Vision Pro repair costs are another reason not to buy

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Vision Pro — Apple’s first-ever mixed reality headset — is just a matter of weeks away from launching in the United States. 

And proving that some people do indeed have more money than sense, reports suggest that Apple has sold out of the 160,000ish units it originally earmarked for the launch, despite the headset costing a massive US$3,500 — or around NZ$5,720.

Hopefully these early adopters’ budgets have stretched enough to buy AppleCare Plus with the headset, because the repairs are almost as much as the headset itself.

Over the weekend, Apple published a service page for Vision Pro which outlined the possible costs in the event that something goes wrong — not unheard of for a first-generation product. Especially one that covers your eyes and encourages you to move around.

There are two problems you can select from: “cracked cover glass” and the gloriously generic “other damage”. The former will set buyers back US$799 (~NZ$1,307), while the latter will cost them a whopping US$2,399 (~NZ$3,923). In other words, if you trip, crack the cover glass and it won’t turn on any more, you could be on the hook for US$3,198 — or 91% of a new headset’s cost.

Two years of AppleCare Pro will add an additional US$499 (~NZ$816) to the bill, but it does bring both repairs down to a flat US$299 (~NZ$489) which is certainly more palatable.

While I’ve never bought AppleCare (and somewhat regretted this lack of foresight after a rum-related incident back in 2017), this feels like a no-brainer. If you’re going to blow nearly six grand on a headset, what’s an extra NZ$800? First-generation products tend to be flakey — why take that risk?

Of course, this is all a bit of a moot point at the moment, with Vision Pro only available in the USA at the time of writing. By the time it reaches New Zealand, we might be on the third or fourth generation, when the price has come down enough to live a little dangerously without needing to spring for insurance.