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Provided is a method for producing a population of neural retinal progenitors (NRPs) comprising steps of; (a) obtaining a starting population of human iPSCs, (b) culturing the cells in a first retinal differentiation medium (RD1) comprising a BMP inhibitor to further differentiate the cells to anterior neuroectoderm cells, (c) inducing retinal differentiation of the anterior neuroectoderm cells by culturing the cells in a second retinal differentiation medium (RD2) essentially free of BMP inhibitors to form retinal progenitor cells (RPCs), and (d) culturing the RPCs in a retinal maturation (RM) medium to produce NRPs. Also provided is a method for producing a population of photoreceptor precursor cells (PRPs) from NRPs obtained by the above method by further culturing in photoreceptor precursor induction medium (FDSC) comprising a g-secretase inhibitor and FGF for a period of time sufficient to produce a population of PRPs.