Apple Vision Pro Virtual Display Not Working with Multiple Logins? Here's What you can Do

If you bought the Apple Vision Pro (AVP) thinking you could use it as a virtual monitor for your Mac, you might be surprised to find that it doesn’t work if you use different user accounts. This can be frustrating, especially if you share your Mac with others or have separate work and personal accounts.

Here’s what’s really going on and what you can or can’t do about it.

The Main Problem

The Virtual Display feature on the Apple Vision Pro only works if both the Mac and the Vision Pro are signed in with the same Apple ID. That means:

You cannot use the Virtual Display if your Mac is signed in with a different Apple ID than your Vision Pro.
Fast User Switching does not help.
You will need to log out and log back in every time you want to switch accounts.

This makes using the Vision Pro with more than one user very difficult and inconvenient.

Why This Is Frustrating

If you:

Use different accounts for work and personal use
Share your Mac with someone else
Thought the Vision Pro would be like a regular monitor

…then this limitation is a big problem. A regular monitor works with any user, but the Vision Pro only works with one at a time. That takes away a lot of the flexibility you might have expected.

Can You Fix This?

At the moment, no simple solution is available. Some people have talked about using special developer tools or cables to get around the problem, but these are not easy to use and not meant for regular users.

What Can You Do?

Here are a few things you might consider:

Send Feedback to Apple
Let Apple know this feature is important to you. You can send suggestions on the Apple website.
Return the Product (If Possible)
If the main reason you bought the Vision Pro was to use it as a monitor, and it’s not working the way you expected, think about returning it if you’re still within the return period.
Wait for a Future Update
Apple sometimes changes or improves features in software updates. It’s possible they might add support for more than one user account in the future.

Final Thoughts

The Apple Vision Pro is an expensive and powerful device. Many people were excited to use it as a big, virtual screen anywhere they go. But right now, the need to use the same Apple ID on both devices makes it less useful, especially for people who switch between accounts.

Hopefully, Apple will improve this in the future. Until then, be aware of this limitation before you plan to use the AVP as your main monitor.