There are a few big features that the Apple Vision Pro is missing – such as support for Bluetooth mice and location tracking for the Apple Find My network – but perhaps the strangest omission from the Apple Vision Pro is the ability to reset your device if you forget your passcode.
During the Vision Pro set-up process you’ll be asked to enter a six-digit passcode, just as you would when setting up an iPhone or iPad. You can also optionally set up an Optic ID login method, but just as with Face ID on your other Apple gadgets there will be times when you’ll be forced to enter your passcode – for example after your headset has restarted.
If you ever forget your iPad or iPhone passcode you can unlock your Apple device by connecting it to your Mac or PC and wiping the data on it, and on the Apple Watch you can use the digital crown or your connected iPhone to do the same thing. Yes you’ll delete all the data, but a blank gadget is better than a gadget you’re forever locked out of.
However, while the Apple Vision Pro also has a setting that allows you to erase all your content – including the passcode – it’s only accessible via the Settings app. If you’re locked out of your headset because you’ve forgotten your passcode there’s currently no at-home way to get into your Vision Pro.
Instead, as reported by Bloomberg ($/£), you’ll need to either take your headset back to your local Apple Store, or ship it back to Apple to have it reset if there isn’t a physical store near you.
Is there a workaround?
Unfortunately, the only workaround to this problem available to most people is to not forget your passcode in the first place.
We’ve seen reports that users with the Developer Strap – a dongle that adds a USB-C port to the Vision Pro so that it can be connected to a Mac computer – could erase the Vision Pro’s content and passcode using a Mac. However, the Developer Strap costs $300 and is only available to officially registered developers, so most people won’t have access to it – and we’ve not been able to confirm that this method works, so there’s a chance the dongle wouldn’t even help you if you had one.
We expect that Apple will launch some kind of alternative way to erase your Vision Pro passcode in due course, especially once the gadget is made available outside the US, and sending your headset back becomes even more inconvenient for some. But for now you might want to make a note of your passcode, taking the usual precautions to ensure that this is secure.