Apple’s reported pivot away from a near-term Vision Pro successor underpins the market’s overwhelming “No” consensus. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo documented in mid-2026 that the lighter Vision Air project was shelved, engineering resources shifted to AI smart glasses targeted for late 2027, and any full next-generation headset (codenamed N224) remains in early concept testing with a floor of late 2028 or 2029. The M5 refresh released in October 2025 addressed only silicon and minor ergonomics while retaining the original design, leaving no pathway for a 2026 launch. Although internal reviews could theoretically accelerate development or regulatory factors might intervene, the combination of lukewarm first-generation adoption, cost-reduction challenges, and competing priorities makes a pre-2027 release highly improbable.