The Apple Vision Pro may be the most groundbreaking contender for the best VR headset we’ve seen, but it comes with a unique set of complications. One of the bigger ones? It may be difficult to even get the headset in the first place.
And now that developer kits (or dev kits) are rolling out, we are seeing yet another reason why buying a Vision Pro may not be as simple as “add to cart.” Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman tweeted (or is it now Xeeted?) a screenshot of the registration form that developers fill out once they’ve been approved for a dev kit, and it requires some custom measurements.
Here’s the form a developer will need to fill out when they are approved for a Vision Pro development kit + the Measure and Fit app that uses the camera to determine head band and light seal size. Lenses will come from Zeiss directly. pic.twitter.com/TG7ZuzgcayJuly 27, 2023
The good news is that you may not need to go into an Apple Store to complete your custom fitting — though you may need an iPhone. Gurman’s screenshots show that developers needed to use a Measure and Fit app that uses a camera to determine your Head Band and Light Seal size. This app will determine not only the required size for the Vision Pro but also the Vision Pro with the Zeiss custom inserts attached to the twin Micro OLED displays.
Once you have your measurements, you then enter them into the registration form, which also gives you the option to select custom inserts. These will ship directly from Zeiss according to Gurman.
App > Apple Store for Vision Pro
Hopefully, this process for the dev kits is a sign of things to come for when the Vision Pro is finally available to order in early 2024. We had heard rumors that Apple Vision Pro may require in-store appointments, and while there was precedent for this in the form of the original Apple Watch, it frankly sounded like a hassle. Granted, if you’re already dropping $3,500 on a VR headset, a 30-minute Apple Store appointment might not stop you from buying the Vision Pro, but it’s still an annoyance you won’t have when buying a Meta Quest 3.
Using an app instead of having to go into a store makes so much more sense for Apple. After all, I can use an app and my phone to measure myself for glasses and even see how they look before I order. There’s really no reason Apple couldn’t do something similar with the Vision Pro, and it seems like this Measure and Fit app accomplishes exactly that.
And that’s ultimately good news for consumers and Apple. If Apple wants wide-scale adoption of its “spatial computer,” it needs to make it as accessible as possible, which is already a tall order with a $3,500 price tag and production constraints reportedly limiting Apple to around 400,000 units per year. It didn’t need to further limit the headset to users living within driving distance of a major Apple store. So while the price tag may still be too much for most, at least it should be easier to order than originally thought.
