Ordering Issues and Full Order Process for Apple Vision Pro!
We’re minutes from Apple Vision Pro pre-orders, so I recorded the whole ordering process to show what to expect. I have no idea what to expect myself: it could be a cluster, and I don’t know how many units Apple has, so I might be months out or not get one at all.
What you need
- A laptop and an iPad or iPhone with Face ID, to scan your face so Apple gives you the right Light Seal.
- Your prescription card, if you need custom lens inserts. You upload it after ordering, which made me more comfortable doing this in the time I had.
I don’t know what I’ll use it for. It’s new and exciting. Apple shows it for work, standing at your desk with maybe three screens, but also a guy walking around the office with it on, and I just don’t see people doing that. The real use case is probably a personal home theater and games, though YouTube and Netflix won’t be on it at launch, I’d guess until the platform grows. I’m slightly worried about the strap and weight after more than 20 or 30 minutes; people seem to prefer the dual-loop band.
The order
- Get measured for your Light Seal and headband. The scan is like Face ID: move your head in a circle, twice. Easy.
- Optical inserts: it asks if you wear glasses or contacts, what for (I have an astigmatism, which really sucks), and whether your prescription includes a prism value. The Zeiss inserts are $149. I skipped engraving.
- Storage: 256 GB is $3,499, 512 GB $3,699 and 1 TB $3,899. I have no idea what will go on it, and 256 GB on my iPhone is usually fine, so I took the base model.
- AppleCare: I skipped it for now; I can add it with monthly payments later.
- Accessories: a travel case is $199, which is insane. There’s a battery holder, and an extra battery for $199. I’ll skip the battery and use a USB-C battery bank instead.
My Vision Pro with the optical inserts was $3,648.
Where it went wrong
I chose in-store pickup and Apple Pay, the fastest way. Payment failed. Each time I retried, the pickup time slid later. 11:30 a.m. became 2:30 p.m. I tried another card, then the Apple Card, which has plenty of room, and it still failed. Delivery was showing February 6. I went back to pickup, and each attempt pushed the time further, to 4:30, 5:30, then 6:30 p.m.
What finally worked was skipping Apple Pay and entering my saved Visa. The same cards that failed in Apple Pay worked fine the regular way. So Apple Pay kept failing for no reason for me, and my pickup ended up Saturday, February 3 at 6:30 p.m., so I probably won’t have content until the 4th or 5th.
Uploading your prescription
My confirmation email showed the Vision Pro, accessories and Zeiss inserts, with a link to upload my prescription. It opens the order status page on the web: scan or select a document, and Zeiss reviews and verifies it. A note says that if you’re over 40, they may add a bit of power because things are close to your face, so I had to click that yes, I’m over 40, and agree to the terms.
The lens inserts ship separately, at another time. That was the whole process. It wasn’t the most fun, since it’s early morning and things didn’t go as smoothly as I’d hoped. I’m curious: are you ordering one, or waiting to see what the idiots like me think after spending our hard-earned money?
Links
- Apple FineWoven vs Silicone case
- https://www.threads.net/@jerryschulzeonyt
- My iPhone Art
- Grovemade Desk Mat and Knife (save 10% JERRY10)
- UNLIMITED Cloud Backup for your Mac with Backblaze
In this video
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