It’s been quite a while since Apple’s Vision Pro first hit store shelves. Now, Apple is reportedly preparing to launch the second iteration of the Vision Pro, powered by the M5 chip, later this week. This comes from the highly reliable Mark Gurman of Bloomberg.
Apple may announce Vision Pro 2 this week, with Galaxy XR to follow soon
The crazy part is that Samsung is also expected to unveil its first XR headset on October 21, according to reports. Apple, on the other hand, won’t be holding a launch event — instead, it’s likely to announce the Vision Pro 2 (tentative name) through a press release. Either way, Apple will still beat Samsung to the punch with the launch of its second XR device. And frankly, that doesn’t paint a great picture.
Samsung has already shown off the Galaxy XR at Galaxy Unpacked and MWC, and a slew of imagery and promotional materials also leaked recently. Yet, there’s still no clear confirmation about Samsung’s exact plans for the Galaxy XR. It’ll also be interesting to see what price tag Samsung slaps on the headset. Because one thing’s for sure, it won’t come cheap.
It’s only fair to discuss how the Galaxy XR might stack up against Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro 2. After all, the first Vision Pro launched almost two years ago, give or take a few months. Another big question is whether Samsung plans to roll out the Galaxy XR first in its home market or make it available to US buyers right away.
Chip and software differences
On the hardware side, the Apple Vision Pro 2 is expected to be powered by Apple’s M5 chip, built using TSMC’s third-generation 3nm process. In contrast, Samsung’s Galaxy XR will reportedly use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2, fabricated on TSMC’s 4nm node.
So, on paper, the Vision Pro 2 could have a slight performance edge. However, software will play a big role too. While Apple is likely to push visionOS 26 with the new Vision Pro, Samsung’s Galaxy XR will debut Android XR coupled with Gemini smarts.
Would you buy either of these? We’ll keep you posted as more details surface. Stay tuned.