Vision Pro costs $3,499. For the 64 percent of American adults who wear prescription glasses, it doesn't work properly out of the box.
Before the device is truly functional, prescription users must upload a valid eyeglass prescription to Zeiss, wait up to two weeks for custom lenses to be cut and shipped, and confirm their prescription is even supported. The lenses add $149. Some prescriptions aren't supported at all.
Apple can't afford that friction. IDC estimates the company sold just 45,000 headsets in the last quarter of 2025. Employees struggle with the prescription lens workflow, a process Glass Almanac described as requiring "multi-hour training" just to handle customers who simply wear glasses.
Apple's official solution is Zeiss — one vendor, custom-ordered, two weeks to arrive. Third party alternatives exist but aren't sold through Apple and aren't officially supported. For anyone who walks into an Apple Store, there is one option and one wait time.
The prescription workflow isn't a technical limitation. It's a choice.
Apple's fixed-focus lenses aren't there for no reason. The display only works the way it does because of them. That's a genuine constraint, but other headsets have solved it. Adjustable diopters (built-in focus wheels that let users dial in their prescription without custom lenses) and automatic focus tracking exist across the market. Apple hasn't tried either.
The prescription workflow isn't a technical limitation. It's a choice. Until Apple revisits it, Vision Pro remains a device that works perfectly for people who don't need glasses and asks everyone else to pay extra and wait two weeks for the privilege of joining them.