I predict rumors around the battery pack are wrong

[SirUnknown1984]

I fully expected Apple to reduce the weight carried on the head of the user by having an external pack. And now we have seen rumors saying Apple has a wearable external battery pack. The rumors also say there is a proprietary charging cable similar to MagSafe. I think this external battery pack rumor is incomplete. I predict the external battery pack is going to be the entire computer and battery. And the proprietary charging cable is actually a proprietary cable from the headset to the pack. This cable will carry all of the signals to the computer pack work on the waist. The computer pack will also be charged by USB-C. The charger Apple uses for the MacBook Air will be used on the computer pack.
Why would Apple do this? I think it comes down to manufacturing yield, repair ability, cooling of the headset, reduced weight of the headset, and the ability to pair the headset with different computer packs. There is also potential for Apple to sell two versions of the headset and one version of the computer pack. Apple will manufacture headsets and users will configure the computer pack. This way Apple isn’t inventorying headsets will 256GB ssd … My prediction is the headsets is the most expensive part of Apple AR / VR.
I think the headset will only be an IO device. And the brains and battery will be worn around the waist in the pack rumors are talking about.

 

[Piggie]

I fully expected Apple to reduce the weight carried on the head of the user by having an external pack. And now we have seen rumors saying Apple has a wearable external battery pack. The rumors also say there is a proprietary charging cable similar to MagSafe. I think this external battery pack rumor is incomplete. I predict the external battery pack is going to be the entire computer and battery. And the proprietary charging cable is actually a proprietary cable from the headset to the pack. This cable will carry all of the signals to the computer pack work on the waist. The computer pack will also be charged by USB-C. The charger Apple uses for the MacBook Air will be used on the computer pack.
Why would Apple do this? I think it comes down to manufacturing yield, repair ability, cooling of the headset, reduced weight of the headset, and the ability to pair the headset with different computer packs. There is also potential for Apple to sell two versions of the headset and one version of the computer pack. Apple will manufacture headsets and users will configure the computer pack. This way Apple isn’t inventorying headsets will 256GB ssd … My prediction is the headsets is the most expensive part of Apple AR / VR.
I think the headset will only be an IO device. And the brains and battery will be worn around the waist in the pack rumors are talking about.

Yes, I've already posted about this exact concept.

If you are going to have no wires at all, then the logical place for a battery is behind your head to balance the device nicely.
If you are going to end up running a cable to a separate box anyway, then why not put the compute unit in the box alongside the battery and just have the headset for the display and cameras?
There is plenty of speed down a 1.2m length of cable, and again, if you are going to have a cable anyway for power, then why not?
You are not going to notice the weight of the computer on your belt hook, if the battery is already there.
The headset can then be as light and small (stylish?) as possible.

As I've said also, I'm kinda surprised Apple have not considered a MUCH cheaper headset but have it connect to a high end iPhone to do all the work.
I'm sure they will have look at this idea, but decided they wanted to go very high end instead of something more affordable but less impressive.

 

[SirUnknown1984]

Yes, I've already posted about this exact concept.

If you are going to have no wires at all, then the logical place for a battery is behind your head to balance the device nicely.
If you are going to end up running a cable to a separate box anyway, then why not put the compute unit in the box alongside the battery and just have the headset for the display and cameras?
There is plenty of speed down a 1.2m length of cable, and again, if you are going to have a cable anyway for power, then why not?
You are not going to notice the weight of the computer on your belt hook, if the battery is already there.
The headset can then be as light and small (stylish?) as possible.

As I've said also, I'm kinda surprised Apple have not considered a MUCH cheaper headset but have it connect to a high end iPhone to do all the work.
I'm sure they will have look at this idea, but decided they wanted to go very high end instead of something more affordable but less impressive.

I think Apple wants to avoid the cheap VR experience all together. Apple would rather get the first product out and develop manufacturing to get the price down eventually. Apple standards for user experience.
They just need the supply chain and manufacturing to be cheaper. Large format OLED TVs were super expensive then companies like LG built an assembly line and you can get a 70” OLED for $1200 now. I think the same will happen but this time its exclusive to Apple. The headset is got to be a lot harder for competitors to catch up to. Unlike the iPhone. I think Steve Jobs said they were 4 years ahead of anyone competitor when he announced iPhone. I think Apple VR will be 6-8 years ahead of competition. Even with existing VR already out there, I believe Apple has a leap ahead product.

Cheaper headsets may be possible. Especially if the computer box is universal. Like a cheap headset without face recognition/ face scanner/ iris detector for payment. Instead maybe Touch ID.

I bet no colors options at first. But next iterations they will have that

 

[Kierkegaarden]

Both of you make good points. Just like the iPhone, there were very inexpensive mobile devices when it was launched, but they still were able to create a massive market. This will be the biggest product launch for them since the iPhone (in terms of importance and anticipation), and I predict at least 10m units sold in the first full year. If there is any truth to the rumors, it sounds like they want to make a huge leap from what is currently on the market, and I don’t think they are afraid to price it accordingly — and I don’t think Apple users interested in VR/AR will be afraid to pay whatever price it is.

 

[Piggie]

Regarding the external battery pack.
Actually I'm fine with this in theory "IF" you can connect/disconnect the battery
There are moans about "Only 2 hours" but if you could buy 2 additional battery packs and just connect a fresh one then that's the problem solved.
Just like cordless power tools, you carry a spare fully charged battery so you can swap it out and any time, and the old battery can sit on a charging stand.
Apple can then sell batteries and charging stands

If I'm 100% honest, for my own uses I'd probably be happy with the concept where the battery clips onto your device behind your head, but as this is Apple they probably don't want a lump on the back for aesthetic reasons.

As for going high end first, and then coming down to consumer, this is very back to front for Apple and most companies and computing products where you start low and improve over time.
Like All the Macs, the iPhone, EarPods, Apple Watch, iPad have done.

1st step get the customer base to encourage the devs to create the software to help sell the device, then next year bring the improved v2 out.

Starting at the top is fine, if that's your intended customer.
What devs are going to pump big money into apps when the market is very narrow and small due to costs?

All this is fine of course and won't matter if Apple either shows or speaks about a "Consumer Model" coming out, so devs can create apps using this 1st device to be able to run on the forthcoming consumer version with lower specs.

Honestly I'd probably rather Apple had created a super sexy, higher spec'd version of the Meta Quest 2 which is "Good enough" for your typical consumer, get units sold, and then build up from there.
But I guess we shall see what happens and this time next year we'll all know how this is working.

One thing is for sure, it's going to be amazing I'm sure, I just hope they are not going to do another HomePod.
Think people want high end, and then cancel it and realise most people just wanted a HomePod Mini after all,
And then bring out a revised Homepod later.

I can see this actually being exactly like the original HomePod story, where they went in high end from day one.
So will be interesting to see if history repeats itself.

 

[paulmeyers42]

This is a fascinating idea. I have NReal Air smart glasses and like them a lot because they’re so lightweight and not too bulky. It’s because they’re just sunglasses and small lenses, you have to plug them into a device to power it - they basically just function as small external screens.

What if this is the “Compute Module” people have seen in beta code? That name would make sense in this case.

The short battery life would be a problem though, there would be no way to hot swap to get longer battery life. But then again, 2 hours is about standard for VR headsets, so maybe Apple is just shooting for that.

 

[Piggie]

This is a fascinating idea. I have NReal Air smart glasses and like them a lot because they’re so lightweight and not too bulky. It’s because they’re just sunglasses and small lenses, you have to plug them into a device to power it - they basically just function as small external screens.

What if this is the “Compute Module” people have seen in beta code? That name would make sense in this case.

The short battery life would be a problem though, there would be no way to hot swap to get longer battery life. But then again, 2 hours is about standard for VR headsets, so maybe Apple is just shooting for that.

I can't really see a issue with a battery swap.
If it's say magnetic/pogo pin or some magsafe type.

The head set could prepare for a battery swap, and when you click "ok" if flips into low power mode, running off a very small secondary battery for perhaps just a minute or two which would be ample time for you to unclip and reclip a battery module.

they probably won't do it like this, but it would be easy to make it work if they wanted to.

 

[fs454]

Yes, I've already posted about this exact concept.

If you are going to have no wires at all, then the logical place for a battery is behind your head to balance the device nicely.
If you are going to end up running a cable to a separate box anyway, then why not put the compute unit in the box alongside the battery and just have the headset for the display and cameras?
There is plenty of speed down a 1.2m length of cable, and again, if you are going to have a cable anyway for power, then why not?
You are not going to notice the weight of the computer on your belt hook, if the battery is already there.
The headset can then be as light and small (stylish?) as possible.

As I've said also, I'm kinda surprised Apple have not considered a MUCH cheaper headset but have it connect to a high end iPhone to do all the work.
I'm sure they will have look at this idea, but decided they wanted to go very high end instead of something more affordable but less impressive.

I still think the cost barrier for a "much cheaper headset" is still pretty high. The pancake lenses, passthrough and tracking cameras, eye/face tracking depth hardware, and adequately wide FOV and pixel dense micro OLED panels are still prohibitively expensive and I think are the main bleeding edge cost drivers moreso than whether they toss an in-house M2 variant chip in with the HMD unit or not.

I think this thing will simultaneously cost $3k and still leave a lot of room for improvement in terms of FOV and XR passthrough quality. Nobody's *truly* nailed it here yet because the tech barely exists.

 

[Surf Monkey]

The central hurdle remains. You wear it on your face. That will eliminate a gigantic chunk of potential consumers before it even hits shelves. If it ever does.

 

[Sippincider]

Just like cordless power tools

Completely different use models.

And very ironic the VR glasses batteries wouldn't last the duration of the keynote that introduces them!

Apple, if battery life really is a whopping "up to" 2 hours then don't even bother.