Apple Vision Pro 2 just tipped for huge performance upgrade
Apple Intelligence is coming to spatial computing
Apple's follow-up to the Vision Pro headset could enter mass production next year and sport an as-yet-unannounced M5 chipset. It will reportedly keep much of the same design and therefore stick at around the same price, but it could come down. That's according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has reported the real selling point of Apple's next headset will be the integration of Apple Intelligence.
Kuo isn't able to predict whether Apple Intelligence will be made available for the current Apple Vision Pro, running on its M2 chip. The existing headset features a 16-core Neural Engine and 16GB of RAM, making it technically capable of Apple's suite of artificial intelligence upgrades. And given that $3,499/£3,499 asking price of the Vision Pro, it would seem churlish for Apple not to make it available.
That price is undoubtedly a barrier to entry. Kuo is rather vague here, saying, "Other hardware specs and designs won’t change much, which should help lower costs and price points."
According to Kuo, the jump from M2 to M5 will let the Vision Pro 2 offer the "best Apple Intelligence user experience" available. What's more, the analyst suggests AI will be the lynchpin to accelerate adoption rate because it will finally offer an innovative user experience.
Kuo states that, "if the M5 Vision Pro can integrate something like OpenAI’s Sora, it may elevate the user experience of the head-mounted display device to unimaginable levels."
The analyst stopped short of predicting an actual launch date for the next generation device. But we could guess that mass production next year might mean a very outside chance we see it unveiled in September or October 2025. However, the more likely timeline is that Apple holds on until WWDC in June 2026 to reveal the Vision Pro 2 — marking three full years between updates.
But during all this time, Apple's competitors won't be standing still. In fact, Meta has just unveiled the Meta Orion prototype AR glasses that, in the words of Tom's Guide's Global Editor in Chief Mark Spoonauer, don't just blow away the Apple Vision Pro — they could put the iPhone on notice.
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Jeff is UK Editor-in-Chief for Tom’s Guide looking after the day-to-day output of the site’s British contingent. Rising early and heading straight for the coffee machine, Jeff loves nothing more than dialling into the zeitgeist of the day’s tech news.
A tech journalist for over a decade, he’s travelled the world testing any gadget he can get his hands on. Jeff has a keen interest in fitness and wearables as well as the latest tablets and laptops. A lapsed gamer, he fondly remembers the days when problems were solved by taking out the cartridge and blowing away the dust.