Apple ’s Vision Pro headset , unveiled at WWDC sooner this month , is only the first measure on the company ’s journey into the miscellaneous - reality marketplace , and it clearly is n’t complete . It ’s sympathise that Cupertino ’s design team recommended that the project be drive back until the uncommitted engineering entrance up with the sort of merchandise they wanted to make , but CEO Tim Cookoverruled themand insisted on announcing something this year . Real artists ship , after all .
One of Vision Pro ’s obvious physical limitation at this level of phylogeny is its comparatively gamey weight , which some other testers have suggested is likely to make it uncomfortable when worn for long sessions . But Apple is aware of this event , and working to solve it . Indeed , when my colleague Roman was able to spend an hr goinghands - on with the twist , he was equipped with an extra strap over the top of the headset , which appears to have at least partially mitigated the weight trouble over that admittedly quite short flow .
“ In my demonstration , ” he write , “ the headset had a Velcro strap that goes across the top of your head – this strap is not show in Apple ’s product picture or video . I think that after the measuring were taken of my head , Apple determined that I would profit from this top strap .
No sign of the extra strap.
“ After about an time of day , my demo was done and I took off the headset . I did n’t have any fatigue in my neck or find any tenderness where the headset and straps squeeze my read/write head . I feel like I could ’ve gone on longer with the session , and I would ’ve if Apple allow me . ”
One can readily imagine that Apple ’s design team , already irritated at being pushed into announcing earlier than they wanted , would have been passing sharp to check that the additional strap was kept out of promotion material as much as possible ; it does n’t sound very minimalist . But for most customer , consolation will be at least as important as aesthetics , and it makes sense for Apple to explore ways to call the headset ’s weight issue , especially if movie watching will be one of the independent merchandising points .
Petter Ahrnstedt / Foundry
No sign of the extra strap.
“ With more citizenry testing the headset , its defect are coming under not bad examination , ” Gurman writes . “ Many exploiter are observe that the metal - cast gimmick find too heavy after a couple hours of uninterrupted usage . To address the weight issue , Apple has modernize a 2nd strap that goes over a wearer ’s head . But the troupe is considering selling that strap as an extra accouterment rather than including it in the box . ”
Sounds like the shoulder strap that Roman used in his examination , does n’t it ? But it ’s astonishing that the company would see this as an upsell attention deficit disorder - on rather than something worth including in the boxwood as touchstone .
For one affair , Roman suspect that he was push into using the additional shoulder strap because of his less - than - petite head ( he reports a hat size between 7 ½ and 7 ¾ ) . If that ’s correct , that would make the accessory analogous to the larger - size Apple Watch bands for those with chunkier carpus , for which Appledoes notcharge excess .
For another , when a ware costs $ 3,499 , you need some serious organization cervix to not include the accessory that stops it being uncomfortable . But then again , the $ 6,999 Mac Pro does n’t let in wheels , so perhaps we should n’t be surprised .
