Today, I woke up at 4:30 AM so I could give Apple $4,000 for a product I’ve never tried before. Crazy.
The order process went smoothly (at first). I was able to get through the checkboxes fast enough. There are upgrades for additional memory. An extra $200 will double your storage to 512GB, and an extra $400 will get it to 1TB. There is also Applecare for $499 or $25/mo.
I had a lot of questions about glasses. My distance vision is 20/20, but I need readers for books and screens. A dialog box asked if I needed glasses, and then it asked what kind of glasses. I ticked the box for readers and told them 1.5-1.75 works for me, and that was it. I was not required to upload a prescription.
My final order was a 512GB device (probably dumb to add the extra storage). I did not order any additional accessories. I’m going to wait to see how I use the device first. Then I clicked the button to pay and (foolishly) picked Apple Pay in haste. The problem is that my business card is not part of Apple Pay. (My bank only supports Apple Pay for personal cards, not business cards.) I had a moment of crisis there but decided I’d go ahead and pay on my personal card and let my accountant sort it out.
The app gave me a 9:00 AM pick up time at my local Apple Store on February 2, and I was good to go. I pushed the Buy button.
Declined.
I have no idea why. That card has a balance of a few hundred dollars and plenty of credit. Likely a fraud thing.
So I switched (in Apple Pay) to my company debit card. The only problem was that my pickup window was then gone, so I had to pick a new one. 11:30 on February 2. Check. Press Buy.
Declined.
Again, I have no idea why. Plenty of money to pay for this ridiculous headset.
So then, I canceled the checkout. I figured at that point I had a 50/50 chance that pushing that cancel button would reset the whole transaction, and then I wouldn’t be able to get one–since I’d lost my place in line. At that point, I was okay with that potential outcome.
So I pressed Cancel.
Good news? It didn’t cancel the transaction but just brought me back to the screen where I could choose to pay via Apple Pay or traditionally with my company card (as I usually do with Apple transactions). Now the first available time is 3:00 PM on February 2. Click Buy.
Transaction failed. The allotted time is already taken. Pick a new one.
So this went on multiple times. I’d pick a time, and then it was no longer available when I pushed to buy a second later. It finally worked with me picking up at 12:30 PM on February 3.
So success? I think? I have to admit I’m mixed about spending so much on a product I haven’t tried and don’t fully understand. I’m hoping that there is a productivity/contextual computing story around this headset, and the only way I’m going to really know that is to try it for myself. So I have some trepidation and am mindful of that return window. But I’m also excited to try something entirely new from Apple. So often, it is when they come to an existing platform with their own unique spin that Apple does their best work, and I want to see them do that again. Either way, here we go.
P.S. For you Mac Power Users listeners, Stephen also got one, so we’ll be sharing thoughts soon.