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Comment by snackwalrus | Hacker News Reader

I also thought flights were a compelling use case until I saw that the battery life was “up to” a whopping 2 hours

Aside from the in-seat power, I think another likely solution will be third parties like Belkin making a less "apple-esque" but longer lasting battery that's compatible with the magnetic connector. The OEM solution looks quite small as is. [1]

1 https://www.apple.com/v/apple-vision-pro/a/images/overview/d...

Interesting, it doesn't show a way to charge that brick. I assumed it would have USB-C for charging, though perhaps MagSafe makes more sense given the propensity of the user to stand up and start walking without realizing he's plugged into the wall!

I also wonder if it will use the other type of MagSafe (like on the iPhone) charging. I could see the argument for convenience, but presumably this would be significantly slower charging than over USB-C.

The real-world photos of the demo units show a USB-C port next to the cable.

Or the 10,000 battery bricks that have existed for 10 years.

Unless it's plugged in, in which case it can be used indefinitely. Many planes today allow you to plug in devices from your seat.

Many also do not. Maybe even most?

Then you get to use it for 2 hours. Most domestic flights only have two hours or so of time when you're allowed to use your laptop.

I typically fly one airline so it could just be their planes, but I don't remember the last plane I was on that didn't have outlets[1]. And certainly the folks that can drop $3,500 on this are more likely to either be in business class or flying "nicer" airlines, so plug access feels like a non-issue to me.

[1] That being said, the number of times a plug has been able to support a charging brick directly is...miniscule. They're usually so worn out that they can't support the weight, so I have to carry the extension just for that reason.

Usually very limited amperage, almost certainly insufficient to keep this thing going indefinitely.

This is not true. Most seats have a 120/240v receptacle that can keep laptops charged while in use.

You’re forgetting this thing uses a mostly passive M2 chip. Not to mention I’m sure they designed it so it could be powered from the USB c ports on their laptops. The headset won’t use anywhere near the amount of power you seem to be implying.

That's voltage, not amperage. Just because it's a 120V receptacle doesn't mean you can draw large current. My laptop charger gets booted off the grid pretty frequently on a full plane.

Even if it's limited to 1A, 1A/120V must be enough. It can't have loud fan so must be power efficient.

I wouldn’t assume you can draw 1A.

Two extra batteries will likely be trivial cost in the context of a $3500 device, not sure why this isn't clear to everyone critiquing the battery life?

I'm assuming 3rd parties (like Anker, Belkin, etc) will be producing batteries for this not long after it's launched that will run much larger. If we assume the Apple battery for 2 hours is something like 40Wh, a 100Wh battery (the TSA max I believe) will give you 5 hours (enough for approximately 2-3 movies), which seems like plenty.

i can certainly see the appeal of a VR headset on flights, but if that's all i'm buying it for why would i go for a $3500 apple device instead of a $299 headset from meta?

can i even use noise-cancelling headphones with the reality pro, or is it locked to the built-in spacial audio headest? because i'd rather block out the noise than the peripheral vision on a plane.

a) Meta Quest is heavier, bulkier with significantly poorer quality displays.

b) You can use any earphones you like. There are videos of people using the AirPods Pro which are the best noise cancelling IEMs on the market today.

> a) Meta Quest is heavier, bulkier with significantly poorer quality displays

It's also made by Facebook. We tend to underestimate the power of brands in tech. There are few places I've seen as loud of a status-signaling system than commercial aviation.

The screens are totally different, as are the apps.

on a flight you just plug it into your seat

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