The Dual Knit Band introduced Wednesday with the new M5-powered Vision Pro is compatible with Apple’s original headset, too. You don’t need to shell out another $3,499 — the extra comfort can be had for a fraction of the price.
Other improvements to the new headset are somewhat minor, with nothing else standing out as a must-have for current Vision Pro owners (all 12 of them lol). The Dual Knit Band might be all you need to spice up life in your spatial computer.
Apple launched the M5 Vision Pro on Wednesday, bumping the impressive headset up from the years-old M2 processor. The punchier M5 processor boosts the headset’s video resolution and refresh rate for a clearer, sharper image.
The updated Vision Pro is “setting a new standard for what’s possible in spatial computing,” said Apple Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Bob Borchers in Apple’s press release. “Spatial computing is even more capable, entertaining, and magical with the new Vision Pro.”
The M5 isn’t the only upgrade, either. A new Dual Knit Band elegantly adds comfort and style to the headset. And as icing on the cake, the M5 Vision Pro boasts noticeably improved battery life.
The M5 Vision Pro starts at the same high price of $3,499 with 256GB of storage. It’s available for preorder today, with deliveries and in-store availability beginning on October 22.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The Federal Communications Commission leaks secret Apple info and Russian YouTubers get their hands on unreleased iPad Pros.
What’s going on with these crazy Apple leaks? We have a theory about why at least some of them are happening.
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
That cheaper Vision Pro you were waiting for? Don’t hold your breath. Apple reportedly shelved the project to redirect its focus on creating smart glasses to compete with Meta’s popular products.
Previous rumors indicated Apple would release a stripped-down version of its $3,499 Vision Pro headset by 2027. But Apple execs reportedly told employees last week that it’s putting the lighter, cheaper headset on the back burner.
The Federal Communications Commission accidentally exposed Apple’s plans for several unreleased products, including an updated Vision Pro headset, new MacBook Pro models and refreshed iPad Pro tablets, on Tuesday. The FCC leaks of Apple products mark the latest in a series of premature disclosures from the regulatory agency that have frustrated Apple’s typically secretive product launch strategy.
Apple expanded its Apple Immersive Video catalog Monday with a slate of new films from major global publishers, broadcasters and brands, marking a major milestone for the Vision Pro platform.
The new content comes from partners including Audi, the BBC, CANAL+, CNN, HYBE, MotoGP and Red Bull. Releases are planned over the coming months.
visionOS 26 is a modest update, but you’ll want to check out the game-changing features it includes. Widgets come to the Vision Pro in a clever way; you can freely arrange them in space or pin them to a wall. Personas are much improved, making your virtual FaceTime calls less creepy. And there are about a dozen other excellent quality-of-life features that’ll draw you back in, like app folders, a Jupiter environment, automatic iPhone unlocking and more.
You may have forgotten about the Vision Pro, but Apple hasn’t. Despite middling sales numbers, Apple is in this for the long haul — with regular software updates, a spec bump update due this year and a whole family of products in the works.
The update is out now; here’s what to expect.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: With Apple’s Awe Dropping event bearing down on us, it’s time to once again put our professional reputations (and our personal dignity) on the line with our traditional predictions game!
Who will win this time? And will a CultCast listener steal the glory once again?!?
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video version on YouTube.
Apple must have heard the complaints about the cost and weight of the Vision Pro AR headset, because it’s reportedly working on a Vision Air that will be half as expensive and almost half the weight. That’s the word coming Tuesday from a source who’s built a reputation by often being accurate in predictions about future Apple products.
It’ll take Apple a while to develop the new product, though.
In a groundbreaking development, a brain-computer interface (BCI) company successfully demonstrated the first-ever use of Apple’s Vision Pro AR/VR headset — and later an iPad — controlled directly by thought, according to Synchron. The innovation opens up exciting possibilities, perhaps even beyond helping individuals with severe mobility limitations engage with cutting-edge technology. Innovations like thought control of Vision Pro and iPad could lead to big things for both hands-free and voice-free use of devices.
August 4 update: In a new video, Synchron released proof of the first-ever public demonstration of an individual using an iPad controlled entirely by thought, leveraging Apple’s built-in accessibility features and new Brain-Computer Interface Human Interface Device (BCI HID) protocol, the company said. Watch the video below.
May 13 update: Synchron said it would be the first brain-computer interface (BCI) company to achieve native integration with a new BCI Human Interface Device (BCI HID) profile Apple just rolled out among various accessibility upgrades.
Apple prepares to launch its first major update to the Vision Pro AR/VR headset as early as this year, featuring a faster M4 processor and a redesigned strap aimed at addressing comfort complaints that have plagued the $3,499 device since its launch, according to a new report.
Despite their sleek designs, Apple products boast impressive durability. And now, for the first time, the company has provided a look into one of its 200 durability labs, where it rigorously torture tests its products.
Apple conducts several types of trials on its devices, including environmental, liquid, drop and vibration stress tests.
Apple accused a former Vision Pro engineer of stealing confidential documents related to the headset. In a lawsuit filed on June 24, Apple alleges Di Liu, a senior design engineer at the company, stole a “massive volume” of trade secrets.
Liu joined Snap soon after leaving Apple in a similar role.
The Vision Air is on the drawing board at Apple, according to a trusted analyst. This more consumer-friendly version of the Vision Pro AR headset reportedly will weigh less and cost less. But it won’t be out soon.
At the same time, Apple is also working on its first foray into smart glasses. These are also supposedly still years away, though.
The new Haven-1 VR app brings the Haven-1 commercial space station directly to Apple Vision Pro headsets, offering users an unprecedented, virtual-reality look inside humanity’s next frontier in space exploration, space technology company Vast said Wednesday.
So users of Vision Pro and other AR/VR headsets can now explore the world’s first commercial space station in VR.
You can download the visionOS 26 developer beta for free — right now. You can get a look at the exciting new spatial widgets coming to the Vision Pro before the update is shipped to everyone. Unlike other platforms, there is no public beta option, only the developer beta.
Of course, there are a few things you should look out for. Beta software can be buggy and can lead to data loss or apps that don’t work.
If you’re still sure you want to try it out, you should make sure you have a backup of your most important data with two copies of your photo library before you try installing. I’ll show you how.
visionOS 26, the next major software release for the Apple Vision Pro, will bring spatial widgets, better Personas, new accessories, more integration with iPhone, more immersive content, Look to Scroll and so much more to the powerful headset.
Apple Vision Pro is “a revolutionary spatial computer that seamlessly blends digital content with the real world,” says Mike Rockwell, Apple’s vice president of the Vision Products Group. “With brand-new ways for Vision Pro owners to connect, explore, work together, and enjoy content,” visionOS 26 is a huge update.
Announced after iOS 26, watchOS 26 and macOS Tahoe at WWDC25 on Monday, visionOS 26 will be available today as a developer beta and will release publicly for everyone this fall.
Apple Arcade expanded its growing library with five new games on June 5 and looks forward to four more in early July. They will offer subscribers fresh gaming experiences across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Vision Pro. And Vision Pro headset users will get to play a spatial-computing version of the comedy racing game What the Car?
The new titles include original releases and popular games making their debut on the subscription service. Plenty of existing games will get updates, too.
Update: Five new Apple Arcade games, described and linked to below, came out June 5, plus Apple looked ahead to four more coming out July 3: The much-anticipated Angry Birds Bounce plus Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance TD+, Suika Game+ puzzles and Crayola Scribble Scrubbie Pets+.
WWDC25 is a mere days away. While the hottest news is that iOS, macOS, watchOS and other platforms will get a visual redesign borrowed from visionOS, the question left unasked is … what’s coming to visionOS?
Rumors say there will be new advanced eye tracking features and support for VR hand controllers. But with a full twelve months of development, Apple probably has much more in store for its premium spatial computer.
Here’s what Apple may announce on Monday for the Vision Pro.
The new documentary Bono: Stories of Surrender premieres Friday, May 30, on Apple TV+. And it simultaneously debuts as the first feature-length Immersive Video on the Vision Pro headset. In that format, it offers an 8K Spatial Audio experience that places viewers directly onstage with the U2 frontman in a 180-degree video environment. You can watch the trailer below.
The film offers viewers a bold and lyrical visual exploration of Bono’s acclaimed one-man show, providing unprecedented access to his personal journey as a musician, activist and family man, Apple TV+ said. The Vision Pro version’s title will be Bono: Stories of Surrender (Immersive).
Update 2: Bono: Stories of Surrender begins streaming Friday on Apple TV+. Whereas one review calls it “a heartfelt portrait of the U2 star,” another refers to its “rock star pomposity” and a third splits the difference: “A punch-to-the-guts stage show once you get past the Bono-ness of it all.”
Update 1: Apple TV+ posted a trailer for the Bono documentary film on YouTube Wednesday, available to watch below. For U2 and Bono fans, it’s sure to impart all the feels, as Bono jokes with the audience and tells stories about his upbringing and time with the band.
Apple makes the bestselling phone, smartwatch and wireless headphones, and is fantastically profitable as a result. But if it can’t develop the Next Big Thing, it could easily be out of business in 10 years. But there’s no cause for concern — Apple is already working on the product that’ll replace the iPhone: smart glasses.
Even better, Apple is taking two approaches for developing smart glasses, which should go a long way toward ensuring that it makes the definitive version of the must-have computer of the 2030s.
The next major update to visionOS could include eye scrolling, for navigating long lists and webpages entirely hands-free. The Vision Pro already uses eye- and hand-tracking for navigating its interface; if true, this would take it to the next level.
Scrolling is one of the most fundamental interactions with a smartphone. But it hasn’t translated as well to the Vision Pro, where you need to pinch two fingers together and move your hand.
If visionOS 3 lets you scroll simply by looking at the bottom of a window, that could be a powerful new feature of the headset.
In a shake-up aimed at revitalizing Apple’s aging Siri voice assistant, the iPhone giant brought in Mike Rockwell to lead a comprehensive overhaul now in progress, according to a new report. First, the former head of Vision Pro software continues revitalizing the Siri leadership team in the Vision Pro team’s image.
A cutting-edge pair of AI sports glasses feature innovative audio technology from xMEMS Labs, the company said Tuesday. The new BleeqUp Ranger glasses, developed by Chinese startup BleeqUp, represents the first commercial use of a xMEMS solid state microtweeter in AI eyewear — but likely not the only one.
“xMEMS is proud to help power the next generation of AI wearables,” said Steven Bentley, VP of worldwide sales at xMEMS Labs. “The integration of Cowell into BleeqUp’s glasses not only showcases the high-fidelity performance of our MEMS speakers. We’re excited to help more companies accelerate their path to market with compact, high-performance audio solutions for AI glasses.”
Perhaps that, or the upcoming uses of xMEMS Labs’ Sycamore microspeaker, could signal a new direction for Apple if it revives its smart glasses project.
Apple may soon release a lighter, thinner version of its Vision Pro headset that may go by the name of “Vision Air,” according to multiple leaks Wednesday and Thursday from a semi-reliable source. The new device would represent a significant redesign focused on weight reduction while potentially offering a more affordable alternative to the $3,500 Vision Pro. And it might come in a bluish-black color rather than Vision Pro’s silver.