Apple has made it a habit of charging customers a little extra for the accessories that some may require when purchasing one of the company’s products. One of its most notorious practices included removing the 3.5mm audio jack from the iPhone 7 series so customers could purchase a 3.5mm-to-Lightning dongle. With the AR headset, which seemingly cannot be worn if you are wearing glasses, Apple intends to make consumers pay for this issue too. Here is how.
Apple could charge you extra for optional prescriptive lens add-ons to use in its first AR headset model
Even with the AR headset reportedly shown to Apple’s executives last week, there is still much that gets uncovered about the AR headset. A report from The New York Times says that the head-mounted cannot be worn if you wear glasses, so the obvious move would be to remove those spectacles and immerse yourself in high-resolution content. However, what if your eyesight is impaired to the extent that it is not possible to see without your glasses?
Apple is said to have a workaround to this problem, but it involves charging its customers more. Instead of designing the headset to accommodate wearers with weak eyesight, the California-based giant is looking to sell prescription lenses for the displays to people who do not wear contacts, according to one person familiar with Apple’s plans. Pricing of these lenses was not mentioned in the report, but knowing Apple, we expect customers to pay a hefty sum for these units.
Also, since the company is reported to ship only one million AR headset units this year, it also means those prescription lenses will be manufactured in low volumes. A product manufactured with fewer units is usually priced higher than a product made in larger volumes, so it can mean customers will have to pay a higher sum for these prescription lenses. However, Apple could also shift to a ‘made to order’ business model, where it has a minimum number of pre-made units for customers who wear glasses.
Other buyers of the AR headset who require unique prescription lenses can simply input their desired values, and they could receive those accessories in a couple of days. Given that Apple is rumored to make little to no profit off of this launch, it could generate more revenue through prescription lenses to make up for what could be an underwhelming release.
Apple’s design team was earlier reported to be against the device’s launch as it was not ready for the market. Not being able to fit over glasses could be one obstacle that the AR headset’s development team was attempting to overcome, which is likely why it needed more time, but it appears that the firm’s executives wanted to proceed with a rushed announcement instead.
News Source: The New York Times
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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