Apple needs a cheaper Vision Pro to convince developers to get on board with the platform

Apple Vision Pro went on sale in February, but the product has struggled to gain traction. With a starting price of $3,500 in the US, most of its customers are tech enthusiasts. For Apple, this also means that there aren’t many developers interested in building apps for visionOS – and perhaps only a cheaper model would change that.

Developers don’t seem interested in building apps for Vision Pro

Over a year ago, I wrote about how Apple would need a cheaper Vision Pro to make the device mainstream. It’s fine to sell a premium product targeted at a specific audience, but the super-high price tag is also pushing away developers, who are essential to establishing the success of a new platform like visionOS.

When Vision Pro was launched, Apple said that around 600 apps and games would be available in the visionOS App Store from day one. In August, the visionOS App Store had only 2,500 native apps. The figure doesn’t include iPhone and iPad apps that can be run on Vision Pro in compatibility mode.

According to research firm Appfigures (via the Wall Street Journal), the development of new Vision Pro apps is slowing down with each passing month. “Only 10 apps were introduced to the Vision App Store in September, down from the hundreds released in the first two months of the device’s launch,” says the firm.

WSJ talked to app developers to better understand why most of them are not getting on board with the platform. There seems to be a consensus that the platform has a small number of users and lacks some important features.

“We’re not in a rush,” said Hrafn Thorisson, chief executive of Iceland-based VR game developer Aldin Dynamics. “We’re waiting until we see a better trajectory and when the next device comes out.”

For Scott Albright, chief executive of VR games company Combat Waffle Studios, Vision Pro doesn’t appeal to gamers as it lacks specific game controllers. “I think it’s great Apple being here, but they need to figure out what the headset is meant for.”

Software engineer Rostyslav Alieksieienko bought a Vision Pro in February but put it up for sale six months later. “In the beginning, I was super excited,” he said. “But it didn’t integrate into my life. I ran out of stuff to do quickly. Then it was just laying around.”

It’s worth noting that Vision Pro also lacks apps from important platforms such as Netflix, Spotify and YouTube.

• Apple burning bridges with the developers it needs to make Vision Pro a success

Vision Pro desperately needs a price cut or cheaper model

Analysts like Ming-Chi Kuo say that Apple has cut Vision Pro shipment estimates from 800,000 units to 400,000 by 2024. Despite having exciting technologies, most people don’t seem willing to pay $3,500 for a device like Vision Pro. And this snowballs into developers not creating apps for visionOS, which leads back to users not finding many useful apps on the platform to justify the price.

Bertrand Nepveu, who previously worked on the Vision Pro team at Apple, believes that the company should fund developers to build key apps for visionOS. That’s something Meta does to bring more software to its VR Quest platform.

While I also agree with Nepveu, I do believe that the Apple Vision platform needs a cheaper non-Pro model to appeal to both developers and more users. Unfortunately, a cheaper Apple Vision isn’t expected until at least the end of 2025, and it’s unclear whether there will be huge interest in Apple Vision by then.

Another solution could be to cut the price of the current Apple Vision Pro, although I don’t think that would change much at this point.

What about you? What do you think Apple Vision Pro needs to become a hit? Let me know in the comments section below.