With Apple Vision Pro having been with real-world users in the wild for a few days now, some interesting quirks and bugs associated with the headset that skipped Apple’s marketing materials are starting to be uncovered. And this might well be the worst of the bunch so far.
Unfortunate Vision Pro owners are finding out the hard way that it’s a really bad mistake to forget your headset’s log-in password. According to Bloomberg, there’s no easy way to reset the device at home if you do, necessitating a trip to an Apple Store in order to reset your headset — and wipe your data in the process.
Now, you may not actually need the passcode all that often — the Optic ID system, which scans your eyes, is the primary log-in method for Vision Pro. But if you reboot Vision Pro, you’re going to have to pop that password in.
“People forget their passwords all the time!” I hear you say. “What’s made this so bad?”
Needing to go back to an Apple Store aside, it’s a step backward from how you handle the same situation on an iPad or iPhone. Yes, the same situation with those mobile devices will still see you lose your data — but you can at least fix the issue by restoring settings on a computer at home. However, without an accessible data port on the Vision Pro (beyond for development purposes, at least), you’re stuck.
If this seems like a wild oversight set to waste the precious time of in-store Genius Bar employees, you’d be right, and Apple seems to have already acknowledged it. A source familiar with the issue has told 9to5Mac that an early-access Apple Configurator is being rolled out to stores that at least saves employees the step of having to send the headset off to a repair center to complete the fix.
Pioneers or beta testers?
Those who have been lucky enough to get their hands on a Vision Pro in these early days of the product’s lifespan have had a somewhat uneven experience.
On the one hand, this is one of the most advanced consumer devices that’s ever existed, with innovative motion tracking and spatial awareness features, and among the most attractive screen technology in any device of this form factor.
But there’s also the sense of this being a work in progress. There are missing apps — both first and third-party — that haven’t had the spatial treatment yet. Basic features like being able to rearrange home screen apps are missing. And some headline features don’t match the marketing hype — EyeSight, for instance, has been met with near-universal bafflement.
There’s the beginning of something very special with Vision Pro. But teething issues should negate any FOMO that those still saving the pennies for Apple’s headset may be feeling.
