Apple Vision Pro was in the works for a long time. But the reaction from both users and developers has been somewhat underwhelming over the last couple of years, even if the technology on board has to be experienced to be believed (the Wall Street Journal published a particular damning article from users’ perspectives). What it can do is simply incredible. Now there’s a second version of the Vision Pro headset with the latest M5 chip – but when will we get a genuine successor?
The M5 version is still called Apple Vision Pro rather than Apple Vision Pro 2, and rumours continue to swirl that Apple’s true next-gen Vision Pro will actually be more like a pair of smart glasses, with development potentially stopping on the larger headset so that it can dedicate more resources to development of the glasses
That means the end result would be more like a supercharged version of the upcoming Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses ($799), Xreal Air 2 Ultra ($699) or Even Realities G2 ($599). No doubt Apple’s Vision Glasses – which is a good bet for a name in my book – would be more expensive than that (Vision Air has also been suggested). However, the Vision Pro interface gives us a good look at what visionOS could offer at that stage, which would probably be in 2027 according to rumor.
So what has appeared with the revised Vision Pro M5? As well as increased power, the M5 also brings ‘extended battery life’ to the $3,499/£3,199 Apple headset. That’s perhaps the best thing about this upgrade; having used a Vision Pro for several months last year, I found battery life to be a key concern and it’s better with the new headset which I’ve been using for a few weeks. You can now get around three hours of video playback.
But the rumour around the Apple Vision Pro suggested that we would get a lighter, more affordable version. Perhaps it might just be called Apple Vision? Here’s a mixture of rumor and my own speculation around a second version of Apple’s spatial computer.
Expected hardware
Apple’s Vision Pro hardware seems to have changed over time, with different headsets in development. The original device was reportedly in the works since 2015. And hat means the specs will have changed dramatically over time – it was originally set to come with Apple’s M1 chip, but ended up having the M2. Now, it has the M5. But it’ll be interesting to see what chips Apple ends up using in a more compact version.
A second-gen Apple Vision Pro was reportedly known as Project Alaska N109 internally at Apple (according to MacRumors), although it was suggested that this would look similar to the existing Vision Pro and it either has stopped development or it became the M5 version. There were suggestions it would have a more punchy speaker and the arms at the sides would instead be flat.
Right now it doesn’t seem like there would be extra cameras or sensors to the mix. Instead it will stick with the same setup found in Vision Pro. That means one TrueDepth camera, four computer vision cameras and two RGB cameras to handle passthrough vision, hand detection and boundary recognition. Expect two infrared illuminators, a compass, ambient light sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer to make the grade as well.
The screens are likely to stick with micro-OLED panels, one for each eye. There will be semi-automatic adjustment for inter-pupillary distance (IPD). Inputs and interaction will almost certainly stay gesture-based, with no physical controller.
Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5, and ultra-low latency audio should also make the cut. But everything else is up in the air right now. What will be used depends on how far Apple’s chip design team has got by the point of release.
Price and release date
With just a few sources to go on right now, there’s no firm date for when Vision Pro 2 will launch. Or how much it will cost. Rumors during 2025 suggested that there was no active development on a new version of the original Vision Pro after the M5 update, with action pivoting to the glasses. A leaked roadmap suggests no Vision releases in 2026, with the glasses following in 2027 alongside a revised ‘Vision Air’ version of the original headset – however, it doesn’t seem like the latter release would happen given sales of the original.
Bloomberg previously suggested Apple didn’t expect Vision Pro to sell well initially, with unit sales somewhere in the region of a million per year – not surprising given the price point. But the reality can’t have been anywhere close to that with sales in the first year thought to be in the region of around 500,000 units.
What else I’d like to see in Vision Pro 2
Better app support
For all the compatibility with iPad apps, one of the problems with Vision Pro has been the lack of support from some key apps. Netflix even has a help page (now somewhat truncated from a previous version) explaining that it doesn’t have its own app but you can watch Netflix through Safari. But it’s clunky. And that’s an experience that’s replicated elsewhere, and makes the Vision Pro genuinely less appealing to use.
Ditch the external battery pack
This one is a biggie: relying on an external battery, cable and all, just isn’t very elegant. It’s not very Apple. And that would simply have to happen if Vision Pro 2 ended up being revealed as a pair of smart glasses.
An EyeSight alternative?
Eyesight is easily the most freakish aspect of Vision Pro. The tech kicks in whenever someone approaches you and displays your eyes on the headset’s external screen, using video passthrough so you can communicate with the outside world more naturally. Again, this is something that would simply have to change if the platform moved across to smart glasses.
- Related: Apple Vision 2033: see the future
Read the full article here
