Apple Vision Pro 2 release date expectations, price estimates and upgrades

At first, Mark Gurman hinted that the Apple Vision Pro 2's release has been pushed back to spring 2026. Obviously, we're past this moment, and we saw no Vision Pro 2.

Currently, most rumors indicate that the Vision Pro 2 is not coming in 2026 at all. 

Meanwhile, some rumors claim that an Apple Vision Pro "Lite" (name unconfirmed) may be coming out as well.  That would have been a more stripped-down and hopefully more affordable version of the original Apple Vision Pro. However, this device may also have been abandoned. 

Apple is said to be working on Apple Glasses as well, which are a pair of smart glasses that look nothing like an AR/VR headset and look more like your regular glasses. It's possible that Apple may decide to prioritize this product instead of the super expensive and rather niche sequel to the Vision Pro. 

Price

The original Apple Vision Pro came out at an extremely high price: $3,500. This is well beyond what AR/VR enthusiasts are used to paying for, considering the market-leading Meta Quest 3 AR/VR headset costs $500, offering far more experiences.

That price turned out to be well beyond what tech enthusiasts in general were willing to pay also, and thus – the Vision Pro sold fewer units than Apple had anticipated.

Of course, a cutting-edge, first-gen product is bound to be expensive, but the unfortunate mix of far cheaper competitor devices being available, plus a lack of killer apps and use cases, did not bode well for the Vision Pro.

Will the Apple Vision Pro 2 be cheaper? Well, we've not heard any reliable rumors or leaks suggesting so, thus it's very likely that Apple will stick with a price of over $3,000 for the Vision Pro 2, if not the same $3,500 price. If it comes at all, that is.

Head strap and comfort

Apple attempted to make its mixed reality headset stand out from the crowd in two notable ways – by calling it a "spatial computer", and by marketing it using a unique head strap design.

This unique design went around the back of the user's head and did not have a strap going over the head, like traditional headsets.

Unfortunately, beyond looking fancier, such a head strap design was obviously going to be uncomfortable for users, as all the weight of the front-heavy headset was placed on their face. And the Vision Pro is not a light headset, at 650 grams.

So Apple ended up including with the Vision Pro both the nicer-looking but less comfortable "Solo Knit Band" and a "Dual Loop Band" that actually goes over the user's head, distributing its weight a bit more evenly, similarly to how other headsets do it.

For the Apple Vision Pro 2, we can probably expect the same combo; possibly the same two head straps, unless Apple can make the hard choice of just using a traditional headset headband – one that goes around both the back and top of the user's head. A bit more cumbersome and less unique-looking, but far more comfortable.

Hand tracking, eye tracking, controllers

The Apple Vision Pro 2 will rely on eye tracking and hand tracking, like its predecessor, for user input. In our testing for our Apple Vision Pro review, we were very impressed with Apple's first attempt at AR/VR and with the accuracy of it all, especially considering how ahead this technology already was of the competition.

However, we can't ignore the lack of controllers in the first Apple Vision Pro. While eye and hand tracking made it more simple and futuristic for the user, a lack of controllers doesn't bode well for AR/VR gaming, and gaming is the driving force behind every other AR/VR headset on the market.

While third parties have already released controllers for the Vision Pro, there's a small chance that Apple itself might introduce some in the future, as an optional accessory to it, specifically for gaming. This is pure speculation, but it'll make sense. We'll keep you updated once, or if, any news on official Apple Vision Pro controllers pops up.

Storage

The Apple Vision Pro 2 will likely come with the following storage options:

• 256GB 
• 512GB 
• 1TB

Those are our speculations based on the storage options the first Apple Vision Pro came out with, as currently there's no reason to expect any changes in that area.

Apple is known to have a significant price "tax" on storage upgrades, so a nearly-$4,000 price for a 1000 GB Apple Vision Pro 2 is not out of the question.

As the Vision Pro 2 will likely be the best, crispest, and most immersive way to watch content in AR and VR, needing more storage depends on whether the user plans to stream it online, or download it on the headset itself. If it's the latter, more storage is obviously going to be in demand.

Like any modern flagship product, the Apple Vision Pro 2's storage will not be expandable via a MicroSD card, so the storage option one buys will be the one they're stuck with for the duration of the device's lifetime.

Design

According to reliable insiders such as Mark Gurman, the Apple Vision Pro 2 will likely retain the same design as the first one, despite some internal changes and upgrades.

We can expect the same premium (albeit heavy) build, featuring glass on the front and metal on the sides, as well as the same external battery that needs to be connected to the headset at all times, also made from metal.

For reference, the first Apple Vision Pro weighs about 650 grams, and currently, we don't expect that the Vision Pro 2 will be getting any lighter, due in part to those premium build materials.

We can also expect the same lenticular display up front, aiming to show either the user's eyes, when they're using passthrough and seeing their surroundings through the headset's cameras, or an abstract colorful pattern if they're fully immersed in virtual reality.

Similarly, we expect the same array of complex cameras and sensors around the headset, used for hand tracking, tracking the user's real-life environment, and showing it to them, when in passthrough mode.

On the top right side of the headset, the scroll wheel, akin to the Apple Watch's crown, will also return, which itself lets the user switch between passthrough (mixed reality) and VR mode.

Display

Like its predecessor, the Apple Vision Pro 2 is expected to feature micro‑OLED displays, one for each eye, with a resolution of 3660-by-3200 pixels per eye and a refresh rate of up to 100 Hz.

Those display specs on the original Vision Pro were already cutting edge, and likely a big reason for its expensive price, so Apple not seeing the need to upgrade them just yet is reasonable, and to be expected.

Battery

The Apple Vision Pro 2 is currently expected to use the same external battery as its predecessor – one that needs to be connected via a magnetic cable to the headset at all times, for it to function. The external battery is also used for connecting the headset to a wall outlet, which allows it to be used indefinitely.

The Apple Vision Pro Battery, which is included with the headset but can also be bought as an additional spare for $200, is a 3166 mAh one.

In our testing, it lasted us about 2 hours on a single charge. Unfortunately, there's no reason to expect that the Apple Vision Pro 2 will feature longer battery life than that, unless the processor Apple upgrades it with is more efficient. Even then, at best we'll be getting an insignificant battery life increase.

Features and software

The more notable features we can expect for the Apple Vision Pro 2 include Apple Intelligence, which was oddly not made available on the original Vision Pro. Apple Intelligence is the Cupertino company's answer to the booming AI trend (artificial intelligence), and will bring a more conversational Siri, plus convenient AI additions to the Vision Pro's software package.

The Mac Virtual Display feature will be returning, allowing Apple Vision Pro 2 users to seamlessly connect the headset to their MacBook and get a virtual, portable 5K display for it.

The problem is, currently, with the first-gen Apple Vision Pro, the aforementioned feature only allows for one virtual display. We can speculate that the Apple Vision Pro 2 will have the processing power to offer two or even three, but for now – this is unconfirmed wishful thinking.

In terms of the software powering the Apple Vision Pro, that would likely be VisionOS 3. It's a spatial computing operating system developed by Apple specifically for AR/VR, and is based on iPadOS.

Launching the headset, the user gets a honeycomb array of icons for their apps, as well as a side menu for things like changing their virtual environment.

Notably, the current version of VisionOS – 2.2 – still doesn't have the kind of complete app library one might be used to seeing from, say, their iPhone, iPad or Android phone's app store, or even the Meta Quest headset's app store. So Apple has a long way to go populating it with apps, experiences and games, before VisionOS 3 and the Apple Vision Pro 2 come out. We're yet to see how this plays out.

Hardware

On the inside, the Apple Vision Pro 2 is expected to get a major upgrade with Apple's next-gen M5 chip, or if it gets delayed to 2027, probably with the M6 as well.

The chip upgrade is definitely welcome news, especially since the original Vision Pro launched with an M2 chip that felt outdated pretty quickly.

By jumping straight to the M5 or even M6 chip, the Vision Pro 2 will easily handle Apple's most advanced AI features at launch. The extra power will also hopefully expand the Mac Virtual Display feature, giving users more virtual screen space to work with.

Aside from the massive processor swap, don't expect any significant changes to the headset. The sensor arrays, display quality, and storage options are all expected to stay the same.

Should you wait for the Apple Vision Pro 2?

You should wait for the Apple Vision Pro 2 if you're okay with possibly waiting a long, long time given the reports of the Vision Pro 2's cancellation. With Apple updating the existing Vision Pro with a variant, equipped with the M5 chip, it rather feels like this would be the end for the device line, for the moment. As such, getting that might be the better call instead. 

You should not wait for the Apple Vision Pro 2 if the Vision Pro – especially the more capable variant – would suffice for your basic needs. You also have the Apple AR glasses to look forward to, not to mention the myriad other XR-able devices like the Quest 3 or the Galaxy XR.