The best beta is still beta
By | Published: 2025-11-03 13:00:00 | Source: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Everything new in the revamped Apple Vision Pro can fit into one sentence: it has a faster, more efficient M5 chip, it comes with a more comfortable Dual Knit Band, its screen feels sharper and it’s a little faster. Beyond that, the Vision Pro is still a $3,500 development kit, and it’s really not intended for consumers.
However, the Vision Pro amazes me. It’s a bold shift from a company that has become increasingly risk-averse over the past decade. Now that we’ve gotten its first update, it’s clear that Apple isn’t ready to give up on the concept of spatial computing just yet. For the niche audience of mixed reality developers and hardcore Apple fanatics who haven’t already picked up the Vision Pro, the new model is more compelling than the original with the old M2 chip. If you already have one, you can just pick it up Double knit belt for $99 For a more comfortable fit.
- M5 chip is faster
- Excellent offers
- Hand and eye tracking works well
- Support for PS VR2 controllers
- beloved
- Limited immersive videos and apps
- Relatively heavy
What’s the point of the M5 Apple Vision Pro?
While the Vision Pro launched with a bang in 2023, it was released early last year with a 2022-era M2 chip. Now that we’re past three generations of Apple processors, it’s time to get an upgrade. With the M5 chip, Vision Pro is up to 50 percent faster at displaying your personal avatar and creating spatial scenes from photos, according to Apple. Both experiences were noticeably faster during testing, but they never felt too slow in the original Vision Pro.
As I mentioned above, the presence of new hardware is a sign that Apple hasn’t completely forgotten about the Vision Pro. It’s not nearly as immediately ignored as the original HomePod. Instead, this new model aims to fix some of the biggest annoyances that appeared in the first model. The double-knit strap alone makes the Vision Pro feel more comfortable, as it relies on a back and top strap to balance the device on your head. The original Solo Knit only had a back strap, which pinned the Vision Pro to your head and left much of its weight on your forehead and nose.
While the original Vision Pro also included a dual-loop strap in the box, which rarely appeared in marketing for the Vision Pro, likely because it made the device look more like a traditional VR headset. The new Dual Knit Band feels like an apology for Apple’s previous bands – it’s as if the company is admitting that it was more concerned with how the Vision Pro looked in ads, rather than opting for a more comfortable virtual headband.
In addition to making the headphone more easy to wear, the double-knit band is also brilliantly easy to adjust. Twisting the small tension knob adjusts the horizontal straps, and then you just have to pop that knob out to customize the straps overhead. This is a huge upgrade over most VR headsets, which typically rely on Velcro to tighten the straps over your head.
Apple Vision Pro M5 adjustment knob. (Devendra Hardwar for Engadget)
Aside from the dual strap, the Vision Pro features the exact same design as the original model, so I recommend reading my initial review for more hardware details. “In typical Apple fashion, the Vision Pro looks far more handsome than any VR headset I’ve seen,” I wrote last year. “That’s mostly down to materials: While the competition is made almost entirely of plastic boxes, Apple’s device is made of smooth glass, brushed metals, and designer fabrics.”
While the new Vision Pro uses the same micro OLED displays as before, the headset can deliver 10 percent more pixels thanks to the M5 chip. I couldn’t really see a difference when I switched between the two speakers, but that’s to be expected with such a small increase in accuracy. Most importantly, the M5 Vision Pro still has some of the most impressive displays I’ve ever seen. It can scale 4K video into massive 300-inch windows while maintaining a crisp appearance, and it’s easy to read text in the browser, or while working on a virtual Mac screen.
Mirror your MacBook onto the Apple Vision Pro M5 (Devendra Hardwar for Engadget)
The M5 chip also allows the Vision Pro to reach a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, instead of being limited to refresh rates between 90Hz and 100Hz. Again, I didn’t see much of a difference with the new model, but in theory, the higher refresh rate should allow for smoother performance while scrolling through windows and documents. This also means that the Vision Pro can run games at up to 120fps, which can be useful if you’re trying to game. Monitoring Via GeForce Now streaming.
In addition to being more powerful than the M2 chip, the M5 chip is also more efficient. I was able to use the new Vision Pro for more than two and a half hours while switching between videos, VisionOS apps, and Macbook clones. The same workflow usually drains the original model’s battery in about two hours.
Apple Vision Pro M5 (Devendra Hardwar for Engadget)
How has the Vision Pro ecosystem changed over the past year?
It’s not often that Apple builds an entirely new operating system with new input mechanisms, but that’s essentially what we got with VisionOS. Its interface hovers in front of you, like a 3D iPad home screen. Instead of a keyboard and mouse, you interact with them primarily using finger gestures and eye tracking. I found VisionOS to be surprisingly easy to use over the original Vision Pro — and navigating through the floating windows quickly made me feel like Tom Cruise in… Minority report -It has been improved over time.
For example, Apple has added Spatial Characters, which are virtual avatars that can float around your space during FaceTime calls with other Vision Pro users. This feature made the headset feel like a “telepresence dream” when I first tested it, and it’s only gotten better with VisionOS 26, which features more realistic spatial characters. During many group FaceTime calls, I felt like I was sitting next to people in the real world, even though I was just looking at faces, shoulders, and hands floating in the air. The sense of real presence was uncanny: spatial people could roam freely around your room, and with the click of a button, you could also collaborate together on documents, view 3D models, or watch videos together in virtual space.
A view of the Apple Vision Pro M5 from the side. (Devendra Hardwar for Engadget)
Apple’s immersive video — 3D, 180-degree 8K footage captured using its dedicated cameras — was one of the highlights of the original Vision Pro, and it still looks great in the new model. I was most impressed with the “Hill Climb” episode of the show. Adventure The series focused on Laura Hayes, a driver attempting to set a new race record to the top of Pikes Peak. Extended overhead shots (which look like incredibly realistic 3D) did a good job of showing the scale of her driving, and shots from the side and inside of her car provided a thrilling sense of speed.
All the immersive videos I’ve seen predate the blurry, low-resolution 360-degree VR footage we’ve seen for years. Apple 8K 3D content is more focused on trying to recreate reality right in front of you. Looking to the future, the company also plans to broadcast live NBA games in immersive video and more Vision Pro content is coming from Red Bull, CNN, BBC and others.
Speaking of immersive content, Apple has also added support for PS VR2 Sense controllers in VisionOS 26, giving the Vision Pro the ability to support true VR experiences. When I tried what if?… With the Vision Pro experience last year, it was clear that the hand gestures were not precise enough to handle virtual reality games. I’ve only been able to try out the PS VR2 controllers in Pickleball game Pickle Probut it was immediately impressive, allowing me to angle and swing realistically.
Apple Vision Pro M5 lenses. (Devendra Hardwar for Engadget)
Conclusion: It’s still very much a beta
I’ve been amazed by the Vision Pro every time I wear it. The displays look great, and are versatile enough to handle everything from watching movies, immersing yourself in 3D content, and diving into productivity work by mirroring my MacBook Pro. But when I take the headphones off, the truth comes out. It’s still quite expensive at $3,499, and there’s not enough spatial computing content to make that price worth it.
“Once again, the Vision Pro looks like a proof of concept — a symbol of what Apple can do when it’s not constrained by traditional displays. But the company’s dream of spatial computing isn’t going anywhere until it can offer cheaper hardware. And like I said, Apple should just take a cue from Xreal and put VisionOS in a pair of viewing glasses. This would allow the company to produce a much more accessible device, and would also put Apple in a better position competing with Android Dollar.
Until Apple can open up VisionOS to more users, it will remain just a beta test for the future.
(Tags for translation)Apple
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