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The cable that connects the Vision Pro battery pack to the headset for power purposes appears to be fixed in place, but it can in fact be removed if necessary.

vision-pro-battery-pack.jpg

Journalist Ray Wong was able to use a SIM card pin to "unlock" the cable, and after he did that, it was able to be removed from the battery pack. There is a small hole located next to the cable, which is apparently a locking mechanism.

The cable that attaches the battery pack to the headset looks similar to a Lightning cable, but it has too many pins to be Lightning. Instead, it is a proprietary cable that won't be able to be connected to other accessories or used for another purpose.


Apple likely made the cable removable so that it can be swapped out without the need to replace the entire battery pack should the cable get damaged in some way.

The Vision Pro ships with one battery, and additional modules can be purchased for $199 each. Each battery powers the Vision Pro for somewhere around two to three hours depending on content. The battery also has a USB-C port that can be used with a USB-C cable for charging the battery, with passthrough charging supported.

Article Link: Apple Vision Pro Battery Pack Power Cable is Removable
I hope it includes battery health monitoring at least
 
It’s removable after all?! Kinda wishing I bought one now…
 
I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some special features the battery pack provides, since it’s a lot larger than indicated by its mAh’s. What those features are, who knows? Perhaps there’s some advanced power management. Or it may have nothing to do with power at all. I’d imagine Apple would have provided a separate power cable to plug into the wall that doesn’t require the presence of the battery pack at all if the battery pack weren’t doing something important. Of course, some of the bulk is likely elements of an AC adapter combined with battery pack.

It’d be interesting for someone like iFixit to take it apart.
 
So Lightning lives on in a hidden, cursed form!

I noticed that hole in MKBHD’s video and wondered if that hole was a pin release. Wish they would just stop it with the proprietary connectors, though.

I get needing a lock on the headset, seems like you could design a mechanism to lock USB-C! Like an indent on the cable. Maybe they didn’t want people plugging it straight into the wall, because maybe the battery has some other voltage regulation hardware? Only a matter of time before the EU gets pissed, which works out for Apple because then everyone will need new battery packs.
A lockable USBC cable would be proprietary would it not?
 
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Which is why Apple calling it a "woven USB-C cable" is so funny :)

And I don't think it is to reduce cost. I think Apple wanted a strong locking mechanism on both sides and USB-C wasn't good enough.
They’re calling the cable between the battery and the headset “woven USB-C cable?”

No, not reducing the cost of the battery, reducing the cost on the manufacturing line as, when a battery fails, they don’t have to teardown a battery + integrated cable. They just disconnect the cable, teardown the battery and the cable just gets quickly attached to a working battery, packed and shipped.

And, it even saves on the support side, “My cat ate my cable”. Genius goes into the back, removes the chewed cable and attaches a replacement one (with an integrated cable, they’d have had to replace the entire unit. It actually likely costs them a bit more to engineer a port but, in the long run, it saves money.
 
The Lightning connector is much more durable than the USB-C connector, which over time becomes lose and makes a bad connection.
So true. I have never had a bad connection with my Lightning version iPhone in the car, but it’s about 50/50 and having to constantly replug to get CarPlay on my 15 Pro
 
I had the exact OPPOSITE problem! I was a huge Lightning fan, but after 3 failed Lightning connectors on iPhones, I'm happy to see it retired. Even my current iPhone 13 Pro won't make a Lightning connection for charging, just months after getting it, and i'm still paying off the darn thing! Only charge via Qi now.

Lightning was a failure in the end.

I haven't had a single problem with any of my USB-C devices.
Probably lint in your pocket. Clean the socket.
 
Maybe for future sharing technology where two people can share the experience of the same videos and AR. :cool::cool:
 
I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some special features the battery pack provides, since it’s a lot larger than indicated by its mAh’s. What those features are, who knows?

It’d be interesting for someone like iFixit to take it apart.
It can deliver 13V 6A which is much, much higher than a regular battery pack.
 
The Lightning connector is much more durable than the USB-C connector, which over time becomes lose and makes a bad connection.
Then it’s totally apples fault to not innovate their proprietary lightning cable to be much better than USB-C counterpart in the past 10 years, for all aspects. MacBook is not charged via lightning. Mac is not powered by lightning, just two examples.
 
There's no way I would buy this without being able to directly connect it to a non-proprietary battery and to a USB-C port for display. Can you imagine any monitor half this price (or quarter or a eighth) not being able to be plugged into mains or into other devices for display?
My monitors each have a proprietary brick between the monitor and the outlet. They essentially work the same way as the power brick on the Vision Pro, but without the battery.
 
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That looks like lightning... I know it has far more pins though.
...and here's the mini version of lightning. Apple's been using this to connect the AirPods max headband to each earcup:

5rkrwnhbskb61.jpg


And just like the AVP battery, you detach the APM headband from each ear cup with a SIM extraction tool. Doesn't matter if it's liquidmetal or just regular metal. Either works. (Long-time members will get the reference)

Anyway, seems like a pattern.

More here: https://www.macrumors.com/2021/01/19/airpods-max-headband-removable-interchangeable/
 
There's no way I would buy this without being able to directly connect it to a non-proprietary battery and to a USB-C port for display. Can you imagine any monitor half this price (or quarter or a eighth) not being able to be plugged into mains or into other devices for display?
I don't think I could justify buying one of these for you, since it seems the only thing you want it for is to use it as a monitor.

Assuming I were buying these to give away, I would only choose recipients who were excited about several ways they would be using it. If they say things like, "this is really expensive, compared to a 4K tv", or "the Quest 3 does VR for 1/7 the price", then they probably aren't going to get enough out of it to appreciate the gift.

I'm not buying for other people, only one for myself. But if you can talk yourself out of buying Apple Vision Pro with one argument (other than you simply can't afford it), then it's probably best for you that you don't get it.
 
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