M5 Vision Pro Reportedly Spotted In Apple Code

MacRumors say they found references to an M5 Vision Pro in Apple’s code, another twist in the rumor mill regarding what chip the headset will feature.

If you haven’t been following along: last year supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that the next Vision Pro would have an M5 chip and enter production in late 2025, and he reiterated this claim in July, stating that it would have no other changes besides the chip.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman too referenced an M5 Vision Pro refresh in an April edition of his weekly newsletter, though also said that Apple was “looking to go further” than just the chip upgrade, with a “cheaper and lighter” design.

However, later in July, Gurman claimed that the Vision Pro refresh will in fact use the existing M4 chip, not M5. Further, he walked back his suggestion of Apple going further, suggesting that the only other change would be a new strap “to make it easier to wear the headset for long periods of time”.

Now, MacRumors say that their contributor Aaron Perris has found a reference to an Apple Vision Pro with an M5 chip in code “accidentally shared by Apple”, backing up Kuo’s original claim.

The current Apple Vision Pro uses the M2 chipset. The M5 chip has not officially been announced by Apple yet, but the company claims M4 has a 50% more powerful CPU and 4 times more powerful GPU than M2, suggesting an M5 Vision Pro could deliver a phenomenal performance increase. M4’s Neural Engine is also more than twice as powerful, so M5 could also significantly enhance the headset’s computer vision capabilities.

The apparent MacRumors finding comes four months after a leaker shared apparent images of the battery cable for the next Apple Vision headset, which they said had a “graphite dark blue” color, compared to the current silver. The leaker also claimed to have access to the headset itself, describing it as noticeably thinner and lighter.

And just weeks before that apparent leak, a lone Chinese news outlet claimed that production of a new Apple Vision Pro had already begun, even listing names of some specific suppliers.

As a reminder, Apple has not yet said anything about a new headset, and nothing is confirmed until the company makes an official announcement. There’s enough smoke to expect that a new Vision headset is coming soon, but how exactly it will differ is far from confirmed.