Apple Vision Pro's front panel might be drop proof — but it's also partially made of plastic

JerryRigEverything scratching up his Vision Pro
(Image credit: JerryRigEverything)

The promise of Vision Pro is a simple one — a super premium mixed-reality headset smothered from the front panel to strap in expensive feeling metal, glass, and textile. Unfortunately, it seems like one part of the headset might not fill the brief.

Notorious gadget destroyer and durability tester JerryRigEverything has posted his thorough tests to YouTube, and his findings, especially if you’ve just bought one on the assumption that it’s got a completely glass panel on the front, aren’t going to fill you with joy. Or confidence.

Laminated glass? Or a plastic panel?

As always, JerryRigEverything pulled out his tools to see just how durable the Vision Pro headset is. The headset is already covered with fingerprints after his initial demo of the device — and then he gets to scratching.

The device only lasts 3 stages of the Mohs scale of hardness before deep gouges are left by the sharp edges of the testing tool, something that we’re told only happens when plastic is present. JerryRigEverything goes on to explain that this is the glass lamination that Apple has put in to make the headset more drop-proof — although he was expecting the lamination not to be on the front but within the glass layers instead.

That means that if you’re wiping the headset down you’ll want to use a soft cleaning cloth, as even stuff like tissue paper could leave permanent scratching. Should you be disappointed with a plasticky glass front on your $3,499 headset? We’d say no — you’re more likely to drop the headset than anything else, and this form of lamination makes it a whole lot more durable if it were to tumble on your carpeted office floor. Hard floors, however — a different story, as shown in AppleTrack’s durability test.

A glimpse of the inside

As always, JerryRigEverythings tests also give us a glimpse of what the headset looks like on the inside, including the CPU, R1 chip, lenses, and more. It’s all broken, of course, but it's a cool look inside Apple’s latest device.

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Tammy Rogers
Senior Staff Writer

As iMore's Senior Staff writer, Tammy uses her background in audio and Masters in screenwriting to pen engaging product reviews and informative buying guides. The resident audiophile (or audio weirdo), she's got an eye for detail and a love of top-quality sound. Apple is her bread and butter, with attention on HomeKit and Apple iPhone and Mac hardware. You won't find her far away from a keyboard even outside of working at iMore – in her spare time, she spends her free time writing feature-length and TV screenplays. Also known to enjoy driving digital cars around virtual circuits, to varying degrees of success. Just don't ask her about AirPods Max - you probably won't like her answer.