More Apple employees working on the Vision Pro were laid off than previously reported, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (a subscription is required to read the article).
On August 20, he reported that Apple laid off an unknown number of people dedicated to VR development, the Apple Vision Group, which aligns with incoming CEO John Ternus reportedly putting the category “on ice,” but apparently there are deeper cuts. The tech giant is also laying off people who worked on Siri and AI.
Gurman said that approximately 100 employees who were part of the Vision Products Group have been laid off, with Apple also cutting 100 people from its Siri and software groups as the company is “largely shutting down” the Vision Pro teams focused on gaming and immersive content, he adds.
Apple told Gurman this: While we will create new roles as part of this change, it will also impact a limited number of existing roles. We are grateful to these team members for their contributions, and we are committed to supporting them throughout their transition, including opportunities to apply for other roles at Apple.
Despite the cuts to the Vision Products Group, employees were told that the Vision Pro and visionOS operating system aren’t being eliminated. Plus, Gurman says that Apple continues to work on AI smart glasses — the rumored “Apple Glasses” — expected in 2027, but that device won’t support 3D gaming or video.
However, he now says the layoffs also reached Vision Pro staff across the rest of the company, including people working on device security, audio engineering, Siri integration, testing, and visionOS. Gurman says folks inside the Vision Pro group have spent months lobbying Ternus to stay the course on the platform despite disappointing sales.
Gurman says he’s been told that Ternus was skeptical of the Vision Pro project from the start, thinking it was too bulky and too expensive. As for the layoffs, apparently visionOS will be the operating system on Apple’s upcoming smart glasses (the rumored “Apple Glasses”); this would seem to pose a problem. Still, Ternus is said to support Apple’s smart glasses project, which remains on track for a 2017.
At least he supports it for now. But he’s not adverse to abandoning head worn devices altogether if they never catch on with buyers.
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Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today
