Apple’s M5-powered Vision Pro will apparently enter into mass production in H2, 2025. The switch to a faster M5 chip will boost the AR headset’s computing power.
This should help improve the overall user experience, especially for Apple Intelligence tasks.
Apple Intelligence could improve Vision Pro’s spatial computing experience
The first-gen Vision Pro uses Apple’s M2 chipset and an R1 co-processor for real-time sensor input processing. While not the fastest, it is powerful enough to handle visionOS and its heavy AR/VR apps. Apple also needed to strike a balance between performance and battery life, which the M2 chip likely helped it achieve.
For the second-gen Vision Pro, the Cupertino company has bigger plans. Based on his supply-chain checks, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo detailed some planned improvements from Apple for the next-gen Vision Pro. The headset’s overall design and specs will remain mostly the same.
The biggest upgrades will come internally, with Apple switching to a faster M5 chip and Apple Intelligence integration. The extra computing power should enable the M5-powered Vision Pro to handle the extra AI and ML tasks smoothly.
Apple is yet to confirm if the M2-powered Vision Pro will gain Apple Intelligence support. Even if it does, the next-gen Vision Pro, thanks to the more powerful M5 chip, should provide a better experience and enable newer use cases.
The analyst believes that Apple Intelligence integration will help improve the Vision Pro’s spatial computing experience. “Compared to existing mainstream products like the iPhone, the innovative user experience of integrating Apple Intelligence with Vision Pro will be more noticeable,” Kuo says in his Medium note.
M5 Vision Pro might cost the same as Apple’s current AR/VR headset
Kuo also claims that Apple is unlikely to change the price of the second-generation Vision Pro. So, the headset should carry the same $3,499 starting price as the current model. If you are looking for weight reductions and longer battery life, Kuo says they will happen eventually. This suggests that the second-gen. Vision Pro might not pack any improvements over the first-generation model in this area.
While not mentioned in today’s report, Apple is reportedly working on a cheaper Vision Pro headset. It might arrive ahead of the second-gen headset, though given that it is currently in development, a lot could change.