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Comment by jsheard | Hacker News Reader

Externalising the battery to bring the weight down is to some degree a solution to a problem Apple created by insisting on building the headset out of "premium" metal and glass. They haven't said exactly how heavy it is, but those who got to try it noted that it's pretty heavy even with the battery separated, like the AirPods Max are noticeably heavier than plastic headphones.

I don't believe there's an internal buffer battery either (IIRC it was mentioned on the ATP podcast, who were told by an Apple rep) so you can't hotswap the external pack, as the article suggests you could, without completely rebooting the headset.

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> you can't hotswap the external pack

I think they mentioned that the battery can be charged by usb-c, so you could potentially attach a power bank or to the wall to extend the battery life, also I hope that Apple allows 3rd party batteries so you could buy one with more capacity (but knowing Apple they might add some extra chips inside the battery render that harder).

There almost certainly is an internal battery. I've seen the figure of 45 minutes battery life (without the puck) repeated in various places. Moreoever, they use a magsafe like pull-detach mechanism which will likely be knocked off fairly easily. There's very little chance Apple would ship a device that crashes if the power cable is jiggled.

I don't think Apple's just doing this for the premium feel of it. Plastic gives you much shittier visual quality than glass (definitely not enough for reading text for hours). Metal is a better heat conductor, lets you have quieter fans. The front display for EyeSight adds weight, and so do the more advanced inside displays, etc.

By all means use glass for the lenses and metal for the heatsinks, but building the entire thing out of metal is harder to justify IMO. I doubt they're heatsinking directly into the case, that would cause it to radiate heat into and around your face rather than being directed away by fans, and make the unit uncomfortable to handle after its been used heavily.

The front glass is more scratch resistant than plastic but in exchange it's going to be instantly obliterated if you drop it the wrong way, so pick your poison.

Would people really accept a $3500 plastic headset though? It seems unlikely. As much as the Vision Pro is being lampooned now, it'd be even more intense if it didn't look and feel like a $3500 product.

I fully expect the more pared-down cheaper mainstream consumer versions to be plastic though, much like the cheaper AirPods.

I don't know anything about the price of the stuff, but surely carbon fiber would fit the bill for this application, no?

disregard

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