Samsung and Apple’s XR headset strategies diverge as competition ramps up

While the Apple Vision Pro didn’t perform nearly as well as the company might have hoped, it’s still going to receive a successor sooner rather than later. Meanwhile Samsung recently unveiled Project Moohan: its upcoming attempt at a premium Mixed Reality headset. But Apple and Samsung are now taking very different paths for their XR (Extended Reality) projects if new reports are to be believed.

A cautionary tale in Vision Pro

It’s no secret that the Vision Pro sold poorly after launch and well into 2024. A multitude of factors affected the headset’s prospects for success in the XR market. These include:

• No dedicated controllers
• Lacking support for VR games
• A severe lack of content
• And the extremely high price tag

Out of those factors most people seem to agree that the Vision Pro’s $3,499 price tag is the worst offender. Even the most diehard XR enthusiasts find it hard to stomach spending that much on a headset that doesn’t even support most established VR games.

It doesn’t help that the Vision Pro is an over-engineered devkit, at least if former head of Oculus Hugo Barra is correct in his assumption. As is typical of first generation products the Apple Vision Pro is packed full of tech that most users could probably do without, and that ramps up the cost.

Apple working on a mid range XR headset

According to an in-depth report (translated source) Apple is now working on a less premium XR headset. The company had initially hoped that enterprise sales would pick up the slack for low consumer interest but that didn’t happen either.

Apple tried to tackle XR in its own way and failed and so it’s now completely changing tack. The company is in talks with Sony to bring PSVR2 controllers to the Vision Pro. This will hopefully not only finally allow the Vision Pro to play popular games but also make UI navigation much simpler.

In addition to this unexpected change Apple is, for now at least, dropping its pursuit of a premium XR headset. The mid range device that the company is working on will reportedly feature a much lower pixel density in its displays: around 1,500 PPI vs Vision Pro’s 3,386 PPI.

This will likely be accompanied by the removal of EyeSight — the exterior display on the Vision Pro — as well as other extras. The Apple Vision Pro 2, or perhaps Apple Vision Air, can also be expected to drop the titanium and glass chassis for something cheaper.

Samsung wants to dethrone the Vision Pro’s status

On the other hand Samsung is apparently still determined to make an XR headset that surpasses the Vision Pro in key areas. The company’s approach seems to be that its headset should not be an inferior rival if it is launching so long after the Vision Pro.

As such Project Moohan will allegedly feature displays with a pixel density of 3,800 PPI. These displays will also feature stunning visuals using ‘OLEDoS’ (OLED on Silicon) manufactured by Sony. Samsung apparently expects Project Moohan components to start being manufactured from next month.

While Project Moohan is supposed to be a grand entrance into the XR industry — or return if you count Samsung Gear VR — the company still plans on making cheaper headsets. Samsung is expected to launch Project Moohan later this year and then start work on mid range headsets as well while consumers get used to Android XR and Moohan.

Apple, meanwhile, might be looking at a 2027 release date for its mid range successor to the Vision Pro. Samsung may be eying a similar time frame for its own mid range rival products. I do think however that we might get to see Apple’s next headset in 2026 instead.

Meanwhile I can only hope that Samsung is able to cut corners elsewhere to reduce the cost of Project Moohan. Much like AI most consumers aren’t sold on the idea of XR and a high price tag will only drive them further away.