Ever since I was little, my mother taught me to never buy the first generation. “Please wait until the bug is resolved,” she said. She mostly talked about cars and electronics, but she also applied it to my lifelong love of technology. My parents were always stubborn and were the last people I knew to own a flip phone.
On the other hand, I always wanted to be an early adopter. Our ideological divide caused us to clash frequently, but as I became financially independent, things got even worse. Of course, it was my mom who warned me the loudest to suppress my uncontrollable Apple sex drive to buy the Apple Vision Pro in the first place. Maybe my mother was right this time. But everything went well. my favor.
Let me explain.
At my previous job, I saved up a year’s worth of money to buy an Apple Vision Pro (then called “Apple Reality Pro” by fans). After work, I sat in my office with both my iPhone and iPad propped up, preparing to refresh them on pre-order release day so I could do a fitting scan as soon as possible. Since I was uncertain about the size of the app for the device, I ended up increasing the storage capacity to 512 GB and ended up receiving the unit on launch day.
I decided to buy different things. I had some use cases in mind. Watch a movie in 3D, complete an online class while listening to a lecture on the big screen behind your notebook, or use your computer more comfortably with Mac Virtual Display while lying in bed. (Exactly the setup I used). I am writing this article). But I just wanted to know what it was. Really Like. WWDC 2023 featured demonstrations of key features, but I haven’t seen many demonstrations that show how the product actually works in a seamless demo. I wanted to know a “tidbit” about what it’s actually like to use a spatial computer, for myself, and of course in front of the majority of Apple fans and the general public. is.
All of these use cases have worked for me and I love Vision Pro. Every use case I envisioned for myself worked well, and I’ve found many others. In particular, I think Apple Immersive Video is criminally underrated. If you’ve ever been to a Disney park, think of it like being at a Disney park. Soarin’ I ride it, but in 3D. The quality and immersion combined with AirPods’ filming and editing technology and spatial audio is breathtaking. It was especially fun Submergedit made my heart race and (at least I think I was wearing AirPods) made me gasp. As a film graduate, this technology turns the gears in my head.I I want to be one of the first to learn how to photograph this new thing!
I think the lack of developer support (and the difficulty of using the iPhone while wearing the headset and therefore the inability to use unsupported apps) are my biggest issues with this device. I also think the accuracy of eye tracking is an issue that users don’t talk about enough. But overall, I’m happy with my purchase, no matter how crappy it is, even from my most Apple-loving friends.
From launch day vulnerabilities to bugs that required users to bring their consoles to the Apple Store for a hard reset if they forgot their password, several controversies dampened the launch week hype in the tech community. I inserted it. But no scandal bothered me more than “Crackgate.”
Just before the end of February, less than a month after launch, some users began reporting mysterious shards on the Vision Pro’s outer glass. They claimed to have used the device lightly and carefully and discovered that the unit had cracks after not having used it for a while. They “teared down” the problem, which could be a bad batch of glass, a construction issue, or a bug that caused the device to overheat when not in use.
I started checking my unit carefully for any signs of cracks. I also took great care not to leave the unit connected to the battery for long periods of time when not in use, and to set it up so the unit didn’t get too hot. Carefully lower it each time. Even if it was a flaw, I didn’t want to do anything that would trigger or accelerate the process.
After that, the problem seemed resolved. The media stopped covering the issue, users stopped reporting it, and it seemed like nothing was happening. Or at least it wasn’t mentioned on tech blogs. Some online commenters even downplayed this as users refusing to accept responsibility for their own negligence. I breathed a sigh of relief. Since several users noticed the crack at the same time and the media coverage subsided, I didn’t think I would face any problems with my unit. Maybe the glass was simply defective and I wasn’t able to get the affected part, as the Reddit user claimed?
I continued to use Vision Pro as usual, taking it on planes, using it at work, and demoing it to friends and family. But one thing about me is that I am always careful with my belongings. I’ve only ever broken one iPhone in my life, and it wasn’t due to my carelessness, it was in a bad bike accident. As a runner, as a working television journalist who handles a lot of heavy equipment, as a well-traveled person, and as a friend who is known to be the life of every party, I think that’s a testament to how cautious I am.
This controversy may have disappeared from my mind until I recently jumped on the Vision Pro and took a call. I love jumping into unsuspecting video conferences with my personas and scaring people. While wearing the headset, I took a selfie to send to the other person’s friend (which is an art, by the way). It actually lasted a few days until I looked at the photo again and noticed what looked like an unmistakable line on the Vision Pro. Taking the unit out of the case confirmed my worst fears – Crackgate teeth It’s real and it’s happening right now.
With a pit in my stomach, I started Googling to find other users with similar experiences. I found some recent Reddit threads. There, users with affected devices can share their stories and an Apple support technician will repair the device for free under the one-year limited warranty, as long as the glass is not scratched. He claimed to have proposed that. A “point of impact” that indicates a severe impact. However, one Redditor claimed that the unlucky user had to shell out $800 for repairs. I have not been able to independently verify that these claims are true, but I was hoping to get some help.
I contacted Apple Support via iMessage on Friday, October 11th. The friendly staff always tried their best to make things right for me and were incredibly helpful. I had never sent it in for repair before, so I didn’t know how to go about fixing it. When I asked for help with my Apple Vision Pro, I was connected to a product expert rather than someone qualified to handle repair or warranty questions. AppleCare then handed me off to automated prompts that connected me to the appropriate specialist. There’s just one problem. The AppleCare prompt does not list the Vision Pro as a potentially affected device. When I tap “Details” it just doesn’t show up in the list. So I keep getting errors like this:
Eventually I connected with the right person. I explained my problem and made sure to mention that I was aware of other users’ problems and their claims that it was covered under warranty. Then he or she gave me a hopeful answer: “If this isn’t related to accidental damage, it must be a manufacturing issue.” progress! I ended up talking on the phone, and the next support tech said he’d really like someone to take a look at it. There was just one problem. He suggested I take it to the Apple Store. The closest one to me is St. John’s Town Center in Jacksonville, which is over an hour away from my residence in Gainesville, Florida.
I explained my dilemma and he needed to double check if there were other ways to solve the problem. After a moment of silence, he told me he would mail me a repair kit to see if I was at fault. eligible For free repairs. If so, they will do it. Some progress was finally made, but new tensions arose.
I received the repair kit on Monday, October 14th. I backed up the device to iCloud and reset it to factory settings before disassembling it. All you need is a battery pack and the actual unit with no straps or pads. I followed the instructions carefully, but realized I was missing the protective sticker I was supposed to receive to cover the windshield during shipping. Since this was an area of my unit that needed repair, I didn’t want to risk being inadvertently seen by the support staff who received the headset without a cover and ultimately having to pay for the repair.
So what did I do? I called Apple Support. Also.
This meant struggling with automated chatbots, overcoming menus that still lacked Vision Pro options, and finally meeting the right person. I ended up getting on the phone with a woman representing Apple Support on Monday, October 14th. She asked me to share my screen and open the camera app to show her what I was looking at. She said the guide was very easy to follow, so she opened the box and also took out some of the molding inside to prove there wasn’t a sticker hidden anywhere.
She ultimately told me that this sticker was not very substantial and would “probably” not prevent damage that could occur during shipping. I ended up using paper towels because I was told I could use a cloth instead that I didn’t mind giving up. But I insisted on making a note of her advice in my file. I wasn’t taking any risks. By the time I put the unit in the box, the crack was longer and more obvious than before. Still I shipped it and hoped for the best.
According to the Apple Support site, a technician picked up my unit at 8:35 a.m. on Wednesday, October 16th, marked it as repaired at 6:55 p.m., and returned it at 10:05 p.m. It says. Even after the support team marked the work as complete, I was still nervous that I would receive a unit in the same condition with a note stating that the issue was not covered by the warranty.
The delivery person arrived with my unit on Thursday, October 17th, while I was away, and finally made the delivery on Friday, October 18th, a week after submitting my request. When I opened the box, there was a note written on the top stating that the repair was successful. When I took the headset out, it was shiny and looked like new. What a relief! In the early morning hours of Saturday, October 19th, just over a week and a day after I submitted my complaint, I sat down with the Vision Pro in my face, fully set up and restored from backup, as if nothing had happened. I am.
So, this story has finally come to an end. After the “Crackgate” scandal seemed to disappear from the media, I couldn’t help but wonder what I would do if it happened to me, and it did. And now I can use my platform to bring peace of mind to other concerned potential Vision Pro owners. Similarly with the heart.
I’m grateful to the Redditors who shared their stories and kept them from dying for people who searched hard on Google. The Apple Support staff not only showed the utmost kindness and understanding through multiple iMessage conversations and two phone calls, but also provided next-day shipping on repair kits on three separate occasions to fix my device. It has shortened the time I don’t have it. , also for damaged headsets and repaired headsets. I appreciate that Apple, as a company, cares about getting these things right, especially for early adopters and fanboys who are less likely to be turned away from a product by poor service.
But most of all, I’m grateful to have taken the risk of being an early adopter and to have the Vision Pro back in front of me from day one.
