The original Apple Vision Pro, released in February 2024, was heavy, expensive, and hard to recommend to a lay consumer. They felt magical but impractical, and if it were going to become a mainstream device, many needed tweaks and changes were required. However, those changes never materialized, and three years later, Apple has finally released an update that only slightly addresses them.

The main change, at the core of the device, is Apple’s new M5 chip. This is its latest base laptop chip, found now in the iPad Pro and the MacBook Pro 14”, and in this “spatial computer,” it makes for 20 percent longer battery life and faster app opening times. The latter sounds nice but is not particularly important. When a computer is on one’s face, however, removing delays is all the more appreciated.

It also now features a boosted refresh rate of 120Hz, up from the original 100Hz, and no longer uses a 30W charger, switching instead to a new 40W-to-60W dynamic power adapter. The most significant other change is the default to a new Dual Knit band. This should be noticeably more comfortable than the original Solo Knit band, with additional counterweights added to the back strap, reducing pressure on the face, and a new top strap as well. One adjusts the back strap by turning the dial, then pulls it out one click and turns again to change the top strap. This is unnecessarily overengineered but cool, and reminiscent of the dial on a mechanical watch.

Otherwise, though, that’s it. The Vision Pro looks the same, has the same screen, has the same weight, and has the same expensive cost as before. This is a subtle tweak to one of the most interesting and compromised devices on the market. The question is: Three years later, have the software changes and everything that happened made it a better buy than it was then? Come back for our full review to find out.