Apple 'fires' entire VR team as John Ternus takes over as CEO from Tim Cook

Apple has terminated its virtual reality team, with at least 60 staff members affected, according to a reliable source. This move comes after John Ternus assumed the role of CEO on September 1, succeeding Tim Cook, who became executive chairman. The VR division, previously championed by Cook as a groundbreaking technology with 5,000 patents and a million apps, is now being downsized.

Despite Apple Vision Pro being considered alive, the team supporting it is progressively shrinking. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman had previously reported on the division breaking apart, with hardware and software staff incorporated into Apple's larger engineering teams. Apple's visionOS product marketing lead, Steve Sinclair, has maintained that spatial computing is only in its early stages.

However, the commercial success of Vision Pro has been far from overwhelming, with IDC estimating sales of less than 500,000 units in 2024. The product's price point, initially set at $3,499, was increased to $3,699 following a refresh in October, fueled by escalating memory costs. Apple's strategy appears to now focus on more accessible devices like smart glasses, slated for release at WWDC 2027, emphasizing cameras, Siri, and visual intelligence rather than AR displays.