Apple Has Given Up on the Vision Pro After M5 Refresh Flop

[terminator-jq]

I always find it interesting that anyone expected Vision Pro to sell well despite the fact that its heavy, it cost $3500 for the base model and Sony could only produce around 400-500k display units per year. It was always going to be a niche product to give an early "vision" at Apples Spatial computing future. There will never be a big market for heavy headsets but there is absolutely a market for stylish lightweight AR glasses.

Anyone who has experienced Vision OS firsthand is always amazed and sees the potential. Vision Pro has done its job of introducing Vision OS as a platform. Now we wait for the hardware side to catch up.

 

[Dirk Pieters]

Pretty sure I'm the only person in the world that still uses it at any level. It pretty much replaced my desktop monitor and I can work in bed with a giant virtual screen. Laziness leads to real innovation.

I wish I could try that. Sounds perfect.

 

[rwilliams]

I’ve heard that the experience is quite good. But for $3,500, people have to be given a “why”, and it seems like Vision Pro never gave them one. Few people can afford to spend that kind of money on hypothetical use cases. Hopefully the technology shows up in other products down the road.

 

[goonie4life9]

This is unpossible, for Apple has decreed that the era of spatial computing is here! Therefore, according to the rules, the AVP was never designed to be a mass-market product; the AVP was an opportunity for early adopters to try tomorrow’s technology, today. Fortunately, Apple has discovered the secret of spatial computing. You can rest assured this is a core part of the strongest pipeline ever. Stay tuned!

But seriously, this looks to be another case of the PR apartment dictating when a product should be released. It’s clear that this technology is pretty cool and that we aren’t quite ready for adoption due to usability considerations.

 

[joshwithachance]

Price it at $1999 or less and watch them FLY off the shelves…

 

[Rodney Williams]

I felt like the Vision Pro was priced way too high to begin with and just didn't appeal to me to even try it. Just doesn't spark my interest enough to want to purchase it let alone to even try it. Just didn't.

 

[cdsapplefan]

RIP 🪦 Vision Pro 🥽 🎮

 

[abowlby]

Who's smoking on that "told you so" pack with me right now?

 

[abdullamac77]

Apple has all but given up on the Vision Pro after the M5 model failed to revitalize interest in the device, MacRumors has learned. Apple updated the Vision Pro with a faster M5 chip and a more comfortable band in October 2025, but there were no other hardware changes, and consumers still weren't interested.

The Vision Pro has been criticized for its high price tag and its uncomfortable weight. The device is over 1.3 pounds, and even with the more comfortable Dual Knit Band that Apple added to redistribute weight, it continues to be hard to wear for long periods of time. The M5 chip added a 120Hz refresh rate, 10 percent more rendered pixels, and around 30 additional minutes of battery life, but the price tag stayed at $3,499, and it ended up not selling well.

The Vision Pro has been unpopular since it first launched, and Apple only sold around 600,000 units in total. Insider sources told MacRumors that Apple has received an unusually high percentage of returns, far exceeding any other modern Apple product.

Apple has apparently stopped work on the Vision Pro and the Vision Pro team has been redistributed to other teams within Apple. Some former Vision Pro team members are working on Siri, which is not a surprise as Vision Pro chief Mike Rockwell has been leading the Siri team since March 2025.

There have been mixed rumors about a new Vision Pro over the last couple of years, with Apple rumored to be working on a lighter-weight Vision Air that's much cheaper, but the project was tabled last year. If Apple finds a way to create a much cheaper, more comfortable VR headset in the future, the Vision Pro line could be revived, but right now, the company has no plans to launch a new model. Apple has not discontinued the Vision Pro and is continuing to sell the M5 model.

Instead of continuing to experiment with virtual reality, Apple is working on smart glasses that will eventually incorporate augmented reality capabilities, but the first version will be similar to the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses with AI and no integrated display.

Apple has not been able to use the technology developed for the Vision Pro in its smart glasses because that tech draws too much power for a smaller, lighter device.

Article Link: Apple Has Given Up on the Vision Pro After M5 Refresh Flop

If only it was launched in all markets globally. I would've bought it (in fact would have bought 3 for my family), but unfortunately it's not officially available where I live.

 

[Rychiar]

AVP was a disaster from launch! It's a paper weight now.

I love mine and use it daily 🤷‍♂️

 

[Godspeed8230]

It is an unfinished product (hello separate battery pack) with a premium price tag. What’s worse, there isn’t really a compelling use case other than it being a super pricey yet super uncomfortable entertainment device.

 

[hieranonymous]

Unlike the Mac Pro it is still on sale... If they are selling it I wouldn't call it a flop like it's over for it. Maybe they will sell it like this another few years and make something better.

Apple continued to sell the Mac Pro for years and years without updating it, very much a dead-man-walking situation.

 

[Odan]

Not surprised... they should've gone with plastic, priced it no more than an iPhone and given it the same steam vr integration as the meta quest 3.

 

[f1vespeed]

They didn’t even try. So sad. So many solutions staring them in the face, and they’ve said no.

1. More comfortable
2. Cheaper
3. Real controller option that relieves eye strain
4. First party apps that demonstrate the potential and FUN of a VR device, like, idunno, an immersive weather app?

The Vision Pro should have been amazing, instead all it did was help me discover PSVR2 and Gran Turismo 7.

 

[jarman92]

They may have stopped working on it (for now) but the idea that anyone at Apple thought a minor spec bump would change anything is very silly 🙄

 

[Phineasgage1848]

Something doesn't feel right in this reporting and perhaps MR got some mixed information. Ternus and Joz were literally just talking about Vision Pro to Tom's Guide on YouTube and how spatial computing is clearly the future and Vision Pro was "pulled from the future to today" and "popular in medical and enterprise environments." Maybe development on the Vision Pro itself is stalled but Vision glasses etc seem inevitable.

 

[cdsapplefan]

I felt like the Vision Pro was priced way too high to begin with and just didn't appeal to me to even try it. Just doesn't spark my interest enough to want to purchase it let alone to even try it. Just didn't.

I tested at the Apple 🍎 Store and it blew my mind and was wowed at the immersive experience. Felt like a immersive IMAX while wearing shades 😎🕶️but yeah the price tag 🏷️ is just too much 💰

I think the Apple 🍎 Glasses 👓 will do much better.

 

[JohnnyQuest]

I mean, can't say I'm surprised since I never bit the bullet and purchased. I think it's a very cool product with some insane tech, but the price, clunkiness, battery, etc. make it unjustifiable.

I will say demo-ing it in store was an insane experience and I wouldn't object to having one in my living room lol. They honestly should just slash the price on these and see if they sell.

 

[kemal]

And apple will be stuck keeping the OS updated for five years.

 

[macdisciple]

Steve Jobs would never have released it like this in the first place.

Apple Lisa
Apple Newton
Apple Pippin
Power Mac G4 Cube
Mobile Me

Were all disappointing or outright failures, right?

 

[Rychiar]

I’ve heard that the experience is quite good. But for $3,500, people have to be given a “why”, and it seems like Vision Pro never gave them one. Few people can afford to spend that kind of money on hypothetical use cases. Hopefully the technology shows up in other products down the road.

I have a $2000 tv and a $1500 sound system and I don't use either since I got an Apple Vision Pro. it definitely has a niche

 

[macdisciple]

Sometimes the ingenuity pays off down the road.

 

[innerproduct]

They have not even tried to sell this worldwide.
It such a weird product. Technically amazing and useful for some niche cases where real 3d actually matters like 3d design (almost all physical products) , architecture and physical planning of different kinds. Also it gives you access to massive amounts of information at the same time. Coupled with natural interfaces like voice ant interfacing via AI it becomes a powerhouse. But apple seems to be out of sync with itself. Go all in ffs! Make the killer apps! Sell it cheap enough for there to be a market! Etc

 

[abowlby]

wonder if I should buy one and never open it, maybe sell closer to retirement, LoL it just might work considering most folks don't even know someone that owns one

Things are collect-ibly rare or rarely collected. That is your gamble.

 

[rwilliams]

Sometimes the ingenuity pays off down the road.

Yeah, I have no doubt that we’ll see different parts of this in future Apple devices