What you should know
- Apple has been cropping out the battery pack from photos of its Vision Pro headset, which is designed to be less cumbersome and easier to move around with.
- The battery pack plugs into a port on the left side of the headset and the cord can be placed inside a pocket. Accessory maker Belkin is set to release a clip that will allow users to attach the battery pack to their clothing.
- Apple has portrayed the Vision Pro as a device to be used while sitting down indoors, which makes the omission of the battery pack from the photos puzzling.
- Apple had to choose between making the headset heavier or allowing the battery to stay on a long cable. The company chose the latter, but it views the cord as a hindrance to the headset’s mobility.
Full Story
Apple’s Vision Pro headset? Yeah, it’s been tweaked a bit to look less clunky. They’ve done a bit of a number on the photos, cropping out a crucial part. That part? The battery pack.
It’s on the left side of the headset, plugged into a port. The cord from it just hangs there, waiting to be stashed in your pocket.
Belkin, the accessory maker, is stepping up. They’ve got a clip ready for the Vision Pro’s release on February 2nd. No pocket? No problem. You can clip your battery pack to your shirt or pants.
Now, here’s the kicker. When tech journalists went to Apple for a Vision Pro press briefing, they were told to keep their cameras off. No photos, no videos of the Vision Pro’s hardware. Instead, an Apple photographer took the shots. Journalists, sitting on a couch, Vision Pro headset on. But in those photos, the battery pack is mysteriously missing.
Victoria Song from The Verge and Joanna Stern from the WSJ had a go with the Vision Pro. The battery pack isn’t some huge, unwieldy chunk of aluminum. It’s not a pain to carry around. And since Apple is marketing the Vision Pro as a sit-on-your-comfy-couch kind of device, why leave out the battery pack in the photos?
Sure, some users will use the headset on the go. But mostly, Apple’s idea of using it indoors while sitting makes sense.
The battery pack isn’t a monstrous slab of aluminum. But Apple? They don’t like showing off their flaws. They see the battery pack as a blemish on the Vision Pro. They had a choice: make the headset heavier or let the battery hang on a long cord to the user’s pocket. They went with the cord.
But, it’s that cord that’s messing with the headset’s mobility. Apple might’ve overthought this whole battery pack thing. Cropping it out of the photos might just backfire on them.
