How Apple's Vision Pro Works With Prescription Glasses

Apple's Vision Pro augmented reality headset may be courting controversy with its removable battery pack and the cable it involves, but for those who are already used to putting on glasses — albeit ones that are less high-tech — every day, there was another big question they hoped to have answered. Mixed-reality wearables and eyeglasses for corrective vision generally remain in awkward coexistence across the headset industry, and it's not hard to assume that many makers of such hardware would prefer to imagine that every buyer has perfect 20/20 vision.

Confirmed during the WWDC 2023 keynote, though, was the detail glasses-wearers were hoping to hear. In a collaboration with lens-maker ZEISS — arguably best known for its camera glass — it was confirmed that Vision Pro would be compatible with Optical Inserts to suit those requiring vision correction. Each extra lens clings magnetically in place, Apple revealed, allowing them to be quickly removed should the headset need to be switched with someone who doesn't require eyeglasses themselves (or who doesn't share the same prescription). 

The inserts will mean complete compatibility with the Vision Pro's headline features, such as its ability to be used as a 4K display with a wirelessly-connected Mac computer, and its eye-tracking control. 

There are a few caveats that are worth bearing in mind — and questions that Apple is yet to answer. Something users with less-than-perfect eyesight will have to remember is that the ZEISS Optical Inserts for the Vision Pro will be sold separately, rather than bundled with the cost of the headset itself. Apple hasn't said exactly how much that'll cost yet, but it looks like an unavoidable expense — on top of the already eye-wateringly expensive headset itself — since wearing Vision Pro while also wearing regular eyeglasses is a non-starter. 

The other question is whether there'll be inserts for every vision correction out there. Given Apple and ZEISS are effectively making a set of eyeglasses, just without the frame to hold them together, it seems likely that the inserts will be able to correct regular distance vision and near vision, along with astigmatism. Still, anybody with particularly unusual corrective lens requirements may want to wait to see if their issues are on the list of those Vision Pro Optical Inserts can fix. 

What's admirable, at least, is that Apple is addressing corrective vision from day one. Arguably one of the (many) reasons that Google Glass failed, for instance, was Google's tardiness to offer prescription lenses until long after it began selling the headsets. Considering those who already wear prescription glasses are an obvious audience to court with smart glasses technology, getting them onboard from the outset seems a common-sense strategy.