Apple Vision Pro Featuring M5 Chip May Not Release Until 2026: Gurman

Apple’s rumoured refresh of its Vision Pro headset, paired with an improved M5 chip, may not be released until 2026, according to a new report.

In the latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman notes that a second-generation Vision Pro headset is being developed currently. Rather than a headset with many nominal improvements, the next wearable from Apple will focus more on internal changes. The primary one is the use of the unannounced M5 chipset.

In the newsletter, Gurman goes on to state that while early reports claimed Apple would release the new Vision Pro sometime in 2025, the launch window seems to have slipped “between the fall of 2025 and spring of 2026.” This comes days after Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that Apple’s M5-powered Vision Pro would arrive in 2025.

In both cases, it’s believed that the second-generation Vision Pro will move away from the M2 processor that’s already in use. This is in conjunction with the R1 chipset made for the Vision Pro. By the time the M5 chip is available and the new headset makes its way to the market, the M2 chip will already be three or four years old.

The latest from Gurman continues to claim that Apple has signed up its employees to evaluate the smart glasses market. Garnering consumer interest and feedback, Apple employees are looking at relative devices such as Meta Ray-Bans and Snapchat Spectacles. In both cases, users can record videos, answer calls hands-free, listen to music, and interact with AI functions. Apple has been reported to be “seriously considering” a pair of smart glasses. This device may be connected to an iPhone and use AirPods in some tangential way.