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

Apple is said to be working on Apple Glasses – a pair of smart glasses that look far more like regular eyewear than an AR/VR headset. It's possible that Apple may end up prioritizing that product over a costly, fairly niche Vision Pro sequel.

Price

The original Apple Vision Pro launched at a steep $3,500. If Apple does release a sequel, don't expect it to come in much cheaper.

The original Vision Pro's price (well above what most AR/VR enthusiasts are used to paying – for comparison, the market-leading Meta Quest 3 starts at $500) turned out to be more than most tech enthusiasts in general were willing to spend, and the Vision Pro ended up selling fewer units than Apple had hoped.

A cutting-edge first-gen product is naturally going to carry a premium price tag, but the combination of far cheaper competitors and a lack of must-have apps didn't help the Vision Pro's case.

Will the Vision Pro 2 be cheaper? We haven't seen any reliable rumors suggesting so – so expect Apple to stick with a price north of $3,000, likely the same $3,500, if the device launches at all.

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.

That design wrapped around the back of the head, skipping the over-the-top strap found on most traditional headsets.

Unfortunately, beyond looking sleeker, that approach was always going to be uncomfortable in practice – it put all the weight of a front-heavy headset directly on the user's face. And the Vision Pro isn't light, at 650 grams.

So Apple ended up shipping the Vision Pro with two options: the sleeker but less comfortable Solo Knit Band, and a Dual Loop Band that actually goes over the head, distributing weight more evenly, similar to most other headsets.

For the Vision Pro 2, expect the same combination – likely the same two straps – unless Apple finally commits to a more traditional headband that wraps around both the back and top of the head. It's a less distinctive look, but a noticeably more comfortable one.

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 came away genuinely impressed with Apple's first attempt at AR/VR, particularly how far ahead the tracking accuracy felt compared to the competition.

That said, the lack of physical controllers on the original Vision Pro is hard to ignore. Eye and hand tracking make for a more streamlined, futuristic experience, but skipping controllers doesn't do the headset any favors for gaming – and gaming remains the main driver behind most AR/VR headset sales.

Third parties have already released controllers for the Vision Pro, and there's a small chance Apple could eventually offer its own as an optional accessory, specifically for gaming. This is pure speculation on our part, but it would make sense. We'll update this piece if any news on official Apple Vision Pro controllers surfaces.

Storage

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

• 256GB 
• 512GB 
• 1TB

These are educated guesses based on the original Vision Pro's storage tiers, since there's currently no specific reason to expect a change here.

Apple is known for charging a steep premium on storage upgrades, so a near-$4,000 price tag for the 1TB Vision Pro 2 wouldn't be surprising.

How much storage you'd actually need comes down to whether you plan to stream content or download it directly to the headset – since the Vision Pro is shaping up to be one of the best ways to watch immersive content, anyone who wants offline access to large AR/VR files will want to lean toward a higher tier.

As with any modern flagship device, storage won't be expandable via microSD, so whatever tier you buy is the one you're stuck with for the headset's lifetime.

Design

According to reliable insiders like Mark Gurman, the Apple Vision Pro 2 will likely keep the same overall design as the original, with internal upgrades rather than a visual overhaul.

Expect the same premium, if heavy, build – glass up front, metal sides, and the same external battery pack that has to stay connected to the headset at all times, also made from metal.

For reference, the original Apple Vision Pro weighs about 650 grams, and we don't expect the Vision Pro 2 to get noticeably lighter, partly due to those same premium materials.

The same lenticular front display should return too, alternately showing the user's eyes during passthrough mode, or an abstract colorful pattern when they're fully immersed in VR.

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.

The scroll wheel on the top right (similar in spirit to the Apple Watch's Digital Crown) should also return, letting users switch between passthrough and full VR mode.

Display

Like its predecessor, the Apple Vision Pro 2 is expected to feature micro-OLED displays, one per eye, at 3660 x 3200 resolution and up to 100 Hz refresh.

Those specs were already cutting-edge on the original Vision Pro, and likely a major contributor to its high price – so it's reasonable that Apple wouldn't see an urgent need to upgrade them just yet.

Battery

The Apple Vision Pro 2 is currently expected to use the same external battery setup as its predecessor – one that connects via a magnetic cable and must stay attached for the headset to function. That same battery pack also lets you plug into a wall outlet for unlimited runtime.

The current Apple Vision Pro Battery, included with the headset or available separately for $200, is rated at 3,166mAh.

In our testing, the device lasted about 2 hours on a single charge. Unfortunately, there's little reason to expect a meaningfully longer battery life on the Vision Pro 2, unless the new chip turns out to be significantly more power-efficient — and even then, any gain is likely to be modest.

Features and software

VisionOS 27 was recently announced during WWDC 2026, bringing Visual Intelligence and camera-aware AI. The new OS also introduces the long-awaited context-aware Siri update, now able to see what's happening both in your open apps and in the physical room around you.

With the new OS, you can also convert personal panoramic photos into immersive 3D backgrounds, and preview 3D objects from Mac apps directly inside the Vision Pro.

Hardware

A true second-generation Vision Pro was long expected to ship with Apple's next-gen M6 chip, assuming the project moves forward at all.

That said, it's worth being clear about where things actually stand: Apple already released an updated Vision Pro powered by the M5 chip in October 2025, alongside a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 model renders 10% more pixels, supports refresh rates up to 120Hz, and offers modestly better battery life than the original M2 version – but it's still fundamentally the same headset design, not a true "Vision Pro 2."

That chip refresh is a welcome step, especially since the original M2 chip started feeling outdated fairly quickly. But it also raises a real question about whether a from-the-ground-up Vision Pro 2 is still coming at all. Recent reports suggest Apple currently has no Vision-branded headset in active development, with the company's AR/VR efforts shifting toward smart glasses instead.

If a true Vision Pro 2 with an M6 chip does eventually materialize, expect it to comfortably handle Apple's most advanced AI features out of the gate, with extra headroom that could also expand the Mac Virtual Display feature for more usable virtual screen space.

Beyond the chip, don't expect major changes elsewhere – the sensor array, display quality, and storage tiers are all expected to carry over largely unchanged, assuming the device ships at all.