Apple's MR headset to use magnetically-attached tethered battery

AppleInsider

Apple's mixed reality headset will feature a magnetic port for attaching a battery pack to the device, it is claimed, but it will just offer two hours of battery life.

A render of a potential Apple headset [AppleInsider]

The often-rumored AR and VR headset is still set to make a splash at the upcoming WWDC 2023 keynote, but it seems Apple is still sticking to the idea of a tethered battery pack. In new details in a Sunday leak, it appears Apple is taking a fairly unique route with the concept.

In Sunday's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman writes that the headset will sport an external battery pack with a cable permanently connected to it. The cable will have a proprietary connector on one end that attaches to the headset itself.

That connector will apparently be magnetic in nature, but it will be firmly connected so it doesn't fall out while in motion. Round-tipped, the cable connector will lock into the port by the user turning it.

By using a battery pack separate from the headset itself, Apple is attempting to avoid weight problems when it is worn. The move reduces pressure on the face that could make it uncomfortable, a typical complaint of other headsets like Meta's Quest, though users will instead have to deal with a cable and to stow the battery pack in a pocket.

For users expecting a long session with the headset, they may have to acquire more battery packs, which are said to be the same size as a MagSafe Battery Pack. Each battery will apparently last up to 2 hours at a time, but they can be swapped by changing cables at the magnetic port.

The use of a battery pack was a controversial decision for Apple's engineers, due to the company's preference for a cable-free design. While the battery could've been integrated in other ways, such as in the section of the headband to the rear of the head for balance, a tethered battery was chosen instead for this first release.

The magnetic port won't be the only one used on the headset. A USB-C connection will be available, which will be used for data rather than for power.

The battery packs will also sport USB-C, for recharging. It will also be recharged using the same adapter included with a MacBook Pro.

Read on AppleInsider

tht

I'm curious why Apple didn't, well, is rumored not to have, put the computing chip bits in with the battery pack too. If would have made the goggles lighter, slimmer, thermally cooler. The only reason I can think of is that it's pretty difficult to push >5K 120 Hz through a wire, and this would have 2.

It may have to have a fan to cool all the chips and to cool your face.

xed

tht said:

I'm curious why Apple didn't, well, is rumored not to have, put the computing chip bits in with the battery pack too. If would have made the goggles lighter, slimmer, thermally cooler. The only reason I can think of is that it's pretty difficult to push >5K 120 Hz through a wire, and this would have 2.

It may have to have a fan to cool all the chips and to cool your face.

Why does it need 5K (14.7M pixels) if the screen is an inch from you eye?

jagbatth

tht said:

I'm curious why Apple didn't, well, is rumored not to have, put the computing chip bits in with the battery pack too. If would have made the goggles lighter, slimmer, thermally cooler. The only reason I can think of is that it's pretty difficult to push >5K 120 Hz through a wire, and this would have 2.

It may have to have a fan to cool all the chips and to cool your face.


I think the eventual goal is to have everything run on and within the VR/AR headset and as battery tech progresses with newer longer lasting options available, the tethered configuration will be phased out in future iterations. So the less reliance and push of the external battery set is preferred rather than increased reliance. 

marvin

AppleInsider said:

By using a battery pack separate from the headset itself, Apple is attempting to avoid weight problems when it is worn. The move reduces pressure on the face that could make it uncomfortable, a typical complaint of other headsets like Meta's Quest, though users will instead have to deal with a cable and to stow the battery pack in a pocket.

For users expecting a long session with the headset, they may have to acquire more battery packs, which are said to be the same size as a MagSafe Battery Pack. Each battery will apparently last up to 2 hours at a time, but they can be swapped by changing cables at the magnetic port.

The use of a battery pack was a controversial decision for Apple's engineers, due to the company's preference for a cable-free design. While the battery could've been integrated in other ways, such as in the section of the headband to the rear of the head for balance, a tethered battery was chosen instead for this first release.

It's unavoidable to have a cable until battery tech improves significantly (10x density). I expect it will be able to attach to a belt or lanyard, especially for women who often don't have pockets.



It will then be easy to buy multiple batteries and switch them. 

By taking the battery weight entirely away from the headset, they can make it much lighter and more comfortable to wear. 3rd parties will come up with head mounted batteries e.g in a headband like Airpods Max if people want to reduce the cables. Airpods Max could even get an update to let the headset share its battery. This wouldn't last long doing intensive rendering but rendering a movie would be ok.

palegolas

I can't see a single type of scenario where 2 hours of use is enough. Even just watching a single movie, or a few episodes of a TV series will easily surpass 2 hours. That's just sad. If the battery pack is external, I would assume you could get a bigger battery if you like. Hoping for this rumour to be false.

marvin

palegolas said:

I can't see a single type of scenario where 2 hours of use is enough. Even just watching a single movie, or a few episodes of a TV series will easily surpass 2 hours. That's just sad. If the battery pack is external, I would assume you could get a bigger battery if you like. Hoping for this rumour to be false.

This battery life is standard for headsets. Meta Quest is 2-3 hours.

https://www.androidcentral.com/how-long-does-battery-last-oculus-quest

With an external battery pack, they can be swapped easily. Small packs can be pinned to a shirt to keep wires minimal. A spare pack would charge in an hour. 2 hours of use, 1 hour to charge and keep swapping them. If it's a USB-C connector then it can be hooked to any power source, potentially even a laptop or iPad port.

slurpy

palegolas said:

I can't see a single type of scenario where 2 hours of use is enough. Even just watching a single movie, or a few episodes of a TV series will easily surpass 2 hours. That's just sad. If the battery pack is external, I would assume you could get a bigger battery if you like. Hoping for this rumour to be false.

Really? Is it really a great idea to have a VR headset attached to your face for more than 2hrs at a time? It would probably be a good idea to take a break every couple of hrs. 

Sad? I'm sure Apple tested countless capacities and made a decision that made the most sense from a practical and user experience perspective.

Jesus Christ. 

zimmie

Xed said:

tht said:

I'm curious why Apple didn't, well, is rumored not to have, put the computing chip bits in with the battery pack too. If would have made the goggles lighter, slimmer, thermally cooler. The only reason I can think of is that it's pretty difficult to push >5K 120 Hz through a wire, and this would have 2.

It may have to have a fan to cool all the chips and to cool your face.

Why does it need 5K (14.7M pixels) if the screen is an inch from you eye?

That's when you need pixel density the most.

Our field of vision is about 165º per eye horizontally (with ~120º binocular overlap) and 130º vertically. 20/20 (6/6)  visual acuity is defined as the ability to see the separation of two lines placed one arcminute apart. There are 60 arcminutes per degree, so that comes out to 9,900 horizontal pixels by 7,800 pixels per eye just to keep up with 20/20 vision. Visual acuities up to 1.5x sharper are pretty common.

Let's target 20/20 (6/6) vision and a 4320p (7680x4320, erroneously marketed as "8K") screen per eye. That would be able to cover 7680/60 => 128º horizontally by 4320/60 => 72º vertically, which excludes basically all of your peripheral vision. Both of my eyes are sharper than 20/20. My stronger is 20/12 (6/3.8), or 1.6x sharper than 20/20. To keep up with that over the same area, I would need a 12288x6912 display.

Targeting 20/40 (6/12) and a 5K (5120x2880) screen per eye yields 171º by 96º. This would cover peripheral vision passably (though still not well), but the sharpness would be on the level of the pre-Retina iPhone screens.

rezwits

tht said:

I'm curious why Apple didn't, well, is rumored not to have, put the computing chip bits in with the battery pack too. If would have made the goggles lighter, slimmer, thermally cooler. The only reason I can think of is that it's pretty difficult to push >5K 120 Hz through a wire, and this would have 2.

It may have to have a fan to cool all the chips and to cool your face.

Probably, because the "glasses" themselves have a small 5 minute battery, for swapping...  which someday could be a 20-30 minute battery for light use, which would be my 100% assumption!

mattinoz

Hopefully same MagSafe connector of the MacBookPros, allow for a tethered to power supply for certain seated use cases. 
That mean the battery packs would work with the Mac as well.

But I can see many uses for this device that are seated for extended periods of use. 

marvin

designr said:

palegolas said:

I can't see a single type of scenario where 2 hours of use is enough. Even just watching a single movie, or a few episodes of a TV series will easily surpass 2 hours. That's just sad. If the battery pack is external, I would assume you could get a bigger battery if you like. Hoping for this rumour to be false.

Are people* going to be watching movies and TV shows with these? Why?

*And by "people" I mean lots and lots of people. Is this a significant use case for this product?

So far with AR glasses, watching video is the most common use case.

It also allows for 3D so not just flat screens. Movies and TV shows can have additional features like Star Wars can have blaster shots come out of the screen and fire past the viewer's head.

Students in their college dorm rooms can't fit 100" TVs. These headsets can give them wall-sized displays.

Given that an iPhone can playback video for 20 hours with a 12Wh battery, if the battery pack for the headset is around this capacity, I'd expect more than 2 hours for video. AR rendering is quite heavy but still, this will be an N3 chip so I could see a longer lifespan for unshaded AR rendering, especially if passthrough AR is disabled i.e just the video shows against black or lower resolution environment.

I expect Apple will promote more short-term experiences like AR cooking, fitness, tailor-made Arcade games etc but people will fill up a lot of the time with video to get value from the headset purchase.

avon b7

designr said:

palegolas said:

I can't see a single type of scenario where 2 hours of use is enough. Even just watching a single movie, or a few episodes of a TV series will easily surpass 2 hours. That's just sad. If the battery pack is external, I would assume you could get a bigger battery if you like. Hoping for this rumour to be false.

Are people* going to be watching movies and TV shows with these? Why?

*And by "people" I mean lots and lots of people. Is this a significant use case for this product?

It's definitely not a significant use case but my wife does prefer the immersive experience of watching video content through these kinds of headsets (even with a lower 'quality' viewing experience and comfort related issues like weight, heat and strap pressure).

I imagine that for younger generations, the option to view content in groups using avatars is appealing. Going forward, when those generations are much older, I can it as a tool to combat loneliness (although I suppose that by then we'll have full on life like robots for that). 

At least battery life isn't an issue if you are seated for a long time as you would have the option to keep it plugged in. 

lkrupp

This thing is looking more and more like a boondoggle waiting to happen. Is Apple expecting users to walk around in public while wearing this? 

edited April 2023

gatorguy

lkrupp said:

This thing is looking more and more like a boondoggle waiting to happen. Is Apple expecting users to walk around in public while wearing this? 

Nope. I doubt you will ever see one on the street any more than you'll see a Samsung Odessey or any of the Windows-based VR head-mounted products worn in the grocery store. That's not what Apple sees for this particular product they are floating in what amounts to a public beta test. They expect the early buyers to pay handsomely to be guinea pigs.

If you can afford it then have at it if you like product testing and don't mind a hefty expense in order to say "first!".  By 2025 no one will want this version except as a collector's curiosity. But by the second, or more likely third iteration, I would fully expect it to be a desirable and well-considered product. 

edited April 2023