Customers Say They're Returning Apple Vision Pro Headsets Amid Complaints of 'Extreme Headaches'

The first Apple Vision Pro headsets hit shelves earlier this month, unveiling the company's highly anticipated foray into virtual reality. However, while early reviews seem promising, some users say that they've returned or are planning to return their Vision Pros due to complaints of headaches and eye strain.

The pricey, $3,500 goggles became available for pre-sale in late January and quickly sold out of approximately 200,000 units. It's unclear how many have since been returned. But at the minimum, a vocal minority have been sounding off on message boards with complaints.

"I picked up Vision Pro on release day," wrote one user on Reddit. "Since I started using it, I have constant headaches. I tried both solo and dual bands. None of them seem to work. I even bought headband from Amazon to support the solo loop band and it did not help either."

The user added that after 24 hours of non-use, their headache was gone and they were leaning towards returning he headset.

"I returned mine today," chimed in another user, who said they were experiencing "extreme headaches." "I can't wear [it for] more than 10 minutes without extreme discomfort, feels like a torture session just trying to keep it on. "

A third user in the thread likewise claimed they were also having "severe headaches" when wearing the device for more than 30-45 minutes.

"I have tried both bands and the issue seems to be the amount of pressure the bands put on the back of my head," the user explained. "I tried loosening it but because the headset is so heavy, I have to tighten these fairly good to prevent it from slipping down and getting the 'raise up headset" error."

"This is so devastating as I love everything else about the AVP," they added. "I would like to think with continued use I would get used to this but it is too expensive to take that bet past the 14 day return period. I am returning mine today."

In a separate thread, a customer said that while they hadn't experienced headaches, they were dealing with eye strain.

"I'm perfectly happy with almost everything the Vision Pro offers right now," the user wrote. "The only issue I'm experiencing that I don't see a whole lot of people talking about is eye strain or eye fatigue."

"I've been using headsets like this on and off since 2016 and my vision is excellent," the user continued. "I've tried swapping out the straps, adjusting tightness on both, swapping out the cushions etc., and while I've found some improvement it's still not what I would consider acceptable ... I feel it within a couple minutes and just gets more and more uncomfortable from that point on."

Of course, there are growing pains—sometimes quite literally—when it comes to any new tech. And it's impossible to know how many users are actually experiencing serious discomfort or pain with the Apple Vision Pro. But if the issues are widespread enough, it remains to be seen what Apple plans to do about them.