Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset is quite expensive at $3,499. (Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash)
Ever wondered how much it costs Apple to make the Vision Pro headset, especially with its several high-end components and new technologies? Read on to find out.
Apple Vision Pro is certainly not a cheap product, coming in at a whopping $3,500 for the base 256GB storage model. Apple states that the price is high due to several high-end components, and new technologies at play here, but do the components really add up to the full retail price? Well, no. Like most products, the bill of materials, or BOM as it is called, is said to be around the $1,500 mark. This is a full $2,000 less than what you pay to Apple for the headset.
According to research by Omdia, the total bill of materials for the Vision Pro mixed reality headset amounts to $1,542 (about Rs 1,28,000). The most expensive contributing parts are the two Micro OLED displays supplied by Sony Semiconductor, which cost $456 and make up 29.6% of the BOM.
After that, Apple’s own R1 and M2 chips are the most expensive, coming in at $240 together. Notably, the M2 is the same chipset that currently powers the Apple MacBook Air, its Mac Mini, and several other devices like the iPad Pro.
When you compare this to other headsets such as the Sony PS VR2, its OLED panels cost just 30% of the BOM, Meta Quest 2 has a panel that makes up 18% of the BOM cost, and the display in the Huawei Vision VR device makes up 39% of the BOM cost.
The research adds that the Apple Vision Pro is expected to gradually become more user-friendly, provide better user adaptation, and eventually feature better picture performance.
