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I see three possibilities:

1) "Low power" battery swap mode where M1 + R1 are still running - big battery required
2) "Suspend to RAM" mode - extremely fast boot - small battery required
3) "Suspend to flash" mode - 5 second boot - no battery required

Given this device seems intended largely for indoor media consumption use, I think #3 makes most sense. Users are probably within sight of AC power at all times. How often do users:

1) Require zero down time; and
2) Lack access to AC power?
Yeah I don’t think swapping batteries would be something most people will need to do very often, but I think the situation could happen often enough that it could be significant. Also remember third party applications have yet to come, and who knows what those will bring.
One major use case for the VP is virtual displays with a MacBook, and I’ve had to work on my laptop away from AC power at times, so I could see needing to swap batteries in those cases. And if I have a whole bunch of virtual displays set up, not sure if full rebooting would require me to set it all up again—I’d hope not.
If #3 can suspend state and resume exactly where I left off without a battery, then yeah a 5 sec boot time is perfectly fine with me. I mainly just don’t want the chore of having to navigate/set things up back to exactly where I was. It would be very disruptive for workflow. But just several seconds pause is no big deal.

Also do we know how powerful of a power source the headset needs in order to operate while charging the battery? I have doubts that the USB ports usually found in airplanes or cars would be enough.
Edit- it would depend on how heavy the task you’re doing in the VP is I’m sure, but let’s say, watching a movie.
 
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So the solution is to have a battery for your battery.

Lol.
absolutely unheard of, we should write a complain immediately, just let me get my laptop… oh… … well, my tablet… mmh… … … my wireless headphones… … … the Tesla then, I‘ll drive over there and talk directly with the person responsible… … … … or… not… … … let me think a moment… … … … *crickets*

Seriously: seriously?
 
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That is actually fairly typical for many devices - in fact the external battery pack market is mostly for devices that have batteries and need extra time or recharging...

Yeah but MagSafe batteries on iPhone are super slick whereas having a cable that runs from your headset to your first battery and having another cable running from your first battery to your second battery sounds super clunky (oh and then all of that has to go in your pocket). I guess it won't be a big deal for me personally but it's not ideal.

Probably also worth considering that if going from power off to power on brings the user right back to where they last were then replacing the battery won't be a big deal at all.
 
Yeah but MagSafe batteries on iPhone are super slick whereas having a cable that runs from your headset to your first battery and having another cable running from your first battery to your second battery sounds super clunky (oh and then all of that has to go in your pocket). I guess it won't be a big deal for me personally but it's not ideal.

Probably also worth considering that if going from power off to power on brings the user right back to where they last were then replacing the battery won't be a big deal at all.
Agreed to all that, but unfortunately at least in Macs and iPads and iPhones, rebooting can always make you lose something. In Macs, some applications don’t resume to the same place or even open the file at all. In iPads and iPhones, you usually lose your place in a webpage, document, video, etc. regardless of which app.
 
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It comes down to cost, weight, and reliability. An internal battery can fail, adds weight, and reduces airflow.

If cost is no concern, Apple can reserve 16GB of flash storage so visionOS can dump 100% of RAM contents into flash during battery swap. You won't lose anything in that case. You don't see this with Mac, iPad, or iPhone because nobody wants to lose 4GB or 16GB of storage just for this.
 
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Is it obvious? How do we know for sure there isn’t a small battery or capacitor or something to keep it on between battery switches? There’s a lot of specifics we don’t know yet know about the headset.

Both sides accepting battery connection might be a possibility, but it seems weird if you were forced to switch sides each time you switch batteries. Someone might prefer it on a particular side.
One of the reviewers I watched asked the Apple tech this question and was told there is no battery in the headset. Swapping batteries will require power down.
 
One of the reviewers I watched asked the Apple tech this question and was told there is no battery in the headset. Swapping batteries will require power down.
Ah ok. Do you happen to have a link or remember the reviewer?
 
One of the reviewers I watched asked the Apple tech this question and was told there is no battery in the headset. Swapping batteries will require power down.
It will require a power down, or the device when it runs out of battery power will power down... those two are worlds apart. My understanding is it is the later... when the new battery is attached it will power up... How you describe things does not sound like Apple at all.
 
It will require a power down, or the device when it runs out of battery power will power down... those two are worlds apart. My understanding is it is the later... when the new battery is attached it will power up... How you describe things does not sound like Apple at all.
If your battery detaches from your laptop, it isn’t going to gracefully power down. It’s going to stop working due to lack of electricity.

There’s no reserve tank in the Vision Pro to keep RAM powered while swapping batteries was the way the reviewer described it in their video. Unfortunately, I’ve watched about 30 videos, and cannot find the one that mentioned it, though I am looking and will update my post with a link if I see it again.
 
If your battery detaches from your laptop, it isn’t going to gracefully power down. It’s going to stop working due to lack of electricity.

There’s no reserve tank in the Vision Pro to keep RAM powered while swapping batteries was the way the reviewer described it in their video. Unfortunately, I’ve watched about 30 videos, and cannot find the one that mentioned it, though I am looking and will update my post with a link if I see it again.
This is a new device, and there are ways to keep current or near current state and save to non-volatile memory before the device runs out of power... In fact I would expect that the device knows exactly how much is left on the battery and can actually power down gracefully just before the battery runs out of power completely. I expect the device has a way to store the current state of the environment even while you are changing the battery.
 
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