Apple Cuts Jobs in Siri, Vision Pro Immersive Video and Gaming Teams

Apple Inc. is cutting jobs across teams responsible for the Siri digital assistant and the Vision Pro headset, part of an effort to focus on new devices and artificial intelligence.

Apple is also laying off employees in its Intelligent Systems Experience, a team within its software engineering organization responsible for some of the AI features on its devices, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

As part of the changes, the company is largely shutting down a Vision Pro team focused on gaming for the headset and reducing the size of a unit responsible for producing the device’s immersive video content, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the personnel moves haven’t been announced.

Altogether, the cuts affect more than 200 people, with about 100 positions eliminated from the Vision Pro organization and another 100 from the Siri and software teams.

In a statement, Apple acknowledged that it was realigning some teams “to evolve our business to deliver the best experiences for our users.”

“While we will create new roles as part of this change, it will also impact a limited number of existing roles,” the company said. “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.”

The Siri reshuffling is tied to an upcoming AI-infused version of the assistant, which is built on a new technical architecture. That shift requires a change in the necessary expertise, prompting the company to eliminate a small number of existing roles, reallocate resources and create new positions supporting the updated Siri.

The changes to the Intelligent Systems Experience team reflect an effort to reorganize work on AI-powered capabilities. As more groups bring AI functions to apps, features and services, Apple is realigning teams to match priorities and accelerate development. The restructuring will eliminate some existing positions while creating new roles.

The Vision Pro changes were described to employees as an effort to realign priorities based on how customers are using the device and to better direct resources toward other future products.

Immersive video has been a key selling point for the Vision Pro since its launch. But producing each 3D video requires multiple crews of Apple employees and contractors, and an episode in an immersive video series can cost several million dollars to film. Those expenses have strained the business given the limited number of active Vision Pro users.

Read More: Apple’s Vision Pro Is Suffering From a Lack of Immersive Video

The Vision Pro was seen as a groundbreaking product when it launched in February 2024, but the cumbersome nature of the headset and its now-$3,699 price have made it a hard sell.

Apple isn’t abandoning immersive video entirely. The company plans to produce a smaller number of videos in-house while encouraging third-party companies to develop content for the device. Although Apple has maintained a team focused on gaming features for the Vision Pro, the headset has gained limited traction among gamers.

The company has told employees that the Vision Pro and its visionOS operating system aren’t going away. In the near term, however, Apple is focused on launching smart glasses that wouldn’t support immersive video or advanced gaming titles. The company is still considering a new Vision Pro model for release as early as the end of 2028, Bloomberg News has reported.

Read More: Apple Shelves Headset Revamp to Prioritize Meta-Like AI Glasses

AppleInsider earlier reported that Apple made some job cuts Thursday to its Vision Pro team.