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Prescription lens inserts: Info & Questions
- Thread starter arfung
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Yes you can, make sure to answer the same questions when it asks you to determine if the inserts are perfect for you, and take the same light seal size it gives as the adjusted one to accommodate extra space for the inserts. You can also visit an Apple Store to see how the light seal sizes differ and adjust them accordingly to your needs; please bring your eyeglasses to use the inserts as well.
- ZEISS Inserts Return Policy: Subject to Apple’s 2-week return policy, with specific return procedures for prescription and reading lenses.
- ZEISS Inserts/Light Seal Exchange Policy: Only the Light Seal and reading inserts can be exchanged at an Apple Store.
- ZEISS Inserts Ordering: Order with separate prescriptions per pair and use the adjusted light seal size provided.
If you get the prescription ones call the Apple online store prior to returning them; this is due to the personalized prescription of the lenses and must be returned in the same way an engraved Apple product from Apple online store is. Not sure if they are subject to the holiday return policy but you can call them and ask if they are eligible to be returned until the start of January. These things cannot be exchanged except for the Light Seal which can be changed at an Apple Store, a Specialist can help you with that.
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Thanks. You have been most helpful. It does apparently fall under extended holiday return.
I got one set and it is still not clear. Going to order the higher prescription ones to test. If still not clear, I may return the VP. Hope to keep it.
Also hope ZEISS don’t cancel my order due to a second set. Hopefully I can get it before my holiday mid of the month 🙏🏼
Fingers crossed 🤞, friend. Had you also done a demo at your local Apple Store yet? I done it before 3 times. The first one I forgot my glasses before I left the house, the eye tracking was kind of weird and off when I did not use the inserts. But when I brought the glasses along and have the Specialist put my glasses into the lens meter and put the ZEISS inserts into the demo Vision Pro, the eye tracking is spot on. If I would get one i only need to order one pair as my prescription never changed every year; one eye has stronger lens than the other.
When you pick up your Vision Pro at an Apple Store it is highly recommended to do a demo while you wait for your Vision Pro to arrive. Apple Store Specialists do this routinely to ensure that new visionOS users are comfortable using the Vision Pro, address fitting issues and how to take care of the device.
Whoever is getting a AVP should read your advice.
Here is my story. I don’t use glasses even though my vision is not perfect. Due to age, I need reader for both eyes. However as I am short sighted on one side, it cancels off the need for a reader, allowing me to read near stuff. My other eye is long sighted, which limits me from reading near stuff but allows me to see far.
Fact is my degrees are not very high so I thought I can get away with it while using AVP, just like how I don’t use glasses in day to day.
But I find that AVP emphasises the shortfall, or maybe my expectations are high. After using for a few days, I couldn’t stand how unclear it was. Hence, I have the AVP first, before deciding on the prescription insets.
Because of that, I couldn’t do a demo in store with prescriptions, as I don’t have any specs to begin with.
In fact after getting the two prescriptions, I wanted to do a demo at the Apple Store so I could just order the one which is better. Ended up waiting 45 mins without testing as the Apple staff was unable to do so. Due to privacy concerns, even when I go to them with the prescription by the optician, they cannot get the inserts. They explained that every insert there is marked in a unique way that doesn’t allow them to know the actual degrees.
If not, I may not need to order the second set 😅
Btw, anyone knows how long it takes Apple to update the inserts as delivered? I got my first set last Friday and it is still reflected as shipped.
Was trying to verify the extended holiday returns for the inserts as it was informed by the staff in Apple Store. They are the ones who told me to order 2 sets at a go. But I eventually decided to order just 1 first. Only if it doesn’t work as well m, then I will get the other.
Was trying to verify the extended holiday returns for the inserts as it was informed by the staff in Apple Store. They are the ones who told me to order 2 sets at a go. But I eventually decided to order just 1 first. Only if it doesn’t work as well m, then I will get the other.
Just bring your current glasses so they can put them on their machine
I appreciate your feedback friend, I am always here to help other fellow users like you. You also have similar experiences with your vision where one eye is stronger than the other, I have normal on the left and double vision on right eye/nearsightedness as well. I highly recommend to still get the inserts anyway, and if you have issues finding your prescription or don’t have one you can ring your primary eyecare provider and get another comprehensive eye test or have them resend you your prescription to upload to ZEISS. Even there’s settings in the Vision Pro for eye tracking and accessibility modifications they will sometimes not work the way you want, the inserts I’ll still get anyway.
- Recommendation for Reading Inserts: Highly recommended to get reading inserts, even with vision issues.
- Prescription for Inserts: Use the prescription for contacts or request a new one from the primary eyecare provider.
- Importance of Reading Inserts Pair: Reading inserts must be brought as a pair, not a single one.
How did the demo go for you?
Tell me you got it!
Not yet. Have to wait three AGONIZING weeks!
Demo went great. I spent most of the time checking the need for inserts and learning the interface and gestures. Not much time at all evaluating the visuals, too much on my plate and the store was very busy and very loud. But I saw enough to be convinced!
Still not sure about the need for inserts given my weak prescription. I don't think I can easily determine if they are needed as 30 mins is not enough time. I'll probably order them anyway. Better to have and not need... etc. I have until Jan 31 to return them if they are unnecessary.
Thanks for assisting too. I did order. The prescription ones allows me to correct a) long/near sightedness, b) astigmatism, and c) presbyopia (reader).
Not sure how reader works though. I tried without in the AVP and I can read even if I drag the screen close to me. So I am confused whether reader is required
I do have a weak prescription with one eye stronger than the other but it depends how well you can see it and if you can use it comfortably. For me even with any accessibility options on or off the eye tracking is slightly off without inserts so I need to use them when I get mines in the future (when they plan to reduce the price and more development in visionOS one day). FYI in USA the holiday return policy is early January if you bought anything since November until Christmas Day, 1/8/25 is the last day to return anything in the USA. 🇺🇸 The holiday return policy also Applies to personalized products such as ZEISS Optical inserts (reading and prescription lenses), engraved AirPods, iPads, Apple Pencil, AirTag and gift packaging and even souvenirs purchased at Apple Park (which also was denoted in the receipt 🧾 when I bought some things there)Not yet. Have to wait three AGONIZING weeks!
Demo went great. I spent most of the time checking the need for inserts and learning the interface and gestures. Not much time at all evaluating the visuals, too much on my plate and the store was very busy and very loud. But I saw enough to be convinced!
Still not sure about the need for inserts given my weak prescription. I don't think I can easily determine if they are needed as 30 mins is not enough time. I'll probably order them anyway. Better to have and not need... etc. I have until Jan 31 to return them if they are unnecessary.
Me neither I have nearsightedness on one eye and the other isn’t anything requiring correction, no prisms and single vision only, so readers are not the thing for me. These things work for farsighted people who use the reading glasses you buy from a store.
The prescription are personalized for you especially even if one eye does no need or uses different corrective measures you can still use both inserts. It would not fit properly if you only use one and none on the other side.
I am quite amazed by the lenses and how Apple uses a QR code equivalent to calibrate the lens. But one thing I noted is that I will need the box. The degrees are captured in the box and required.
Am I right to say that if we lose the box, we cannot configure the inserts?
Correct, if you lose the papers 📑 and/or the packaging box 📦 then you cannot pair them. When you set them up you need to hold the codes up in front of the Vision Pro and look at them so the cameras 📸 can scan them in.
All the information from the prescription lenses you sent and got approved by ZEISS will also pop up in Settings when you check out its information in Settings. These are personalized and differ between other inserts other Vision Pro users have. You can also save a copy of this on your iPhone via the health app as long the Vision Pro is on the same Apple account as your iPhone, it will also have the QR code on it. But don’t throw away the box! You will need it in case!
A side note:
- Prescription Information Access: Prescription information from approved ZEISS lenses is accessible in Vision Pro Settings.
- Information Storage Options: Users can save prescription information on their iPhone using the Health app.
- Demo Inserts and QR Codes: Demo inserts, scanned during the Vision Pro demo, have QR codes accessible on the Specialist’s iPhone.
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Very useful info. Didn’t know about the health app. I took a photo of it, just in case I lose the QR code. Now I can add it to the health app too! Thanks!
No problem! Are the inserts helping you with the eye tracking and seeing things far away or close to you when you wear Vision Pro? Without them when I did the demo I would select the wrong buttons when using my eyes to make a selection on visionOS. This usually happens as one eye is stronger than the other it would mess around with the eye tracking which makes it quite off, especially when I use the weaker eye it selected the button or an area on the user interface next to an adjacent button or something. The ZEISS inserts are a huge advantage especially if the settings to modify eye tracking only help a little bit or not at all; the pointer control is more for Vision Pro users with arthritis or mobility issues like dexterity.
For me the eye control was good enough, with or without. The inserts made the text so clear. It is now perfectly useable as a monitor for useful work, rather than use as a media consumption device.
Somehow the movies are sharper than text, at least that’s how my eyes perceived them. Now with the inserts, they are both as sharp.
Added reader but frankly don’t see a difference before or after
Same it’s more clearer on my end! I don’t have added readers nor prisms. I would use it for useful work; it is a must for me to use it for rendering and working on CAD models in the real world.For me the eye control was good enough, with or without. The inserts made the text so clear. It is now perfectly useable as a monitor for useful work, rather than use as a media consumption device.
Somehow the movies are sharper than text, at least that’s how my eyes perceived them. Now with the inserts, they are both as sharp.
Added reader but frankly don’t see a difference before or after
Not sure if replying to an older sticky thread is the right place for this or not, but having gotten an AVP thanks to the combo of M5 update and VisionOS 26 supporting prism in prescriptions, I thought I might as well share the experience as someone nearsighted with mild prism correction (2 up, 2 down):
Pre-purchase process, super-annoying: VisionOS 26 supports prism correction in software, but although it's not clear unless you carefully read the fine print, the way the Zeiss ordering works is that you must provide them with a prescription that does not include prism, even if you need it, and even though it's handled in software. That seems mind-bogglingly stupid, but may be a side effect of the stupid way America handles eyewear, or it could be Zeiss' fault, or it could be Apple's.
In any case, I found an easy cheat that saved me a trip to the eye doctor: One of those "renew your prescription online for only $15!" services conveniently just asked for the numbers of your prescription, not written proof of it. So I provided my prescription to them, sans-prism, did the eye test (honestly), and for $15 a few hours later a valid US prescription with no prism included (but otherwise identical to my existing glasses) came back. Zeiss accepted it.
Lenses, ironically, took two days longer to get delivered than my pre-ordered AVP (and shipped direct from China, and had a problem with shipping), also not a great experience.
As for how they actually work: Well, after onboarding.
When I popped in the prescription inserts and put the headset on, I wasn't prompted for prism correction initially, although I was, somewhat surprisingly, able to see reasonably well anyway. I'm not sure how much of this was because of the focal distance of the screens making my eyes able to correct sufficiently and how much was automatic eye tracking correction, but it wasn't a double-vision mess. It WAS, however, kinda "off" looking, particularly anywhere away from the center of field of vision, and I suspect it was mostly my eyes working hard, because as soon as I took the headset off and put my glasses on I had severe double vision for a bit until my eyes re-adjusted.
Once the AVP was set up and did a software update, I went into Settings and was able to manually add prism correction from my prescription to the inserts I had. It had me re-do the eye alignment bit, and that's it. This made a significant difference--now everything looks quite crisp and well-aligned, much better than before, and there's no adjustment period or noticeable difference when I take the headset off or put it on.
I do wish it had asked me if I needed to add prism during the onboarding process, but it was tolerable to go in and add it after, and if my eyes were worse I could have temporarily closed one eye until I got through initial setup (I was kind of expecting to have to do this, but wasn't necessary for me).
I'm glad to finally be able to use one of these things, and a significant advantage of the correction being in software is that if your need for prism gets worse but your eyes otherwise do not, you can just go in and tweak the prism settings without getting new lenses.
Pre-purchase process, super-annoying: VisionOS 26 supports prism correction in software, but although it's not clear unless you carefully read the fine print, the way the Zeiss ordering works is that you must provide them with a prescription that does not include prism, even if you need it, and even though it's handled in software. That seems mind-bogglingly stupid, but may be a side effect of the stupid way America handles eyewear, or it could be Zeiss' fault, or it could be Apple's.
In any case, I found an easy cheat that saved me a trip to the eye doctor: One of those "renew your prescription online for only $15!" services conveniently just asked for the numbers of your prescription, not written proof of it. So I provided my prescription to them, sans-prism, did the eye test (honestly), and for $15 a few hours later a valid US prescription with no prism included (but otherwise identical to my existing glasses) came back. Zeiss accepted it.
Lenses, ironically, took two days longer to get delivered than my pre-ordered AVP (and shipped direct from China, and had a problem with shipping), also not a great experience.
As for how they actually work: Well, after onboarding.
When I popped in the prescription inserts and put the headset on, I wasn't prompted for prism correction initially, although I was, somewhat surprisingly, able to see reasonably well anyway. I'm not sure how much of this was because of the focal distance of the screens making my eyes able to correct sufficiently and how much was automatic eye tracking correction, but it wasn't a double-vision mess. It WAS, however, kinda "off" looking, particularly anywhere away from the center of field of vision, and I suspect it was mostly my eyes working hard, because as soon as I took the headset off and put my glasses on I had severe double vision for a bit until my eyes re-adjusted.
Once the AVP was set up and did a software update, I went into Settings and was able to manually add prism correction from my prescription to the inserts I had. It had me re-do the eye alignment bit, and that's it. This made a significant difference--now everything looks quite crisp and well-aligned, much better than before, and there's no adjustment period or noticeable difference when I take the headset off or put it on.
I do wish it had asked me if I needed to add prism during the onboarding process, but it was tolerable to go in and add it after, and if my eyes were worse I could have temporarily closed one eye until I got through initial setup (I was kind of expecting to have to do this, but wasn't necessary for me).
I'm glad to finally be able to use one of these things, and a significant advantage of the correction being in software is that if your need for prism gets worse but your eyes otherwise do not, you can just go in and tweak the prism settings without getting new lenses.
I saw your post because I got an email alert 😊.
I'm glad the inserts worked out for you! I went to the Apple Store in the evening of the launch day, February 2, 2024. The insert ordering process was completely screwed up and the Vision Pro didn't recognize the inserts correctly. So I returned the Vision Pro on the spot. After testing it out for several hours a few weeks later I decided not to buy it (a first---I've pretty much bought each and every Apple product since 2003).
I hope you'll enjoy yours, and hopefully a future iteration will bring me back in the market for it.
How about this as an idea:
1: Future Vision Pro headsets have (typical range) eye correction built it as standard.
This is something I've felt all headsets should have and if you buy other visual equipment they almost always comes with eye focus adjustment rings.
2: (And this is the BIG one) The headset has zoom lenses on the front, perhaps 20x, 50x 100 times zoom.
So you could be sitting outside, and zoom into see something as if you were wearing binoculars.
1: Future Vision Pro headsets have (typical range) eye correction built it as standard.
This is something I've felt all headsets should have and if you buy other visual equipment they almost always comes with eye focus adjustment rings.
2: (And this is the BIG one) The headset has zoom lenses on the front, perhaps 20x, 50x 100 times zoom.
So you could be sitting outside, and zoom into see something as if you were wearing binoculars.
Had to try out the AVP for a work related thing and borrowed a set… have done the demo in Apple Store before but having the ability to play with a set for an extended period of time really sold the idea for myself to own a personal set (we also decided to procure a couple of sets for the work thing FWIW). Managed to find a decent deal on a used M2 1TB but it was really challenging to use without glasses. Ordered the inserts (took five tries before Zeiss accepted my prescription), and finally got to try them on today upon returning from a work trip.
Really made a night and day difference - it was so much sharper with the inserts and finally makes the virtual desktop usable for me, and it seems to track my eyes a little better than “naked” somehow. A bit of a costly upgrade since the AVP I bought came with 21W light seals and the app scan asked me to purchase a 33W light seal together with the insert. It does all work much better now though!
Really made a night and day difference - it was so much sharper with the inserts and finally makes the virtual desktop usable for me, and it seems to track my eyes a little better than “naked” somehow. A bit of a costly upgrade since the AVP I bought came with 21W light seals and the app scan asked me to purchase a 33W light seal together with the insert. It does all work much better now though!