Some Apple Vision Pro units are developing glass cracks in the same spot

A handful of Apple Vision Pro’s early adopters are reporting unexplained damage to the front glass of their headsets, prompting expensive trips to the Apple Store for a repair.

It’s not clear exactly how widespread the problem is, but at the time of writing this there have been five separate Reddit posts that have reported the same problem: unexplained vertical hairline cracks appearing in exactly the same spot, from the bottom of the visor in front of the nose.

Four of the posts include pictures of the familiar-looking damage, and we can add a sixth to the list as Engadget claims the same thing happened to its review unit.

As well as the shared location of the crack, the accounts are united by one very important detail: The owners claim not to have done anything to cause the damage. In fact, they claim to have handled their $3,500 headsets with kid gloves, storing it in its case or with the soft cover on. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the spate of M1 Mac screen cracks that appeared overnight with no user interactions.

It’s not clear what’s causing the problem. It may simply be that the headset's design places too much tension on the glass near the bridge of the nose, but given the stories surrounding the various accounts, others speculate that it might be an overheating consequence of charging the headset in the case or with the cover on.

Whatever the cause of the damage, it will run on the expensive side if it happens to you — even with AppleCare Plus. As previously reported, Vision Pro repairs of the glass run to $799 by default, and $299 even with Apple’s extended warranty, which itself costs $24.99 per month or $499 for a two-year plan. Sure enough, those reporting the problem on Reddit say they're being charged that amount for repairs, even though they claim not to have mistreated the device.

To be clear, for the moment this is not even remotely close to a widespread problem. Approximately 200,000 Vision Pro units have been sold and we’re aware of just six that may have developed the defect — even if 94 more owners suddenly speak up with irrefutable evidence, that’s still just 0.05% of all buyers.

But then again, Apple Vision Pro has only been out for 22 days, so it’s possible these are the first signs of something more significant. We’ll just have to see how this develops over the coming weeks and months.