What just happened? Apple is notorious for making its phones, tablets, and laptops hard to repair, and new right-to-repair laws across multiple states have done little to change things for the better. That trend seems to continue with the Vision Pro, with a new teardown claiming that it is even less repairable than other Apple products.
According to popular YouTube channel Phone Repair Guru, the Vision Pro can be pried open without any drama once you've had a bit of practice, but Apple has made it intentionally difficult for third-party repair shops and DIY enthusiasts to actually replace any faulty hardware.
Like most other Apple products, every single part in the Vision Pro is serialized, meaning the device will not work if you replace any of them even with original Apple hardware.
The YouTuber tested the repairability of the device by swapping out its biometrics-enabled display with an original Vision Pro display from another unit, but couldn't get the headset to work with the new hardware. He then tried to do the same thing with the headset's sensors and Persona Display, but found that those were also software-locked, and couldn't be replaced with the exact same parts from the second Vision Pro.
Also read: Each Vision Pro headset costs Apple $1,500 to manufacture
Interestingly, Phone Repair Guru's findings contradict a recent iFixit video, which claimed that none of the parts in the Vision Pro are software-locked, meaning they could be swapped between two units without any functional issues.
As per that video, the device is difficult to get into, but the problem with swapping the displays between two units has more to do with calibration than parts pairing and serialization. Either way, the Vision Pro is still notoriously difficult to repair, if not impossible.
It remains to be seen if Apple will make parts and service manuals available for third-party repair shops in the future, but going by the company's track record, that is highly unlikely, to say the least. So if you can pony up the astronomical sum to buy the Vision Pro, make sure to take good care of it, as any damage could mean that you'll have to shell out a pretty penny to get it repaired at an Apple-authorized service center.