Why I'm Returning Vision Pro

The allure of the Vision Pro captivated me, but after ten-days using it, it's clear that it contributes to me experiencing headaches and a lingering sense of disorientation. While I admire the ambitious, inspiring, and often high-touch execution, these side-effects have made me reluctant to use it, even for short durations. Consequently, I've begun the return process.

While I can tolerate the pronounced screen reflections on the lens inserts and the light escaping around my nose due to a poorly fitted light ring, the constant screen blurriness turned out to be unusable for me. I can rule out my prescription as the root issue since I recently used it to get a new pair of glasses that work great.

I can't help but wonder whether Apple and ZEISS might benefit from offering to take precision eye measurements, similar to the technique some ophthalmologists use when filling a frame with a prescription using services such as Optikam. While I presume future software features might improve eye calibration, capturing upfront eye measurements might also enable ZEISS to manufacture lenses that offer a more accurate eye prescription.

Before deciding to return the product, I attempted various adjustments, including changing the headbands, swapping the light seals, diligently cleaning the prescription lens inserts, adjusting eye display alignment and disabling dynamic image optimization. Unfortunately, these changes did not significantly alleviate my discomfort.

In fact, Vision Pro highlighted vision problems I have that are corrected by my eye glasses, indicating a need for additional development to support stronger prescriptions. Nonetheless, if this is to be the least remarkable headset ever made by Apple, that in itself is astounding, making the future enhancements even more thrilling to imagine.

I am confident that Apple will continue to improve this product and I fully intend to give it another try in the future, but currently, it doesn't work for me. Among my group of friends who purchased the product, four out of seven are returning theirs for reasons different from my own, suggesting to me that Apple may be facing a broad range of early adoption issues.

I'm very curious what the current return rates are for Vision Pro and how that changes over time. Considering the polarizing nature of the product, it wouldn't surprise me if initial orders yield the highest percentage return rate for any Apple product ever. Although high return rates are to be anticipated with the introduction of a bold and expensive new product, it still affects the perception of its launch and will be something requiring careful management going forward.

Should high return rates exist and persist, the speculated supply chain limitations for Vision Pro might actually benefit Apple by offering a convenient way to minimize losses. It will be interesting to see how soon Apple starts offering refurbished Vision Pro units.

I'm eager to see how Apple continues to improve the product, and I'm excited to try a future version that better supports my vision.