Apple Vision Pro

Apple's Vision Pro has been on sale for two years and eight months, in a single shape sold as two models that look alike and cost the same. The first, on Apple's M2 chip, reached the United States on 2 February 2024 at $3,499. The current one, on the M5 chip and boxed with the Dual Knit Band, went on sale on 22 October 2025, also at $3,499, with Apple's specification page listing the original at 600 to 650 g.

We read eleven editorial write-ups covering that window, dated 30 January 2024 to 2 February 2026: four from the launch months, one a year in, five on the M5, and one two-year retrospective. Beside them we read Apple's M5 announcement, its specification page for the original, the visionOS 26 release notes, five news reports on sales and roadmap, and one owners' thread from June 2026. Apple sells the headset directly and publishes no rating, so the buyer tier is empty.

Consensus

The picture is the one finding that has not moved: nine of the eleven editorial write-ups we read praise the display, the passthrough or what they watched through it, in the launch month and in the M5 reviews alike. Everything around the picture moved. The launch reviews describe an unfinished operating system on hardware that was already excellent. The M5 reviews describe a tidier system on hardware whose one physical flaw is unchanged, at a listed 750 to 800 g.

Two things keep this reading modest. No source we read counts how many owners the comfort problem touches, and Apple publishes no sales or satisfaction figures, so the owner tier rests on one thread and a research firm's shipment estimate. The hardware is agreed; what the device is for is not, and every review picks a different second use.

Recurring strengths

The screen, and almost everything watched on it, in nine of the eleven. The Verge found the passthrough convincing enough to call the headset a virtual reality device posing as an augmented reality one. CNET, a year in and again on the M5, calls it the best film-watching device it has tried. WIRED calls the micro-OLED panels exquisite. AppleInsider, at the two-year mark, still names media as the most impressive thing.

The eyes-and-hands control system, in three: The New York Times calls it a superior interface, WIRED calls the eye tracking and gestures impressive, and PCMag calls the system incredibly intuitive.

The Mac display, in three: CNET has used the headset as a curved monitor since its year-in piece, and Ars Technica counts Apple's expanded Mac display work as the platform's most promising direction.

Recurring complaints

The fit and the weight, in eight of the eleven, at both ends of the window. The Verge put the headset above an 11-inch iPad Pro on the scales, The New York Times found it heavier than Meta's cheaper Quest models, and WIRED listed heavy first among its faults. On the M5 the complaint changes shape rather than leaving: all five refresh reviews name the Dual Knit Band as the fix, and three of them note that the new model is the heavier one, at a listed 750 to 800 g against 600 to 650 g.

The app and content catalogue, in four, none of them a launch-week review. CNET counts the interesting apps as too few a year in and calls app support still short on the M5. Ars Technica calls the content light and developer support tepid, and PCMag lists software omissions. Apple's own apps are part of it: no 3D Maps, no immersive GarageBand, no Final Cut for visionOS.

The price, in six. WIRED lists it expensive at launch, and all five M5 reviews repeat it, with Ars Technica calling $3,500 a nonstarter outside the audience that already wants one.

Where reviewers split

What the M5 changes. Ars Technica noticed nothing in the chip that changed its use, CNET calls the gains subtle, and The Independent says an owner of the first model would not notice much day to day. PCMag, on the same hardware, calls it a significant increase in raw power, and GQ names the higher refresh rates and the longer battery as real gains. Our read: a faster chip and a more useful device are different questions.

The comfort of the Dual Knit Band. The Independent, PCMag and Ars Technica each describe the band as the change that answers what the first model got wrong. CNET agrees the strap is better, and reports the M5 as five ounces heavier than the original and still heavy over long sessions. Both are true: the band balances more of the weight, and the scale went up.

Whether anyone uses one daily. The owners' thread we read, 46 comments under a June 2026 question, carries one owner at five hours a day and one who has used it daily for two years, alongside others describing a device they must remember to put on. Ars Technica had mostly stopped using the original at home by the time the M5 arrived, and AppleInsider writes that it is not a daily wear. Our read: the owners who keep using it describe a work setup the others do not have.

The launch week against the two-year view. WIRED rated the launch model 5 out of 10 and The Verge called it magic until it is not. AppleInsider's retrospective says the software problems are fixed and the headset's main problem beyond the price is not, and no M5 review claims it is. Our read: what changed over two years was software. What did not was the thing you wear.

Who it suits

You want the best picture a headset can give you, and you will mostly sit down to watch it. Nine of the eleven write-ups we read praise the display or what they watched on it, in 2024 and in 2025 alike.

You work somewhere a wall of screens would help and you can leave the battery plugged in. CNET uses it as a Mac display, Ars Technica takes it on trips as an entertainment device, and Apple's claimed battery is 2.5 hours of use or 3 hours of video on the M5, against 2 hours and 2.5 on the original, running while it charges.

You can buy it without the price deciding for you. Six of the eleven name the price and none says the M5 changed it: $3,499 in the United States, and £3,199 in the United Kingdom after the cut of £300 that The Independent reports.

Who should pass

You want a computer you can wear all day. Eight of the eleven write-ups we read raise the fit or the weight, and the owners' thread we read includes a two-year owner who has tried every strap.

You are buying it for what you can run on it. Four of the eleven raise the app and content gaps, and the 2025 news reports put the thin catalogue among the reasons it never sold widely.

You are waiting for the next model to fix it. MacRumors reported in October 2025 that no redesigned headset was in active development, and AppleInsider's retrospective of February 2026 says the problem beyond the price is still there.

You would be replacing a laptop with it. The New York Times could not write its review in the headset, and CNET still does its work on a MacBook with the headset as the accessory.

One verdict a week: the most useful Master Review we finished, the complaint that kept appearing, and who should skip it.

Sources

• Apple's M5 announcement: Apple, official, 15 October 2025.
• Tech specs: Apple, official, read 2 October 2026.
• visionOS 26 release: Apple, official, 15 September 2025.
• The Verge review: editorial, 30 January 2024.
• New York Times review: editorial, 7 February 2024.
• Washington Post, two weeks in: editorial, 12 February 2024.
• WIRED review: editorial, 20 March 2024.
• CNET, one year in: editorial, 8 February 2025.
• CNET, M5: editorial, 21 October 2025.
• The Independent, M5: editorial, 21 October 2025.
• GQ, M5: editorial, 6 November 2025.
• Ars Technica, M5: editorial, 26 November 2025.
• PCMag, M5: editorial, 18 December 2025.
• AppleInsider: editorial, 2 February 2026.
• CNBC: news, 21 February 2025.
• MacRumors: news, 11 October 2025.
• Variety: news, 15 October 2025.
• The Guardian: news, 1 January 2026.
• PCMag news: news, 4 January 2026.
• r/VisionPro: forum, 19 June 2026.

On 2 October 2026 we read 11 editorial write-ups dated 30 January 2024 to 2 February 2026, 5 news reports dated 21 February 2025 to 4 January 2026, Apple's own pages, and one owners' thread from 19 June 2026, by web search and plain page fetch, and synthesised them with AI; no buyer reviews were collected and nothing was tested.