Apple Releases Upgraded Vision Pro with M5 Chip, Shifts Focus to AI Glasses
Apple today announced an upgraded version of its Vision Pro headset featuring the new M5 processor, promising performance improvements and extended battery life, while simultaneously scaling back plans for a more affordable model.
The updated Vision Pro, still priced at $3,499, boasts a leap in performance with the M5 chip, delivering improved display rendering, faster AI-powered workflows, and up to 2.5 hours of general use on a single charge. According to Apple, the 16-core Neural Engine accelerates AI features by up to 50% for system experiences and twice as fast for third-party apps. The company highlighted new features like a 120Hz video refresh rate to reduce motion blur and enhancements to visionOS, now version 26, including new widgets and Apple Intelligence features.
This release comes as Apple adjusts its long-term strategy for spatial computing, reportedly postponing plans for a lighter, less expensive Vision Pro originally slated for 2027. A recent Bloomberg report indicates the company is now prioritizing the development of AI-enabled smart glasses to compete with Meta. The Vision Pro continues to offer immersive entertainment options, including access to streaming services like HBO Max, Disney+, and Paramount+, and will feature live L.A. Lakers games in Apple Immersive format later this NBA season. For professional applications, companies like CAE, Porsche, and Visage Imaging are already utilizing the headset for pilot training, vehicle personalization, and 3D medical imaging, respectively. You can learn more about Apple’s Vision Pro on their official website.
Apple officials stated the upgraded Vision Pro “remains the ultimate entertainment device,” and the company will continue to support and enhance the existing platform while simultaneously investing in the future of AI-powered wearable technology.
In launching the Vision Pro headset last year, Apple touted it as the “ultimate entertainment device,” essentially providing an immersive high-end home theater you wear on your face. But at a list price of $3,500, the AR/VR “spatial computing” product by all accounts has failed to live up the hype and hasn’t sold a significant number of units.
Undeterred, Apple has stuck to its road map — for now, at least. On Wednesday, it announced an upgraded version of the Vision Pro with its M5 processor, which “delivers a leap forward in performance, improved display rendering, faster AI-powered workflows and extended battery life,” the company said. The headset still costs $3,499, which is significantly more than the $500 Meta Quest 3 mixed-reality headset.
The Vision Pro M5 upgrade could be the last major rev on the headset for several years. Apple has postponed plans to make a lighter and less expensive version of Vision Pro, originally targeted for 2027 release, in favor of focusing on AI-enabled smart glasses to compete with Meta, according to a Bloomberg report earlier this month, citing an internal announcement. (Apple declined to comment on the report.)
With the Vision Pro product upgrade, the tech giant is still hoping to make AR/VR experiences a bigger thing — and, Apple claims, the headset “remains the ultimate entertainment device” with a screen “that appears up to 100 feet wide.”
With the new model, users can experience immersive concerts with Amplium, and Vision Pro features natively developed apps for streaming services including HBO Max, Disney+ and Paramount+ (but not for Netflix or YouTube). The Apple TV app provides a large selection of 3D movies available to buy and view in Vision Pro, including recent hits like “Superman,” “Jurassic World Rebirth,” “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Wicked.” New series and films on the Apple TV app available on Vision Pro include “Metallica,” “Submerged,” “The Weeknd: Open Hearts” and “VIP: Yankee Stadium.”
Later this NBA season, users in the L.A. Lakers’ broadcast territory will be able to watch select live games in Apple Immersive format on the Vision Pro, the company announced. Additionally, new titles from CNN, the Audi F1 Project, the BBC, HYBE and Red Bull will launch for the headset over the next few months.
Thanks to the M5 chip, Vision Pro can increase the video refresh rate up to 120Hz for “reduced motion blur” when users look at their physical surroundings. In addition, according to Apple, the 16-core Neural Engine makes AI-powered features run up to 50% for system experiences (like transforming photos into spatial scenes) and up to twice as fast for third-party apps compared with the previous generation.
Vision Pro — which is outfitted with 12 cameras, five sensors and six microphones — is able to stream new images to the displays within 12 milliseconds “to create a real-time view of the world.” The new battery now supports up to 2.5 hours of general use and up to 3 hours of video playback on a single charge.
Other enhancements to the upgraded Vision Pro include a new dual-knit band (for “an even more comfortable fit”) and visionOS 26, which “unlocks innovative spatial experiences, including widgets, new Personas, an interactive Jupiter Environment, and new Apple Intelligence features with support for additional languages.”
For all Apple’s efforts to try to make Vision Pro appealing to consumers, the product may ultimately see its most traction for business applications.
In its announcement Wednesday, Apple called out CAE, which specializes in simulation and instruction solutions, as using Vision Pro to help pilots complete training activities outside of traditional flight-training centers. The company said Porsche is using the headsets to let drivers visualize and personalize new vehicles in select showrooms before taking delivery. Apple also cited Visage Imaging’s 3D medical imaging app for Vision Pro, which is being used at hospitals like UC San Diego Health.
