Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Has Given Up on the Vision Pro After M5 Refresh Flop
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
FattiesGoneWild
macrumors 6502a
Phaseangle
macrumors member
BlankStar
macrumors 6502a
I tested it at the Apple Store and was blown away. It's an awesome device, but that price is what kept me from buying one. I can't justify buying such a device that only works as a cool gadget.
Xade
macrumors 6502
I really wanted one, but after booking a demo, sat waiting for half an hour because the Apple staff forgot I was there, booked another one and tried it, only to find it wasn't set up properly and made me nauseous, then having to pay for extra lenses I sort of lost interest.
.wojtek
macrumors 6502
The most annoying thing is that the whole UI created for this awful hardware (where you had to have some transparency) was transplanted to the rest of ecosystem and we have to deal with this liquid 💩 on macOS and iOS... :/
The update didn’t resolve the issues owners had, or potential buyers had.
Owners want it more lightweight and more apps.
Potential buyers want a lower price point, and more real life use cases - most don’t see the point of it.
Owners want it more lightweight and more apps.
Potential buyers want a lower price point, and more real life use cases - most don’t see the point of it.
They should not kill it but double down on it. Most first-gen products aren't that great but get people excited and will figure themselves out over time. Look at the first iPhone and Apple Watch. I was pretty excited and really wondered what it would be to use it in person. I'm not the target audience for the AVP, at this stage, but I can see the potential. Other large companies are figuring out AR, VR wearables as well. This is a new category of products, worse case it fails and you take the learnings to your other products and services. But it needs more love and attention then just the periodic spec bumps. Common Apple, Think Different instead of Take Profits. I hope they figure this one out and make it more than a 'Pro' media consumption device.
Last edited:
Agree, they didn't just refreash it to "Improve" the headset.
It was more likely due to Apple running out of M2 chips.
So they have a choice of discontinuing the product or give it a spec bump to a new chip like the M5 of which Apple should have a healthy supply of them as it's a current gen chip.
Any improvements the headset recieved was just due to the additional headroom the M5 offered.
Will give them their do's on trying to address the weight distrbution issue though with the new headstrap.
However, I feel all other VR/AR are made out of platic for a reason and it's not just cost.
wanha
macrumors 68030
The Vision Pro reminds me of the Touch Bar - zero iteration after the first version, just left to languish in obscurity. Here's hoping Ternus brings a much needed and improved product focus back to Apple.
iDento
macrumors 65816
In terms of hardware, absolutely. But as I always say when it comes to iPhone vs Android, app parity is the real test that everyone ignores. And unfortunately for Apple (in this case) they are the poorer choice.
The Quest 3 is really good hardware, nice and light with responsive controllers. The gaming experience has titles such as Tetris Effect and Rez Infinite, both of which are worth the price of entry alone IMO and this is only the tip of ther iceberg. But you can also do some cool AR stuff with it like visit an architectural model at 1:1 because the passthrough experience is good enough.
If VR is an entertainment platform first and a productivity platform second, the Vision Pro doesn't even come close. Its so easy to throw a Quest 3 into a suitcase for a business trip and enjoy VR games, Gamepass streaming, 3DS emulation and movies on a big screen whilst stuck in a hotel.
In my opinion it justifies the purchase of a Quest 3 alone. Its such an incredible game to just play after a long day at work.
The Game 161
macrumors Nehalem
this report seems off base. however doesn't mean they will update it anytime soon. there focus is on other areas that seems clear really from here.
glasses development is the focus over vision pro. i very much like my M5 vision pro and fills the need i use it for and there is always immersive content coming out for it and people have been hired for vision pro so clearly it is there in their minds
glasses development is the focus over vision pro. i very much like my M5 vision pro and fills the need i use it for and there is always immersive content coming out for it and people have been hired for vision pro so clearly it is there in their minds
The Game 161
macrumors Nehalem
i love mine and use it 2-4 times a week so for me it gets good usage but i get why many don't want one as the cost is massive. battery life is annoying where it always needs to be on charge and not easy to wear of course.
I wonder if this is a good time to unload a Vision Pro or keep it and lose all resale value. I bought mine second hand for around $2k USD. I moved to the Philippines now and there is a chance I can recoup most if not all of it (since it's very rare to find any here).
It seems like there are still some new apps coming out for it which is improving the experience but the pace is so slow. For example, YouTube just recently came out with a native app, years after the launch of the original Vision Pro.
It seems fairly useless outside of content consumption. There are very few if any games that take advantage of it. Meta Quest is doing better there (giving people another reason to buy it) even though that platform isn't so great either (but at least 15% of the price).
The only worthwhile feature for me so far is Spatial Photos and the ability of it to turn ANY photo into a very convincing spacial photo. If someone ever made an app that can do that for the Meta Quest then there is absolutely no reason for the Vision Pro to exist at all (there are some I tried but none worked well).
It seems like there are still some new apps coming out for it which is improving the experience but the pace is so slow. For example, YouTube just recently came out with a native app, years after the launch of the original Vision Pro.
It seems fairly useless outside of content consumption. There are very few if any games that take advantage of it. Meta Quest is doing better there (giving people another reason to buy it) even though that platform isn't so great either (but at least 15% of the price).
The only worthwhile feature for me so far is Spatial Photos and the ability of it to turn ANY photo into a very convincing spacial photo. If someone ever made an app that can do that for the Meta Quest then there is absolutely no reason for the Vision Pro to exist at all (there are some I tried but none worked well).
Big_D
macrumors 6502a
If it was a smart-glasses display for the Mac, or iPad, at a sensible price, it might have done well. I love the idea of the Vision Pro, but the price is just too high for most people. This is a niche product with a high-end boutique price, it isn't really a wonder it has sold poorly.
the8thark
macrumors 601
AussieStu
macrumors regular
The Apple Vision Pro always felt like a half‑baked product. Sure, it had impressive features and, for what it did, it actually performed well. But at that price point, it needed a clear purpose — a real reason for everyday consumers to buy it. And that’s where it fell apart.😕
Who is realistically paying that kind of money just to watch a movie? Most of the things it can do, you can already do faster, cheaper, and more comfortably on other Apple devices. It never justified its existence in the lineup, let alone its premium price.
And that’s the core issue:
It wasn’t a bad device — it was a device without a compelling use case.
There was nothing exclusive or essential that made people say, “I need this.”
iPhone had the internet in your pocket.
Apple Watch had health and notifications.
Vision Pro had… floating windows.
Even reviewers who liked it admitted it was heavy, front‑loaded, and uncomfortable for long sessions. A $5,000 device shouldn’t feel like a gym workout for your neck.
Two hours on an external battery pack.
For a device meant to replace screens, that’s a joke.
Wearing it in public looked ridiculous.
Wearing it at home made you look disconnected.
It’s hard to sell a product people feel self‑conscious using.
Limited content ecosystem
Developers weren’t rushing to build apps for a tiny user base.
No apps → no users → no apps.
Classic chicken‑and‑egg problem.
Apple marketed it as the “future of computing,” but multitasking with floating windows isn’t more efficient than a MacBook with a real keyboard and trackpad.
At $3,500 USD (and even more in Australia), it wasn’t an impulse buy.
It wasn’t even a “premium tech enthusiast” buy.
It was a “this better change my life” buy — and it didn’t.
The hardware was impressive, but the overall experience felt like Apple was still figuring out what the device was supposed to be.
In the end, the Vision Pro wasn’t cancelled because it was bad — it was cancelled because it never answered the most important question: Why does this product need to exist?
Who is realistically paying that kind of money just to watch a movie? Most of the things it can do, you can already do faster, cheaper, and more comfortably on other Apple devices. It never justified its existence in the lineup, let alone its premium price.
And that’s the core issue:
It wasn’t a bad device — it was a device without a compelling use case.
There was nothing exclusive or essential that made people say, “I need this.”
iPhone had the internet in your pocket.
Apple Watch had health and notifications.
Vision Pro had… floating windows.
Even reviewers who liked it admitted it was heavy, front‑loaded, and uncomfortable for long sessions. A $5,000 device shouldn’t feel like a gym workout for your neck.
Two hours on an external battery pack.
For a device meant to replace screens, that’s a joke.
Wearing it in public looked ridiculous.
Wearing it at home made you look disconnected.
It’s hard to sell a product people feel self‑conscious using.
Limited content ecosystem
Developers weren’t rushing to build apps for a tiny user base.
No apps → no users → no apps.
Classic chicken‑and‑egg problem.
Apple marketed it as the “future of computing,” but multitasking with floating windows isn’t more efficient than a MacBook with a real keyboard and trackpad.
At $3,500 USD (and even more in Australia), it wasn’t an impulse buy.
It wasn’t even a “premium tech enthusiast” buy.
It was a “this better change my life” buy — and it didn’t.
The hardware was impressive, but the overall experience felt like Apple was still figuring out what the device was supposed to be.
In the end, the Vision Pro wasn’t cancelled because it was bad — it was cancelled because it never answered the most important question: Why does this product need to exist?