The Apple Vision Pro is one of the best VR/AR headsets you can buy today, but there's no denying that its overly high price has sparked controversy Cupertino's staff is listening to everyone, but the team has run into a bit of a problem

Mark Gurman's latest Bloomberg newsletter confirms that the next-generation Vision Pro 2 will not be available "until the end of 2026," according to the roadmap, but that there are plans to "bring a lower-cost version to market before then" As for how, Apple is "fumbling around"

The one piece of good news here is that it is actually earlier than previous reports that the Vision Pro 2 will not appear until 2027

Rumors about a lower-priced version of the headset were constant even before the original Vision Pro was released At first, the cost savings seemed easy enough, as Gurman previously reported that Apple was "likely" to drop the EyeSight front display and switch to the A-series chipset found in the iPhone

The report had put the price at roughly "$1,500 to $2,500," but this latest report suggests that something has gone awry with the company's plans Is the cost of the ultra-sharp Sony 4K micro OLED panels Apple uses skyrocketing? Or perhaps the team is unwilling to give up features like the EyeSight display

Whatever the complications, one can only hope they can be worked out If I could make a couple of suggestions, if you get rid of the EyeSight panel (it just looks weird), you can sacrifice some of the very sharp resolution and still have the top VR headset display on the market

But of course, Apple is planning for that future - that distant future - and the second generation Vision Pro is likely to be available in late 2026

What does this mean for specs? No one knows, but putting on my tin hat and making a prediction, given the timing of the launch of the M-series chips, I would not be surprised if they are launched with M6 chips

Besides, it would be great if Apple could figure out a way to integrate the battery into the headset itself, rather than a giant hunk of aluminum to put in your pocket