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

[adamlbiscuit]

Let's face it, a lot of the comments here celebrating and clinking their glasses saying 'told you so' never had any intention of buying the device in the first place. But anecdotally, the people I've seen who did actually invest in one seem to rather like it.

I'm not saying you have to like or see the point in the Vision Pro, but some of the comments here come across as though they've been chomping at the bit to unleash some deep-seated hatred for the device they never wanted anyway.

 

[jukeboxaddict]

in some ways it's a drag because there really is nothing that comes remotely close to the Vision Pro for private entertainment.

the best video glasses from Xreal and Viture are still far behind on immersion, resolution, and overall experience. it's a shame we'll never get the true VP sequel that's lighter and more comfortable.

and now we're gonna be stuck in a period of several years where we're just getting "smart" glasses with a camera and Siri? can't say I'm hyped.

I do hope Apple supports the device for a good long while considering how much the small number of buyers paid.

 

[Rychiar]

this is not a mass market consumer product. at $3500 nothing is... Those of us who love technology and chose to spend on it love this thing. it's the ultimate entertainment device... the iPod of movies. I can't stand watching content on anything else anymore. I'm sure apple sold exactly what they expected to sell of such a device and it gets the OS out there while the tech becomes more affordable to make something mass market... and again glasses can't even be compared to something like this.

 

[jbc25]

There really needs to be a documentary, podcast, novel, whatever, about this whole project and how it came to be and why. I get that it's easy to make statements like this in hindsight, but I just do not understand how anyone at Apple thought this could be a successful product. I gave them the benefit of the doubt for a while assuming that they knew something I didn't, but it's not looking good.

 

[RedWeasel]

I think I made the same comment already once, but I have to repeat myself.

Thank god Apple redesigned all their operating systems with Liquid Glass, the design language inspired by visionOS. So even if the Vision Pro goes away, at least we now have transparency all over the place in macOS as well.

 

[bunce66]

They never even attempted to sell one costing half the price before giving up. Surely, a decent product can be made at that price point.

 

[Dahveed 1954]

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

Because you are a psychic and have a direct line to dead Steve!

NOT!

 

[jukeboxaddict]

They never even attempted to sell one costing half the price before giving up. Surely, a decent product can be made at that price point.

the Galaxy XR is around half the price and has similar-quality displays, but everything else about it is substantially worse.

 

[Rumorfan1966]

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

I'm betting that 95% of people commenting on AVP have never owned one. I use it about 30 minutes a day before bedtime and it's great! The M5 model is snappier and does 8K video using the you tube app. I hope they don't drop support. Love the immersive video from apple and I hope that they keep this coming.

 

[jonnyb098]

I don’t know what they were thinking… investing so much money into this.

They wasted BILLIONS on the car stuff

 

[jbc25]

We all knew it was DOA as soon as they announced the price.

If it were solving actual problems, or at the very least were more fashionable, I don't think the price would have been a problem honestly. They just outright failed on making a compelling product.

 

[Dirk Pieters]

It could have been lighter, simpler and cheaper if it wasn’t so over-engineered with that front screen reflecting eyes etc.

That front screen was a massively over-engineered gimmick with zero added value.

 

[TVreporter]

Aside from the hefty price tag, did they really promote it? Don’t recall any ads for it, and if they exist, clearly not memorable.

The price and the weight sunk it - the tech is amazing and I’m sure they’ll take it and keep working on the rumoured glasses or something else.

 

[Dahveed 1954]

Sadly, it's not really a consumer product. But it is making headway as a medical device, a niche market. Just earlier this week, there was a tech article about an ophthalmologist using it to successfully complete a few 100 cataract surgeries. It has been used in numerous other ORs as well.

 

[Nibo10]

Refresh is a stretch. They didn’t address any of the complaints/issues, mainly the weight and its price.

 

[Dirk Pieters]

Sadly, it's not really a consumer product. But it is making headway as a medical device, a niche market. Just earlier this week, there was a tech article about an ophthalmologist using it to successfully complete a few 100 cataract surgeries. It has been used in numerous other ORs as well.

Cataract surgeries have been done successfully for decades.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Let me know when the liquidation sale is.

 

[Simmias]

Nothing about this story is remotely credible. No named sources. The ridiculous claim that Apple was expecting the M5 update to revive consumer interest in a $3500 device that THEY NEVER EXPECTED TO BE MASS MARKET. Apple continues to make huge investments in immersive 3D content. And John Ternus said this LAST WEEK:

I think we’re still very much in the early innings of spatial computing. We are super excited about it. The Vision Pro is an extraordinary product. As Joz said, it’s like we reached into the future and pulled it into the present. And people are continuing to find exciting new use cases for it. There’s a lot of compelling stuff in enterprise, in medicine, in other things, and that’s going to continue to grow. It’s fun, we’re at the beginning of the journey.

Apple Vision Pro is alive and well. It was and always will be an early adopter product that showcases their vision for the future of spatial computing. And they are still aggressively pursuing that vision based on PUBLIC REMARKS and HIGHLY VISIBLE investments. And yet, we continue to have this clickbait narrative about Apple's latest product category being a flop and them allegedly changing product strategy every 2 weeks. Give me a break.

 

[Radeon85]

I said before it launched that it would be a complete flop, especially at that ridiculous price, and so it has been. Tech-wise, it's great, design is fine, price is just obscene, and that's its biggest issue. If Apple wants to enter the VR market and sell loads, then it has to be priced under 1K.

 

[Alexander_im]

What a shame. I'm in minority here as AVP normally gets an unusual amount of hate, but man.. I've been using Vision Pro for the last 5 months and, honestly, it's my favorite Apple product ever. It may have its famous flaws, but I'm willing to live with them as long as it provides the same "awe" experience I felt only twice: using the iPhone for the first time and Vision Pro.

 

[I7guy]

Imagine selling only 600k units at $3,500 a pop and having it called a failure?

 

[Nicky G]

Extremely expensive, limited utility, and physically uncomfortable to use.

Only Tim Cook was naive enough to bring this product to market, thinking it might succeed. It was a Newton-level fail, at best.

Very glad an actual product guy is going to be running Apple again before long.

 

[G3Blue]

My local Apple Store was busy as always the other evening. There was a dedicated Vision Pro area with seating and demo models setup ready to be used - there was not a single person in this area, staff included.

 

[Kardinal1911]

I definitely don’t believe this… it makes no sense… Apple knew this was a niche product

 

[Alexander_im]

Nothing about this story is remotely credible. No named sources. The ridiculous claim that Apple was expecting the M5 update to revive consumer interest in a $3500 device that THEY NEVER EXPECTED TO BE MASS MARKET. Apple continues to make huge investments in immersive 3D content. And John Ternus said this LAST WEEK:

Apple Vision Pro is alive and well. It was and always will be an early adopter product that showcases their vision for the future of spatial computing. And they are still aggressively pursuing that vision based on PUBLIC REMARKS and HIGHLY VISIBLE investments. And yet, we continue to have this clickbait narrative about Apple's latest product category being a flop and them allegedly changing product strategy every 2 weeks. Give me a break.

I hope it's true. Not only because I'm enjoying mine, but also because I firmly believe this experience is the future