Will 2025 be a big year for Apple’s exciting new Vision Pro platform? With a fast new chip, a major software upgrade and more jaw-dropping content, there could be a lot in store for the AR/VR headset next year.
The fledgling device is likely to get worthy new hardware upgrades — and maybe even a price drop. visionOS 3, the next major software update, will have had a full 12 months in the oven. That means it could be a substantial release. And as production of 3D immersive content continues to get easier, there may finally be a lot more spatial video to watch on the headset. In fact, that could turn out to be the device’s killer app.
What to expect from Vision Pro in 2025
The Vision Pro is Apple’s foray into virtual- and mixed-reality headsets. Compared to the popular Meta Quest headsets, the Vision Pro isn’t just a glorified game console; Apple calls it a “spatial computer.” You can use apps like Safari, Mail, Messages and more, but in an immersive 3D environment. It’s controlled by an uncannily accurate eye-tracking and hand-tracking system for input and gestures, which honestly feels like magic.
However, what Apple describes as “the most advanced personal electronics device ever” comes at a cost — $3,499 before upgrades and accessories. The high price is, obviously, limiting sales to a few hundred thousand units, a far cry from the hundreds of millions of products the company normally sells.
Despite declarations from nay-sayers that the product is a flop, Apple is playing the long game with the Vision Pro. The company is planning years in advance to gradually bring the price down and to shrink the hardware to easy-to-wear glasses. As Apple CEO Tim Cook has said, Vision Pro is aimed at early adopters who want tomorrow’s technology today. So what’s in store for 2025?
Table of contents: What to expect from Vision Pro in 2025
Vision Pro 2: Maybe more than a spec bump
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
No, the Vision Pro isn’t getting canceled after just one version — as some farfetched rumors have claimed. There are reportedly multiple different Vision products in development. One would be a totally next-generation model, which would probably have a slimmer, lighter design and even more-advanced capabilities. Work is also being done on a low-cost model, which might be designed with pared-down features and simpler manufacturing in mind. However, both of these products remain a few years away.
The product slated for 2025 is a simple spec bump of the current Vision Pro model. Apple reportedly will bumped the headset from an M2 chip to an M5 chip. The company also might revise the R1 chip that handles mixed reality, improve the camera sensors for higher-quality passthrough video, and switch to the company’s own custom Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip. Apple also might lower the price from $3,499 to $2,999, but that could be wishful thinking.
visionOS 3
Photo: Apple
2025 will mark the first full 12-month period between major versions of visionOS. Because Apple announced visionOS 2 last June, just a few months after the headset launched in February, it’s not surprising the upgrade didn’t bring a ton of new features.
That means that visionOS 3, expected to be announced at WWDC in June, could be substantial. Apple could fill in a lot of gaps to make the platform far more mature. Many of Apple’s own apps don’t have native visionOS versions, instead running in iPad compatibility mode. Plus, few of the Vision Pro interfaces still feel rudimentary, like the Home View or the lack of window management. There’s no easy way to unlock or use your iPhone inside the Vision Pro, either, like you can with iPhone Mirroring on the Mac.
Another rumor indicates the Vision Pro will support hand controllers Sony developed for the PlayStation VR 2. These would make gaming in virtual reality much more precise.
The Vision Pro also might add Apple Intelligence support in 2025. The Vision Pro is the only device with an M2 chip not to support Apple’s latest AI-powered features.
More spatial video: Killer content = killer app?
Image: Apple
Hopefully, next year will see a faster pace of new 3D spatial and immersive content released for the Vision Pro. Currently, Apple puts out about 10 minutes of new stuff to watch once or twice a month. These paltry morsels don’t exactly make people feel good about splashing out $3,499 on an entertainment device.
On the plus side, a new immersive video camera by Blackmagic will hit the market soon that should make filming this content much cheaper and easier than whatever custom camera rig Apple cobbled together before. Support for editing 3D spatial video is coming to Final Cut Pro, and that will certainly make post-production easier.
As a result, 2025 could bring a lot more spatial content to watch on Vision Pro. Personally, I think a full, scripted Apple TV+ show for Vision Pro would be amazing.
