霍去病

苹果对 VisionPro 的收缩，还在继续。    Christie's has canceled the second auction of jewels belonging to an Austrian billionaire, whose German husband made his fortune under the Nazis, following "intense scrutiny," it said Friday. The auction house held a first controversial online and in-person sale in Geneva of part of the large stash of more than 700 jewels in May, and had been scheduled to hold a second round in November.But in a statement it said "Christie's has taken the decision not to proceed with further sales of property from the Estate of Heidi Horten."

             

With just a portion of the collection sold, the auction eclipsed previous records set by Christie's in sales of properties that belonged to actress Elizabeth Taylor in 2011 and the "Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence" collection in 2019, both of which exceeded $100 million.      Hopes had been high for similar results from the second round. But following an initial report in the New York Times, Christie's sent a statement to AFP confirming that it had canceled the second round, acknowledging that "the sale of the Heidi Horten jewelry collection has provoked intense scrutiny.""The reaction to it has deeply affected us and many others, and we will continue to reflect on it," it said.

• Adolf Hitler's watch sells for $1.1M in controversial auction

A large number of Jewish groups had asked Christie's to halt the initial Horten sale in May, describing it as "indecent" and demanding that the auction house do more to determine how much of it came from victims of the Nazis.                 The extraordinary collection belonged to Horten, who died last year aged 81 with a fortune of $2.9 billion, according to Forbes.A report published in January 2022 by historians commissioned by the Horten Foundation said Horten's husband Helmut Horten, who died in Switzerland in 1987, had been a member of the Nazi party before being expelled.

    

                                                     

    

In 1936, three years after Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, Horten took over textile company Alsberg, based in the western city of Duisburg, after its Jewish owners fled. He later took over several other shops that had belonged to Jewish owners before the war.Christie's in May defended its decision to go ahead with the sale, with Christie's international head of jewelry Rahul Kadakia telling AFP that all of the proceeds would go towards charities.                      "Christie's separately is making a significant donation towards Holocaust research and education," he said at the time, stressing that the "proceeds of the sale is going to do good."                                 

In:    
• Austria
    
• Christie's
    
• Nazi
    
• Germany
    

。8 月 20 日，AppleInsider 爆料称，苹果刚刚裁掉了整支专门做 VR 开发的团队，至少 60 名员工受影响，涉及 Apple Vision Group 及类似岗位。这不是苹果第一次被曝出「放弃 Vision」了。

B | 过去一年多里，围绕这支团队的消息一直是坏消息：负责人被调走、部门被拆散、产品被「搁置」。如果说前面这些还只是信号，这一次裁员，才是把苹果的真实战略摆上了台面：苹果已经不想再赌「头显」这条路了。

C |

VisionPro 还在，团队没了苹果官方对裁员的消息既没有确认，也没有回应。

D | 时间回到 2024 年上市时，VisionPro 是苹果近年来投入规模最大的全新品类之一。为了开发这款产品，苹果曾经建立了独立的 Vision Products Group（VPG）。它同时负责 Vision 的硬件和软件，组织形态与 iPhone、Mac 等成熟产品线有所区别。而就在一年多前，彭博社的马克·古尔曼就报道过：苹果已经拆散了曾经的 VPG。这个团队本来是苹果空间计算业务的核心，把 Vision 的硬件和软件攥在一个组织里；拆散之后，人员被分流到苹果更大的硬件工程和软件工程部门。原负责人 Mike Rockwell 被调去负责 Siri 的整改，从硬件部门掌门人变成 AI 助手项目负责人。换句话说，早在这次裁员之前，「苹果 Vision 团队」作为独立建制就已不存在。这一次至少 60 人被裁，意味着这种调整还在进一步深入。根据 AppleInsider 的说法，被裁人员包括一整支负责 VR 开发的团队。如果消息准确，苹果砍的是 VR 方向的研发力量，不只是管理岗和重复岗。这与苹果最近一年的产品路线变化基本一致。去年 10 月，苹果还给 VisionPro 做过一次硬件更新，将芯片升级到 M5，渲染像素数量提升约 10%，最高刷新率达到 120Hz。

E | 但产品基本形态没有发生变化，价格仍然高达 3499 美元。此后受存储器成本上涨影响，今年 6 月美国售价又进一步上涨至 3699 美元。

F | 与此同时，原本被认为能够扩大 Vision 产品受众的低价版本，前景却越来越不明确。今年 7 月还有消息称，三星显示已经停止开发一项与廉价版 VisionPro 相关的显示组件。

G | 一边是现有 VisionPro 小幅更新、继续维持高价，另一边是低价产品推进受阻、研发团队继续缩编。苹果没有宣布放弃 VisionPro，但资源投入上，传统 VR 头显已经不再是优先方向。

H |

头显退场，眼镜接棒苹果对「空间计算」没有失去兴趣。两个月前，苹果 visionOS 产品营销高级总监 Steve Sinclair 在被问到 VisionPro 是否已经「被冷冻」时，还公开否认了这种说法。他的表态是，空间计算目前仍处于早期阶段，苹果还在继续学习和投入。

I | visionOS 27 的更新，以及 VisionPro 在消费、企业和医疗等场景中的应用，都是苹果继续投资这个平台的证明。更准确地说，苹果调整的是用什么设备承载空间计算。AppleInsider 的报道点得很直白：苹果的优先级正在转移，资源越来越多地流向 AI 智能眼镜。

图｜Gizmodo根据此前的爆料，苹果的第一代 AI 眼镜预计在 WWDC 2027 上亮相，同年晚些时候发售。

J | 它依赖摄像头、Siri 和 Visual Intelligence，注意，不搭载 AR 显示屏。也就是说，这跟 Meta 的雷朋智能眼镜是同一个路线：轻量、日常、挂在脸上，而不是盖住你的眼睛。这也解释了为什么苹果可以一边继续维护 visionOS，一边缩减 VR 团队。

K | VisionPro 过去几年积累的摄像头、空间感知、计算机视觉、人机交互等技术，是苹果压上真金白银换来的资产。其中相当一部分能力都可以迁移到智能眼镜、带摄像头的 AirPods，以及其他 AI 穿戴设备上。

L |

图｜AppleVision Pro 就像一个技术孵化器：空间计算在它身上被跑通、被验证，成熟的那部分交给眼镜去量产、去普及。苹果反复挂在嘴边的空间计算，不等于「那一台头显」，是一整套交互体系。苹果汽车项目结束后的处理方式也类似：项目可以收缩消失，但人才、技术和研发成果会重新进入其他产品线。

M | 这轮裁员的重点，不在人数，更在于它指向的方向。

N | 从 VPG 被拆分、Mike Rockwell 转去负责 Siri，到低价版 VisionPro 相关项目遇阻，再到 VR 团队进一步缩编，路线已经越来越清楚：苹果的下一台「Vision」设备，可能不是一台 VR 头显，而是一副能每天戴出门的 AI 眼镜。

o | 作者｜方俊鸣编辑｜肖钦鹏