Everything new about the revamped Apple Vision Pro can fit in a single sentence: It has a far faster and more efficient M5 chip, it comes with a more comfortable Dual Knit Band and its display looks slightly sharper and faster. Beyond that, the Vision Pro is still basically a $3,500 developer kit that really isn't meant for consumers.
Still, the Vision Pro fascinates me. It's a bold swing from a company that's become increasingly risk-averse over the last decade. And now that we have its first refresh, it's clear that Apple isn't ready to give up on the concept of spatial computing yet. For the niche audience of mixed reality developers and hardcore Apple fanatics who haven't already picked up a Vision Pro, the new model is more compelling than the original with its aging M2 chip. If you've already got one, though, you can just pick up the Dual Knit Band for $99 to get a more comfortable fit.
Apple 78 100 Expert Score Apple Vision Pro M5 The revamped Apple Vision Pro is faster and more comfortable than the original, but its limited ecosystem still makes it better suited to developers than consumers. Pros Faster M5 chip
Excellent displays
Hand and eye tracking work well
Support for PS VR2 controllers Cons Expensive
Limited immersive video and apps
Relatively heavy $3,499 at Apple
What's the point of the M5 Apple Vision Pro?
While the Vision Pro launched with a huge splash in 2023, it was released early last year with the 2022-era M2 chip. Now that we're three generations beyond that Apple silicon, it's high time it received an upgrade. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro is up to 50 percent faster at rendering your Persona avatar and creating spatial scenes from photos, according to Apple. Both of those experiences were noticeably faster during my testing, but they also never felt too sluggish on the original Vision Pro.
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