Video: Testing the New M5 Apple Vision Pro

[MacRumors]

Apple recently refreshed the Apple Vision Pro, adding a new M5 chip for improved performance. There aren't design changes, but Apple did introduce a new Dual Knit Band that's supposed to be more comfortable. MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera picked up one of the new Vision Pro headsets to see how it compares to the prior-generation M2 versions.

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Software and hardware are the same if you've been using visionOS 26, but with the M5 chip, performance is noticeably improved. Creating a Persona, generating spatial photos, and using multiple apps at once are all tasks that are quicker.

Apple didn't update the micro-OLED displays in the Vision Pro, but the M5 is able to render 10 percent more pixels and it supports a 120Hz refresh rate, so things look smoother than before. Mac Virtual Display, where the Vision Pro works as a screen for your Mac, looks like two sharp 5K displays side-by-side. Personalized Spatial Audio support adds more accurate directionality for more immersive audio.

To improve the wearing experience, the Vision Pro ships with a Dual Knit Band that replaces the prior Solo Knit Band and Dual Loop that came with the M2 model. The Dual Knit Band has a strap that goes over the top of the head and one at the back of the head, which allows for better weight distribution. The back band has weights inside for counterbalance, and it does make a difference in how it feels.

The top and bottom straps can be adjusted using an updated Fit Dial, so each Vision Pro wearer can get an ideal fit. The Dual Knit Band isn't a miracle fix, so while it does make the Vision Pro a little more comfortable to wear, it's still a heavy headset. The M5 Vision Pro continues to be priced at $3,499, and it can be purchased from Apple. M2 Vision Pro owners can buy the Dual Knit Band standalone for $99.

Article Link: Video: Testing the New M5 Apple Vision Pro

 

[that be me]

I wouldn't mind trying this out in the store, but I still don't think I'd buy one.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

I wouldn't mind trying this out in the store, but I still don't think I'd buy one.

If nothing else, it’s an amazing tech demo. Apple’s immersive video has to be seen to be believed. It’s far beyond a 3D movie.

 

[usersince86]

Though I'll probably never own one, I'm grateful for the Vision Pro, knowing that today’s "niche" innovations often shape the future of widely adopted products.

 

[Apple-achian]

Apple paying the price of being the innovator as usual.

 

[Rychiar]

I'm so torn on whether to upgrade. would be a pretty solid tax write off for the year

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I wouldn't mind trying this out in the store, but I still don't think I'd buy one.

Are they still demoing in the stores? My local store took down the display about six months after the first model released and never brought it back out.

 

[Hogswarts]

Are they still demoing in the stores? My local store took down the display about six months after the first model released and never brought it back out.

I've not seen an Apple Store without the AVP on display to demo. (3 out of 3 stores)

 

[mozumder]

If nothing else, it’s an amazing tech demo. Apple’s immersive video has to be seen to be believed. It’s far beyond a 3D movie.

It reminds me of the VR headsets from Strange Days. In fact it so mimics the use model from it that I'm sure the Vision Pro team got some inspiration from that film.

I actually like recording videos of my baby family members on and rewatching them through that. Of course they're completely unusable to record in a social situation due to the awkwardness, which is completely opposite of the Strange Days headsets, which records and plays videos through devices hidden in your hair.

 

[vantelimus]

I upgraded from M2 to M5. This is a very fair review. I can't disagree with any of the things the reviewer said. His final point was important–most people will find it not worth the price. For me, if it weren't for the Mac Virtual Display, this would be a device I would use once or twice a week to consume immersive video or look at 3D-rendered old photos. If that were the only use, $3500 is too steep. However, as the superior display for my Macs, the ability to isolate myself in an environment while I work, and the freedom to take that experience into any room or on the road, it is worth the price. As I've said in other postings, I won't go back to regular desktop displays unless forced.

On some other things the review covered...

I agree that everything just works a bit smoother. With the M2, I would get an occasional stutter or video tear when using a lot of apps and moving my Mac Virtual Display around. It wasn't a big problem, but it isn't happening now.

I am one of those people who will wear the headset for hours at a time, including all day. I didn't have a problem with the old strap, so I was surprised to find that the new strap does noticeably improve the experience by allowing you to take some of the weight off the front of your face. The dial control is slick.

The persona is better. Unfortunately it accurately captures the fact that I look a year older. The VisionOS 1.0 on the M2 with less detail was better for my ego. I haven't had a chance yet to use FaceTime with it. I'm looking forward to that.

 

[lazyrighteye]

The platform offers some super cool potential. I just need that price point to drop. 😜

 

[CalMin]

However, as the superior display for my Macs, the ability to isolate myself in an environment while I work, and the freedom to take that experience into any room or on the road, it is worth the price. As I've said in other postings, I won't go back to regular desktop displays unless forced.

As the owner of a 2x Studio Display setup, your post intrigues me. Mainly because when I travel, I find that working from a laptop and a travel monitor frustrating. I'm basically unable to be as productive without a ton of screen real estate.

Do you experience any fatigue at all? I have a Quest 3 and my longest session (gaming) is like 45 mins, may be an hour. After that I want the thing off my face and head. I was thinking that AVP with its extra bulk would be even less tolerable. You're honestly able to wear this thing for hours without getting tired of it?

I can afford it - that's not the issue. But I also don't spend money on things that might be a novelty and then sit idle.

 

[Piggie]

As always it's Games that can always east as much power as you can throw at it, computing wise.
I'm interested to see what advances in games devs are able to do that were/are not possible due to framerates or detail on the M2 version.

 

[re-cycle]

I upgraded from M2 to M5. This is a very fair review. I can't disagree with any of the things the reviewer said. His final point was important–most people will find it not worth the price. For me, if it weren't for the Mac Virtual Display, this would be a device I would use once or twice a week to consume immersive video or look at 3D-rendered old photos. If that were the only use, $3500 is too steep. However, as the superior display for my Macs, the ability to isolate myself in an environment while I work, and the freedom to take that experience into any room or on the road, it is worth the price. As I've said in other postings, I won't go back to regular desktop displays unless forced.

On some other things the review covered...

I agree that everything just works a bit smoother. With the M2, I would get an occasional stutter or video tear when using a lot of apps and moving my Mac Virtual Display around. It wasn't a big problem, but it isn't happening now.

I am one of those people who will wear the headset for hours at a time, including all day. I didn't have a problem with the old strap, so I was surprised to find that the new strap does noticeably improve the experience by allowing you to take some of the weight off the front of your face. The dial control is slick.

The persona is better. Unfortunately it accurately captures the fact that I look a year older. The VisionOS 1.0 on the M2 with less detail was better for my ego. I haven't had a chance yet to use FaceTime with it. I'm looking forward to that.

Can you comment on the Mac Virtual Display - is the apparent resolution improved? MVD is the one thing I really like to use my original Vision Pro for but I do find small text harder to read than a Studio Display and I'm wondering if they've improved the rendering since there are mixed reviews out there about this aspect of the new M5 Vision Pro.

 

[RTH32]

I have both and agree that the M5 is a relatively subtle improvement over the M2 Vision Pro. However, with engineering intensive apps, such as the immersive finite element visualization app Isn't That Spatial!, the M5 is substantially faster when showing models with millions of nodes and elements. It's a nice improvement.

 

[TechnoMonk]

I might try for this, was hoping for cheaper and slightly lighter version. It’s like carrying high res displays when I am travelling with my MBP.

Mac Virtual Display, where the Vision Pro works as a screen for your Mac, looks like two sharp 5K displays side-by-side.

 

[vantelimus]

As the owner of a 2x Studio Display setup, your post intrigues me. Mainly because when I travel, I find that working from a laptop and a travel monitor frustrating. I'm basically unable to be as productive without a ton of screen real estate.

Do you experience any fatigue at all? I have a Quest 3 and my longest session (gaming) is like 45 mins, may be an hour. After that I want the thing off my face and head. I was thinking that AVP with its extra bulk would be even less tolerable. You're honestly able to wear this thing for hours without getting tired of it?

I can afford it - that's not the issue. But I also don't spend money on things that might be a novelty and then sit idle.

I am apparently one of the lucky people who haven't minded the weight of the headset. You'll have to check it out yourself to see if it will be a problem for you. The double strap should make it wearable for longer periods for a lot of people.

I've not experienced any eye strain or visual fatigue using it. If you were to experience anything like that, I think treating it the way you would normally using a monitor would suffice. Specifically, take breaks and vary your focal distance occasionally. I use dark environments. If I feel the need to rest my eyes, I move the virtual display window out of the way and look off into the distance (today it is at Mt. Hood).

The easiest way to answer some of these question is to do the demo at an Apple Store if you have one convenient. The alternative (and probably better idea since you can afford it) is to buy one. Try it out in a real life environment and be mindful of the 14-day return period if it doesn't seem to be working out for you.

 

[TechnoMonk]

I am apparently one of the lucky people who haven't minded the weight of the headset. You'll have to check it out yourself to see if it will be a problem for you. The double strap should make it wearable for longer periods for a lot of people.

I've not experienced any eye strain or visual fatigue using it. If you were to experience anything like that, I think treating it the way you would normally using a monitor would suffice. Specifically, take breaks and vary your focal distance occasionally. I use dark environments. If I feel the need to rest my eyes, I move the virtual display window out of the way and look off into the distance (today it is at Mt. Hood).

The easiest way to answer some of these question is to do the demo at an Apple Store if you have one convenient. The alternative (and probably better idea since you can afford it) is to buy one. Try it out in a real life environment and be mindful of the 14-day return period if it doesn't seem to be working out for you.

Good to know you like the screens and weight isn’t an issue for you. High quality screens when travelling is my biggest problem and probably biggest reason why I am considering AVP.

 

[vantelimus]

Can you comment on the Mac Virtual Display - is the apparent resolution improved? MVD is the one thing I really like to use my original Vision Pro for but I do find small text harder to read than a Studio Display and I'm wondering if they've improved the rendering since there are mixed reviews out there about this aspect of the new M5 Vision Pro.

The text rendering does look sharper to me, but I never had a problem with the M2. The Caveat here is that I prefer the wide to the ultra wide, though I use both. I also use the default resolution, which means 3360x1440 on the wide setting instead of 6720x2880. The higher setting does make the small text too small for the distance I like to keep the window.

 

[klasma]

I wouldn't mind trying this out in the store, but I still don't think I'd buy one.

Yep, these stores are pretty expensive.

 

[Rychiar]

I am apparently one of the lucky people who haven't minded the weight of the headset. You'll have to check it out yourself to see if it will be a problem for you. The double strap should make it wearable for longer periods for a lot of people.

I've not experienced any eye strain or visual fatigue using it. If you were to experience anything like that, I think treating it the way you would normally using a monitor would suffice. Specifically, take breaks and vary your focal distance occasionally. I use dark environments. If I feel the need to rest my eyes, I move the virtual display window out of the way and look off into the distance (today it is at Mt. Hood).

The easiest way to answer some of these question is to do the demo at an Apple Store if you have one convenient. The alternative (and probably better idea since you can afford it) is to buy one. Try it out in a real life environment and be mindful of the 14-day return period if it doesn't seem to be working out for you.

I too have never minded the weight at least since the annapro 2 came out. I can wear it forever In that.. I don't get eyestrain at all watching movies or gaming but I have to admit using it as a computer monitor for long can
be rough. I'm used to my 5k Studio Displays being so easy on the eyes and working for 10+ hours at once.. I could never do that on a vision. maybe 2-3 hours but beyond that your eyes are just compensating for visual aberrations too much.. its not Retina, there's glare, the edges of the lenses are soft and when running your eyes back and forth there is blur. it's just not as perfect as a real display in that regard when lookin at tiny web page text. Def the best thing if its type but were not quite there yet

 

[vantelimus]

As a stupid aside... I noticed the reviewer did the one thing that everyone testing out their persona for the first time does: He stuck out his tongue. It's probably the first thing I do every time also. LOL

 

[turbineseaplane]

Is anyone (on dev side I mean) rumored to be working on anything with the Sony VR controllers in mind, especially as Apple is selling them and sort of "blessing" that usage now?

 

[HDFan]

You're honestly able to wear this thing for hours without getting tired of it?

With the new dual strap I can wear it indefinitely. It floats on my face without very little pressure.

Can you comment on the Mac Virtual Display - is the apparent resolution improved? MVD is the one thing I really like to use my original Vision Pro for but I do find small text harder to read than a Studio Display

Never had any problems with the old VP MVD in wide mode nor the new one. Typing this using the M5 virtual display. I just zoom the display as necessary if there are any issues with text size.

 

[Smooley]

As the owner of a 2x Studio Display setup, your post intrigues me. Mainly because when I travel, I find that working from a laptop and a travel monitor frustrating. I'm basically unable to be as productive without a ton of screen real estate.

Do you experience any fatigue at all? I have a Quest 3 and my longest session (gaming) is like 45 mins, may be an hour. After that I want the thing off my face and head. I was thinking that AVP with its extra bulk would be even less tolerable. You're honestly able to wear this thing for hours without getting tired of it?

I can afford it - that's not the issue. But I also don't spend money on things that might be a novelty and then sit idle.

It is super important to take the time to find the right light seal, strap combo etc... I bought a used M2 and only have the single strap band and not even a fitted light seal yet and I can wear it for a movie at a time. I have ordered the dual band and will go get properly fit light seal once it comes in and I have high hopes that I will be able to wear it for most of a work day. You get a 14 day return window to really try and nail down the comfort and see if it will work for you.