Could Vision Pro's M2 replace by M3 when launch next year?

[Rychiar]

It’s never made any sense to release this thing with M2 when the M3 will be out by then, they’re asking a premium price and the m3 is a much more power efficient chip which a device like this needs. If they still release this with m2 next spring its just plain stupid…but apple makes a lot of stupid decisions…

 

[Piggie]

Given the Vison Pro hardware must have been locked in long before the first presentation to the public, I would guess the next M3 version is well under development right now.
This 1st version is just more of a test/trial device where Apple throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.

If I'm honest here is my thoughts:

V1 = throw everything into it, and see what the devs do with it, and gather feedback for what to focus on in V3
V2 = Not enough time to add things learned from the V1 launch so it's more of a "we'll do things we wanted to, but did not have time to get into V1 and things we learned from the V1 process.
V3 = We now have feedback from Users and can see what Devs did/did not use/like/want and now have time to create a product built based on what worked/did not.
V4 = Polish the hell out of V3 and now it's pretty locked in for some time as we now know what to make and how best to make it.

 

[dante_mr]

I wonder if they're saving the M3 for a Vision Pro (2nd gen).

This way they can have a second generation device "ready" for release in 2025 or 2026 with the main upgrade in processing speed and hopefully battery life as the main selling points. Maybe improvements elsewhere if they can pull it off.

It could be similar to the iPad Pro releases. IIRC the iPad Pros get a new generation every 18 months or so, and the last couple of generations had very iterative upgrades. I think the last one just went from M1 -> M2 and added the Pencil hover feature.

But I think that was it. Maybe the Vision Pro (2nd gen) will similarly see a small upgrade to the M3 and not much else.

 

[4nNtt]

The M3 GPU will probably be a big upgrade, so maybe the dev kits are running M2 with a switch to M3 for production. It would make sense so Apple could make the biggest splash it can with the new headset. New GPU, new shader design, less hardware variations to worry about later. That said, sometimes these are locked down way in advance for a new product so early adopters get the short end of the stick and early deprecation.

 

[darktux]

IMHO Apple will release it with the M2. But at launch in EU in 2025 they might directly jump to the second gen and present a version with the M3 at a higher price or lower the M2 version price. Living in the EU I will definitely not buy the first version, considering how old the technology will already be in 2025.

 

[dante_mr]

IMHO Apple will release it with the M2. But at launch in EU in 2025 they might directly jump to the second gen and present a version with the M3 at a higher price or lower the M2 version price. Living in the EU I will definitely not buy the first version, considering how old the technology will already be in 2025.

As someone who is also international, I worry the M2 will be too outdated by the time it comes to my country too.

The A17 Pro appears to have caught up in some ways to the M1. Who knows how the A18 will look like and by then the Vision Pro would have launched internationally. The M2 would be on an older node, and the Vision is the type of product that would make great use of the latest and greatest in Apple Silicon.

I'm worried this will be the iPad 3/4 fiasco all over again (for anyone out of the loop, the iPad 4 was announced only 7 months after the iPad 3). But I really want the Vision asap

 

[Macalicious2011]

As someone who is also international, I worry the M2 will be too outdated by the time it comes to my country too.

The A17 Pro appears to have caught up in some ways to the M1. Who knows how the A18 will look like and by then the Vision Pro would have launched internationally. The M2 would be on an older node, and the Vision is the type of product that would make great use of the latest and greatest in Apple Silicon.

I'm worried this will be the iPad 3/4 fiasco all over again (for anyone out of the loop, the iPad 4 was announced only 7 months after the iPad 3). But I really want the Vision asap

Lol
Thanks for reminding me. I "upgraded" from the ipad 2 to ipad 3. Worst apple product that I owned for the shortest amount of time:
-Underpowered for driving a retina display
-Slow to charge
-Heavy

I sold it after 9 months.

You are right about the Vision Pro. Launching in early 2024 just six months before A18 Pro and M3 would make me uneasy about spending $3,500 on a non-upgradable early adopter product.

Unlike the A17 Pro, the M2 doesn't even have hardware accelerated Ray tracing cores.

 

[dante_mr]

You are right about the Vision Pro. Launching in early 2024 just six months before A18 Pro and M3 would make me uneasy about spending $3,500 on a non-upgradable early adopter product.

Unlike the A17 Pro, the M2 doesn't even have hardware accelerated Ray tracing cores.

Exactly! The M2 already feels outdated compared to the iPhone (I know it's not an apples to apples comparison but still). Especially the hardware accelerated raytracing because that's something I imagine a AR or VR headset would make great use of.

If I were in the US I'd absolutely buy it at launch even with the M2, but guessing it'll launch here much later makes me way more hesitant.

But at $3500, and rumors of low volume sales I wonder if Apple will wait a while before launching a successor?

I'm hoping leakers will have insider info on a second gen Vision by the time it launches internationally 😞

 

[Macalicious2011]

Especially the hardware accelerated raytracing because that's something I imagine a AR or VR headset would make great use of.

If you want to do more thsn facetime, watch disney plus and play candy crush, then the Vision will need a much graphical muscle as possible.

Gaming is on Apple's agenda again and I expect the M3 to graphically be a big step up on the M2.

Developers only recently got access to the SDK. Gen 2 will likely be influenced by how people use the product and developer feedback.

Likewise, feedback on the weight, size of the headset and battery tethering will inform hardware evolution.

Hopefully I can demo it in the UK somewhere in the first half 2024.

 

[JustMadeThisNameUp]

Guys, I feel odd about Apple using M2 chip with Vision Pro which is supposedly shipping early next year. Cause we all know M3 is coming soon

They're having to produce their new 3nm chipset with the new iPhone 15 Pros. That's in addition to the eventual M3 Macs. Apple is wanting to make sure everyone has a great experience on the Vision Pro and that involves having developers create based on the chips they have now (the M2). The synergy would be interuppted if they put the M3 chip into the Apple Vision Pro.

 

[JPack]

The biggest advantage of A17 Pro is hardware ray tracing for gaming. The CPU power increase is negligible.

Who's gaming on Vision Pro? Basically nobody now - maybe 5 years later. I fully understand why Apple decided to use M2 and push this headset out ASAP rather than delay for M3.

Vision Pro is clearly designed for media consumption and productivity. Gaming doesn't have a wide enough audience for Apple to focus on, not for this first gen device.

 

[Macalicious2011]

The biggest advantage of A17 Pro is hardware ray tracing for gaming.

Ray tracing won’t be worth bothering with. It will likely require a 30-50% frame rate drop and will excessively run your battery down.

 

[TBoneMac]

Guys, I feel odd about Apple using M2 chip with Vision Pro which is supposedly shipping early next year. Cause we all know M3 is coming soon (well, right after MBA 15 launch ). My best guess would be end of the year when Apple would introduce M3 with iMac, following by iPad Pro (14-inch?) next year. By the time next year, shipping Vision Pro with M2 sounds ridiculous especially with staring price of $3,499 😅...

So, is it possible Apple going to change M2 to M3? There are many reasons why Apple announced Vision Pro with M2 in June; release timings and afraid of jeopardizing M2 lineup. And most important reason of switching is because M3 provides much better graphics performance which is crucial of supporting 23M pixels and high refresh rate. Macbook Pro 16-inch has 7.7M pixels which Apple requires at least M2 Pro to drive it. Based on my estimate, M3 going to provide similar Metal performance of M1 Pro. So what do you guys think? I made a poll for your input, see you next year

I don’t think M3 will come next year until very late where AVP will be released in springtime (just guessing)

 

[KPOM]

They're having to produce their new 3nm chipset with the new iPhone 15 Pros. That's in addition to the eventual M3 Macs. Apple is wanting to make sure everyone has a great experience on the Vision Pro and that involves having developers create based on the chips they have now (the M2). The synergy would be interuppted if they put the M3 chip into the Apple Vision Pro.

But the M3 will run everything the M2 does at least as well. It could be that yield issues force Apple to use the M2 for the Vision Pro but I could also see a quiet upgrade to the M3.

 

[Macalicious2011]

But the M3 will run everything the M2 does at least as well. It could be that yield issues force Apple to use the M2 for the Vision Pro but I could also see a quiet upgrade to the M3.

It's a first gen product and will likely be noticeably obsolete after 1-2 years regardless of SoC.

 

[Le0M]

But at launch in EU in 2025 they might ....

How do you even know in Europe it'll be available in 2025, and not 2024, or 2026? To my knowledge, there are no statements about this, nor rumors.

 

[Le0M]

Ray tracing won’t be worth bothering with. It will likely require a 30-50% frame rate drop and will excessively run your battery down.

I doubt a gamer (or most people, for the matter) will use AVP with the battery. I expect most people to use it at home and/or at work, and not while traveling/commuting.

 

[Lioness~]

Apple have to make it right - people need to breath 😉

 

[Kierkegaarden]

View attachment 2290328

Apple have to make it right - people need to breath 😉

What in the world is that?

 

[darktux]

How do you even know in Europe it'll be available in 2025, and not 2024, or 2026? To my knowledge, there are no statements about this, nor rumors.

It’s just based on rumours stating a UK and Canada release in late 2024. It could also happen that it will never reach the EU.

 

[ElCidRo]

They just announced M3... If their 14 inch $1499 is getting the M3, I don't see how they are going to sell the $3,500 Vision Pro with the M2.
I will wait for VP2 if they actually go ahead with the M2. They need all the performance and efficiency they can get. It would be stupid to release it with an already outdated CPU & GPU.

 

[fonzy91]

I’m really excited for the Vision Pro, but given the high price tag, I would be really upset to get such a futuristic device with a chip that feels outdated.

I was really hoping the event yesterday would include a quick mention about the Vision Pro and how they’re adding the M3 to it for even better visual performance and battery life. Maybe whenever they give us more details about the actual launch? 🤞

Does anyone know if that’s ever happened historically? Like Apple updating specs before the release of a product?

 

[Kierkegaarden]

I’m really excited for the Vision Pro, but given the high price tag, I would be really upset to get such a futuristic device with a chip that feels outdated.

I was really hoping the event yesterday would include a quick mention about the Vision Pro and how they’re adding the M3 to it for even better visual performance and battery life. Maybe whenever they give us more details about the actual launch? 🤞

Does anyone know if that’s ever happened historically? Like Apple updating specs before the release of a product?

Any mention of Vision Pro would have been out of place. I believe the next event will be focused on the device probably in the March/April timeframe.

There is no way Apple would have announced the device having an M3 in June when the M3 was just announced yesterday — so my feeling all along has been that the M2 in Vision Pro was a placeholder and they intended to ship with M3 all along. Maybe the device will have different tiers of base M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max? That would be interesting.

 

[JPack]

Any mention of Vision Pro would have been out of place. I believe the next event will be focused on the device probably in the March/April timeframe.

There is no way Apple would have announced the device having an M3 in June when the M3 was just announced yesterday — so my feeling all along has been that the M2 in Vision Pro was a placeholder and they intended to ship with M3 all along. Maybe the device will have different tiers of base M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max? That would be interesting.

If M2 were a placeholder, Apple would have used a placeholder name like "Future Apple Silicon." They would have done that on day one.

The fact that Apple locked in M2, stated the battery life, and invited developers to test their code on M2, tells you it's gonna be M2.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

If M2 were a placeholder, Apple would have used a placeholder name like "Future Apple Silicon." They would have done that on day one.

The fact that Apple locked in M2, stated the battery life, and invited developers to test their code on M2, tells you it's gonna be M2.

I don’t agree. Using “future Apple Silicon” would have sent the wrong message. And testing code on M2 would make no difference since anything made for M2 will work for M3. We will find out soon enough.