Apple’s announcement of the Vision Pro headset in 2023 was pretty hyperbolic about the device’s potential, even by Apple’s standards. CEO Tim Cook called it “the beginning of a new era for computing,” placing the Vision Pro in the same industry-shifting echelon as the Mac and the iPhone.
The Vision Pro could still eventually lead to a product that ushers in a new age of “spatial computing.” But it does seem like Apple is a bit less optimistic about the headset’s current form—at least, that’s one possible way to read the fact that the second-generation Vision Pro is being announced via press release, rather than as the centerpiece of a product event.
The new Vision Pro is available for the same $3,499 as the first model, which will likely continue to limit the headset’s appeal outside of a die-hard community of early adopters and curious developers. It’s available for pre-order today and ships on October 22.
The updated Vision Pro is a low-risk, play-it-safe upgrade that updates the device’s processor without changing much else about its design or how the product is positioned. It’s essentially the same device as before, but with the M2 chip switched out for a brand-new M5—a chip that comes with a faster CPU and GPU, 32GB of RAM, and improved image signal processors and video encoding hardware that will doubtlessly refine and improve the experience of using the headset.