If you have a Vision Pro headset, you’re set for now. If you want the next model, you will have to wait, maybe two years or more.
Bloomberg managing editor Mark Gurman said in his Power On newsletter that he doesn’t expect the next version of Vision Pro until 2028 at the earliest. Gurman believes that, even though the next iteration of the earphones is still years away, Apple will continue to provide customer support for the existing model.
Gurman said Apple is focused on creating an AI pendant and AirPods equipped with a camera, which is reportedly in prototype testing. Apple’s Vision Products Group is also working on creating augmented reality glasses.
An Apple representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vision Pro is a mixed reality headset with augmented reality and virtual reality capabilities. When you’re wearing it, you can use apps for work, activities and entertainment while watching the real world around you — to walk around your house, hang out with friends or family and watch a movie on your headset at the same time. You will see the movie at the top of your view and the real world elsewhere in your view.
You can also use Vision Pro for a virtual reality experience, where you don’t see the real world at all, but rather a digital environment. That could be sports, swimming with sharks, walking on the moon or anything else you can think of.
Major competitors of Vision Pro include Meta Question 3 and 3S and HTC Vive Focus Vision. Grand View Research expects the market to grow at an annual rate of nearly 30% worldwide until 2030, fueled not only by entertainment and gaming, but also by workplace applications such as employee training, 3D manufacturing and industrial maintenance.
The Vision Pro is “an amazing piece of technology,” said tech tester Austin Evans, who has nearly 6 million subscribers to his YouTube channel. But he’s not sure if the device will have a permanent place in Apple’s lineup.
“It’s still a VR headset and I’m not convinced the design will ever be comfortable enough for long-term use,” Evans told CNET. “I worry that the Vision Pro will only see a few years of software updates before shutting it down or moving it to commercial focus. But I’d like to think the technology itself will trickle down to a pair of AR glasses eventually.”
In a CNET review, editor Scott Stein called Vision Pro “mind-blowing,” even at mind-blowing costs. It was fun too, otherwise fabulouswatching an NBA game with headsets. But just don’t go wandering around in the real world wearing Vision Pro — it’s dangerous.
Gurman said he hopes another Vision Pro will be released, though he noted: “Many senior Apple executives have written off the current Vision Pro as a product given its price and weight.”
Gurman added that Apple brass wants to produce augmented reality glasses, and that the Vision Pro is a “stepping stone” for that product.
Apple’s VisionOS 27 event later this year (date and time to be announced) will focus on new AI programming tools, Siri features and improvements to iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27, Gurman said.
