Apple cuts over 200 roles on Siri and Vision Pro, winds down headset gaming team

Apple has cut more than 200 positions across the teams behind Siri and the Vision Pro headset, in a reshuffle that all but dissolves the group responsible for gaming on the device.

The layoffs were first reported by Bloomberg, and Apple confirmed them. According to TechCrunch's account of the report, around 100 of the affected roles sit on the Vision Pro team, with the remainder spread across the Siri group and a team called Intelligent Systems Experience, which works on integrating AI into Apple's devices. The Verge adds that the changes effectively close down the Vision Pro gaming team and shrink the staff that produces immersive content for the headset.

Apple addressed the cuts in a statement to Bloomberg, framing them as part of an effort to evolve its business. The company said new roles will be created as part of the change, but that a limited number of existing positions will be eliminated. TechCrunch said it reached out to Apple for more information, and The Verge reported that Apple did not immediately respond to its request for further comment.

Scaling back on the headset

The Vision Pro arrived in early 2024 as Apple's flagship bet on spatial computing, priced at $3,499. As The Verge notes, the headset does not appear to have become a major commercial success, and trimming its gaming and immersive-content groups suggests Apple is cutting investment in the device's software ecosystem rather than expanding it.

The hardware line is also in flux. Bloomberg reported in May that Apple is developing a slimmer, lighter successor to the current Vision Pro, which was refreshed with an M5 chip last year. A report a few weeks later, however, said Apple had suspended work with Samsung Display on a screen intended for a cheaper entry-level XR device, a sign of unresolved questions about where the product line goes next.

A redirect toward AI and new categories

Sources describe the layoffs as a reshuffle intended to concentrate resources on Apple's newer AI efforts and upcoming devices, according to TechCrunch. Those devices reportedly include a pair of smart glasses: Bloomberg recently reported that Apple plans to announce them at WWDC in 2027 and ship them by the end of that year, a move influenced by the success of Meta's smart glasses.

On the AI side, Apple introduced its revamped, AI-powered Siri at this year's WWDC, with a public beta expected later this year, according to The Verge. Notably, some of the cuts touch the teams involved in that push: Siri and Intelligent Systems Experience.

The layoffs also land during a difficult stretch for the company. TechCrunch points out that Apple is trying to repair its standing in AI at the same time that a memory shortage driven by the AI buildout has raised the cost of producing its flagship products. The company raised prices on Macs and iPads earlier this summer, introduced a leasing plan for its major hardware, and is currently suing OpenAI over alleged trade theft.

Why it matters

The composition of the cuts tells the story. Apple is pulling back from bespoke gaming and immersive content for the Vision Pro, the kind of software an expensive niche headset needs in order to justify itself, while redirecting spending toward AI features and future form factors such as smart glasses. For Vision Pro owners and developers, having fewer people building games and immersive experiences raises questions about the headset's content pipeline going forward.

More broadly, it is another signal that even the largest technology companies are reallocating budgets aggressively toward AI, and that spatial computing has slid down Apple's priority list even as a successor headset and an entry-level XR device remain, at least nominally, on the roadmap.