Apple’s Vision Pro, the battery pack could be replaceable without a cable

In recent days we have reported the impressions of use of some journalists who had the opportunity to preview Apple’s Vision Pro in Cupertino, immediately after the presentation.

In the summary article we had not included that of John Gruber, journalist of Daring Fireball, who raised a very interesting question regarding a little discussed aspect: the weight of the viewer.

“The biggest downside to my experience using the Vision Pro is that it feels heavier on the face than I’d hoped. It’s not uncomfortable – at least not for 30 minutes (the duration of the demo) – but I’ve never forgotten to keeping it on and that made my head feel a bit heavy”

Apple has not yet stated the weight of the Vision Pro but we know there will still be an optional top band to allow you to make it more comfortable during long sessions of use. Evidently, despite all the efforts made to make it as light as possible, the weight could still be quite high. And there was no shortage of compromises, even not very “elegant”.

One of them is definitely to using an external battery pack, connected laterally by a wire. The battery pack is completely smooth and has rounded edges. A design definitely intended to make it easier to insert and extract from a pocket. The cable that connects the viewer to the battery pack is made of nylon, similar to that of the HomePod and just like on the smart speaker it would appear to be connected via a connector.

On the sides of this cord are a USB-C port, a status LED and an additional hole whose functionality is unknown. Someone hypothesizes that it could be a microphone, others assume that it could be a sort of key to be pressed with one of those PINs that are usually used to extract the SIM drawer to disconnect the cable and replace the battery.

The declared autonomy of the Vision Pro is two hours even if Apple has not specified under what conditions it is possible to reach this value. Probable, therefore, that in case it is necessary to use the viewer for a longer time, away from a mains power source, it should not be missing the ability to quickly replace the battery pack with a spare., maybe even with a higher capacity.

Hard to think that any optional batteries are also equipped with the cable to connect to the viewer. Easier to assume that it will be enough to unhook the cable and replace it.