It’s been three weeks since the Apple Vision Pro began shipping to customers, and now we have reports that should worry early adopters. Several owners report that front glass cracks suddenly appear on the helmet, raising questions about the Vision Pro’s durability.
On Reddit, user Dornbirn posted a photo of a clearly visible line in the nose area of the Vision Pro. Dornbirn states that the helmet did not fall or suffer any impact of any kind. After polishing the faceplate, the Vision Pro was placed in the case and did not move at all. When Dornbirn opened the case later, the crack was there.
The crack is concerning enough, but there is much more. Dornbirn paid $499 for AppleCare+ coverage, which should provide a free replacement, but when Dornbirn went to the Apple Store, representatives wanted to charge a $300 repair fee. Reddit user xerodyze points out that the $499 for AppleCare+ is the cost of purchasing the plan; the $300 repair fee is similar to a deductible and the repair cost is actually much higher ($799) without AppleCare+. However, after just three weeks, a crack should be covered under the standard warranty.
How can this happen in the first place? Dornbirn believes the battery was still plugged into the helmet when he put it away. So the theory is that this caused the helmet to heat up and the glass to crack. If so, this is a serious design flaw. Several users responded to Dornbirn’s post, stating that they had experienced the same thing, with similar-looking cracks. This pattern could indicate that the crack is a manufacturing defect, so Apple should replace the units for free.
Apple has not commented on the situation. Reddit users who have a cracked helmet say the Vision Pro is not affected by the defect, and since it’s ridiculous to have to pay for a manufacturing defect, users are holding on to their defective helmets in the hopes that Apple will eventually change its policy and repair the VIsion Pro for free or provide free replacements.
So if you own a Vision Pro, do not store it with the battery connected. Apple has a lot of work to do on the Vision Pro, so it may only be a matter of time before Apple receives more feedback to analyze and fix the issue. Let’s hope the company doesn’t react like it did years ago when reports of G4 Cube cracks surfaced: the company said these were normal artifacts of the manufacturing process. manufacturing and never released a patch. Similar issues surfaced in 2018 with numerous reports of bent iPad Pros, but again Apple claimed this was normal and never issued a recall or fix.
For more information on Vision Pro, read our in-depth Vision Pro review and check out our Vision Pro superguide.
