Discomfort issues are said to be the primary reasons driving Vision Pro returns. (Image: Parker Ortolani/X)
Thousands eagerly lined up to get their hands on Apple’s highly-anticipated Vision Pro headset when it launched on February 2. But not everyone is happy with their purchase. As Apple’s 14-day return period comes to an end on February 16, more and more unsatisfied customers are bringing back the $3,500 device and saying goodbye.
“What a bummer of a day. Can’t believe it, but I’ve returned the Vision Pro,” one disheartened X user tweeted, alongside a photo of the headset packed back up in its box.
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Searches for “Return Apple Vision” have spiked this week as initial owners seek refunds. Of course, it’s highly likely that many former Vision Pro owners never intended to keep the headset in the first place. Influencers who splurged on the headset to make videos and social media posts probably have no further use for the headset.
Still, many who were betting on an iPhone-like revolution seem genuinely let down that it didn’t live up to the hype.
According to tweets from dissatisfied customers, the Vision Pro suffers from being too expensive, headache-inducing, and uncomfortable to wear for long periods. The overall sentiment is that while beautiful and impressive in many regards, it may take Apple a few more generations to fully deliver on the promise of spatial computing.
A Bloomberg report previously did say that while Apple’s Vision Pro headset could be a replacement for an iPad, it is still at least four generations away from being perfect. In the report, Gurman stated that the team who have worked on the Vision Pro believes the mixed-reality headset requires more refinement to be considered a device for daily use, and it is yet to achieve its “ideal form,” owing to both hardware and software-related issues.
One of the main complaints about the Vision Pro is that it falls a bit short in the way of dedicated apps. Netflix notably declined to build a Vision Pro app at launch, with co-CEO Greg Peters saying they prefer to “wait and see” how things develop. Plus, the headset’s towering price tag hasn’t earned it much goodwill from users or developers alike.
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Still, some returning users have praised Apple’s ambition and expressed hope for the technology’s future potential. Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman praised the headset as the “second most impressive” tech since the iPhone. It just seems expectations may have simply outpaced realities for this first-generation product.
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