Apple Vision Pro: How easy is it to break and why are many buyers unhappy with the $3,500 gadget?

The new Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset is not nearly as fragile as it might seem at first glance. However, the $3,500 gadget has many other shortcomings that many buyers are unhappy with.

Is it easy to break the Apple Vision Pro?

Blogger Sam Colem of Apple Track crash-tested Apple's new headset and found it's harder to break than you might think.

The device can withstand accidental impacts on walls and doors without any problems: however, small scratches may remain on the outer glass. Even after intentional impacts against the wall, the glass did not break, however, the light-protective film at some point began to peel off.

The headset also withstood several falls onto the carpet from a small height, although the speakers were still damaged. After the third fall, the right speaker stopped working due to an internal contact break. Despite this, the headset as a whole remained usable. However, after falling from a height of 3-3.5 meters, the front glass of the headset still broke. Interestingly, even after this, Vision Pro continued to work, since the internal displays were not damaged.

Apple Vision Pro is poorly protected from theft and loss

An important drawback of the Apple Vision Pro headset, many users consider the lack of a Find My device location tracking function, which makes it more difficult to track the device in case of loss or theft than the iPhone or most other Apple gadgets.

According to MacRumors, Apple has confirmed that the Vision Pro's location cannot be viewed in the Find My app on another company device or on iCloud.com. Of all the Find My features, the headset only supports Activation Lock, which prevents a thief from erasing or resetting the headset unless he knows the owner's Apple ID and password.

Considering the high price of the headset, it can be very attractive to thieves. While most will likely use it at home, it is possible that some users will take it with them on planes and other places.

The weakest point of Apple Vision Pro

The iFixit team of technicians, specializing in assessing the repairability of electronics, disassembled the Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset. The design of the device turned out to be quite complex, which is why disassembling and repairing it will not be easy.

But the problem is not so much this as the fact that the gadget has a so-called Achilles heel in the form of EyeSight

“This creepy feature has many potential points of failure. But we must give Apple credit: the easily replaceable speakers and battery are a big plus in terms of repairability,” noted iFixit.

Why do some users return Apple Vision Pro and ask for a refund?

Some users who bought Apple Vision Pro in the US have already been disappointed with the purchase and have returned their money - or are thinking of doing so in the near future.

For example, a user of the Reddit forum with the nickname reluctantclinton wrote that he was optimistic about the release of the Apple Vision Pro, but after the purchase he was disappointed: he did not like the limited field of view of the headset in transparency mode, the quality of the image of the environment (which is transmitted to the screens of the Vision Pro camera), In addition, the weight of the device is quite large, and the head and face get tired quickly.

User Betterjake, in turn, complained about the high cost of Vision Pro, its heavy weight, and the operation of the gesture and gaze control system.

However, there are also a lot of positive reviews: many users like the quality of the displays and the interesting experience of watching movies.

Recall that Apple Vision Pro headsets went on sale in the United States on February 2. In other countries, the company promised to release a new product before the end of the year.

The headset is powered by an M2 chip with an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16-core neural processor, and 16GB of unified memory. Other features include up to 1TB of storage and an all-new R1 chip that “processes input from 12 cameras, 5 sensors and 6 microphones to make content feel like it's appearing right in front of the user's eyes.