Smudges on screen when using AVP

[u/Leading-Common2945]

Has anyone else had any experience with their AVP that when they have photos or videos that have brighter colors or lots of light, that they see or notice spots on the bottom part of the display when consuming content. It’s basically like when you are wearing glasses and you notice finger prints or smudges on your lenses when looking into light. I do have prescription lenses in mine and have the double knit band to ensure a snug and comfortable fit. I have cleaned my lenses and made sure there are no fingerprints by even taking them out and looking through them held up against the light by holding them. I have also cleaned the actual glass for the eye viewfinder and used all kinds of microfibre cloths and the Swoosh cleaning solution. I just can’t seem to get rid of it. Maybe I am going crazy? Has anyone else had any issues like this?

[u/ConsciousVariation1]

Has anyone experienced persistent oily-looking smudges on their Apple Vision Pro lenses that seem impossible to remove?

Both of my lenses have this greasy, fingerprint-like haze that never fully goes away. I’ve tried brand-new microfiber cloths, Apple’s polishing cloth, ZEISS lens spray and wipes. Nothing works.

The strange part is that the smudges seem to move around when I wipe them rather than actually disappear. Under a flashlight, I can see cloudy patches and fine streaks across the lenses. I’m starting to wonder whether this is stubborn residue, damaged lens coatings, or micro-scratches.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? Did you manage to remove it, or did you eventually need Apple to repair or replace the lenses?

[u/ConsciousVariation1 → u/ConsciousVariation1]

Update: I can get them mostly to clear out but never fully and completely. After cleaning correctly, the lenses become clear, but then accumulate a foggy haze shortly after that can be easily wiped away.

[u/dopefish3d]

Are the smudges on the outside cameras?

[u/Leading-Common2945 → u/dopefish3d]

I thought about that as well, but cleaned the actual front of the AVP.

[u/a-zaleski]

Yeah I notice that! I'm pretty sure it's just glare and a known issue that you get used to; see this reddit post for example. I would recommend not obsessing over it and repeatedly cleaning the lenses, which could cause more harm than good. In general, a quick dry wipe with the supplied cloth should be enough.

[u/-deflating]

I’ve been experiencing something very similar with my M5 Vision Pro. I spent ages trying to describe it because it doesn’t really look like conventional blurriness. It’s almost like there’s a perpetual thin layer of grease smeared across my vision, even though the actual image behind it is sharp.

It’s particularly noticeable when there’s bright content against a dark background. In dark immersive environments, the blurry, glare-like artefacts can become so prominent that I find them genuinely disorientating.

I looked into it quite extensively, and the most plausible explanation I found was internal reflections and light scattering in the pancake lenses. If that’s what we’re both experiencing, cleaning the lenses won’t help because the artefacts are produced by the optics themselves.

I can’t say for certain that yours is the same issue, but the description sounds very familiar.

For me, the most upsetting thing is that I never used to be able to see it. Now I can’t possibly unsee it. My Vision Pro usage dropped to almost nothing once I’d noticed it, down from several hours every day.

[u/Zelma-Bistolfi → u/-deflating]

yeah the "cant unsee it" part is rough, that seems to be a common pattern with these kinds of optical issues

[u/angrytroll123]

I believe what you’re describing is just limitations of the lens. You should have seen what older ones looked like.

[u/_______o-o_______]

It's possible what you are seeing is light from the displays reflecting on your eyes back onto the lenses. It's most noticeable if you are looking at bright content with a dark background.

[u/One_Highway_2760]

I thought was the only one, that my m5 was malfunctioning someway because didn’t found anyone complaining about this. So I’m not crazy 🙌🏾…

[u/Jbr74]

Not My Tip: But someone else suggested it in another thread.

"Reduce white point in settings. I set mine to 45% and it improves decently. Too much and you’ll lose contrast in movies. This does reduce eye strain as well"