now rests squarely on a pair of glasses rather than a headset.the-gadgeteer