Why You Absolutely Shouldn’t Buy the Vision Pro If You’re Not in the U.S.

A great technology, but only exclusive to some

An image by the author.

Buying a Vision Pro is simple if you pass the eligibility criteria. It only demands two things:

1. You should be able to afford it.
2. You should be living in the U.S.

In most cases, people are only able to fill in one of these two checkboxes. Lucky are those who are rich Americans. For the rest of the rich folks around the globe, you’re not as lucky as you think you are.

Surely, there are workarounds to get your hands on the Vision Pro, despite not being a green card holder. Surely, there are sellers on eBay and several logistics companies who will ship the headset to your home country, but are you willing to pay three times its actual price?

Currently, the base variant of the headset is listed at $5,899 on eBay for international shipping, which is $2,400 more than its official price. Moreover, if the customs duty fee applies, its price will skyrocket further. However, the customs duty fee may vary depending on where you live and how unlucky you are.

Having said that, it’s pretty obvious that geological restrictions cannot stop you from getting the Vision Pro home. However, it’s still a terrible idea to buy the headset through third-party methods even though money isn’t a problem to you. You’ll need to say goodbye to three more things other than a fat wallet. Here are those:

1. Say goodbye to your previous purchases

Ah, the sweet memories of those apps you bought with your hard-earned cash. The productivity apps that promised to turn you into a superhuman multitasker (spoiler alert: they didn’t). The meditation app that made you feel zen for exactly 2.5 minutes before you got distracted by a cat video. Well, my friend, sayonara to all of that! If you thought you’d be able to enjoy those on your Vision Pro, you’re wrong.

The Vision Pro runs on its native operating system — the visionOS, which demands you to sign up with your U.S. Apple ID. Now even though you already have a U.S. Apple ID, it’s safe to say that your paid apps and active subscriptions are linked to your original…