Apple announcement of the Vision Pro headset in 2023 rather exaggeratedly estimated the potential of the device even by Apple standards. CEO Tim Cook called it “the beginning of a new era of computing,” placing Vision Pro in the same echelon of industry disruption as the Mac and iPhone.
Vision Pro could still ultimately lead to a product that usheres in a new era of “spatial computing.” But it looks like Apple is a little less optimistic about the headset's current form – at least that's one possible way to make sense of the fact that Vision Pro second generation announced in a press release rather than being 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 goes on sale October 22nd.
The updated Vision Pro is a secure, low-risk update that upgrades a device's processor without making major changes to its design or product positioning. It's essentially the same device as before, but with the M2 chip disabled. brand new M5– a chip with a faster CPU and GPU, 32GB of RAM, improved image signal processors and video encoding hardware that will undoubtedly improve and enhance the headset's usability. The display's maximum refresh rate has also been increased slightly from 100Hz to 120Hz, although overall other display and camera specs appear to be unchanged.
