‘Successor Apple Vision Pro is very similar to its predecessor, but has different speakers’

The second version of the Apple Vision Pro headset is largely similar in design to the first iteration, but includes different speakers and a different headband. MacRumors writes this based on anonymous sources. The headset should be released in late 2025 or early 2026.

MacRumors writes that the curved design is retained and that the buttons are also in the same positions as the first Apple Vision Pro. The speakers will be given a different location, the site claims. Currently the speakers sit on either side of the headband and look oval, but in the successor the speakers will be designed to look like ‘feathers that are flat and uniform along their entire length’. MacRumors also reports that the documentation mentions an ‘audio accessory’, although it does not mention exactly what kind of accessory it is. The site writes that it may be an external speaker.

In addition, the headset’s headband is somewhat ‘simpler’ in design, according to MacRumors’ sources. The site compares it to the flat shoulder straps of many backpacks. These are easier to produce and that may allow Apple to reduce the price somewhat, the site says. Furthermore, the tech giant is also reportedly experimenting with the top fan vents, with clusters of small holes likely to replace the elongated slots of the first model.

MacRumors does not mention any other changes. Like the first iteration, this one is said to have an external battery, and the displays and most of the cameras and sensors are also said to be the same. The Apple news site writes that the headset, which would be codenamed Project Alaska, is planned to enter the product validation testing phase in 2025, and will likely be released late that year or early 2026.

The first Apple Vision Pro was announced last June and is expected to launch in the US in early 2024, and in other parts of the world later in the year. Bloomberg previously wrote that Apple is already working on both a more powerful and a cheaper version of the headset. It is not entirely clear which of the two MacRumors describes in its article, but since the cheaper version is rumored to be missing a number of cameras and sensors, it does not appear to be this variant.

First Apple Vision Pro