Apple upgrades Vision Pro with M5 chip but only 3,000 Vision OS-native apps exist
Oct 15, 2025
Key Points
- Apple upgraded Vision Pro with an M5 chip but the hardware bump sidesteps the real problems: weight, form factor, and lack of native software.
- Only 3,000 of Apple's claimed million Vision Pro apps are built for Vision OS; the rest are iPad ports that work identically to their tablet versions.
- Even Apple's gaming push undercuts spatial computing: Sniper Elite Four streams as a 2D screen from Mac or console rather than running natively on the device.
Summary
Apple upgraded the Vision Pro with an M5 chip featuring a 10-core CPU and GPU, but the update does little to address the fundamental reasons users have returned the device. The real problem isn't processing power—it's weight, form factor, and the absence of compelling native software.
Apple now claims over a million apps available on Vision Pro, but only 3,000 are built specifically for Vision OS. The rest are iPad apps developers can port with a checkbox during distribution, which work identically to their tablet versions. The disparity is striking. When Apple launched the Watch, developers rushed to build native apps, betting that early adoption would create a flywheel of discovery and distribution. Vision Pro saw no such rush. Developers, even those who worked at Apple and started product studios specifically to build for the device, found there was "actually nothing here" to build for.
Apple is trying to bolster the platform with games—Sniper Elite Four is one headline example—but even that is telling: the game doesn't run natively on Vision Pro. It streams as a 2D screen mirrored from a Mac or console, negating the spatial computing pitch entirely.
The M5 bump signals Apple hasn't abandoned the project. But the hardware update skips the two changes that might actually move the needle: making it lighter and smaller, and building the media ecosystem that might convince developers the platform is worth building for. Without those moves, the Vision Pro remains a powerful but isolated device searching for a reason to exist.