Apple Vision Pro firmware hints at three distinct battery models

AppleInsider

According to software update support for Apple Vision Pro released on Thursday night, there are three battery models to power the headset.

Apple Vision Pro, and attached battery pack

On Thursday, Apple rolled out the back-end that enables the Vision Pro to receive firmware updates. And in it, are details about models numbers of the Apple Vision Pro battery kit, so the back-end can identify specifically what version of a firmware needs to be deployed for a specific combination of hardware.

As Twitter user and frequent leaker "Aaronp613" points out, the Apple Vision Pro battery model is A2781. However, the firmware also references two other Vision Pro battery models with the model numbers A2988 and A2697.

The Apple Vision Pro battery has a model number of A2781.

The firmware released last night references 2 other Vision Pro battery models: A2988 & A2697 https://t.co/NyDSz6ylTn

-- Aaron (@aaronp613)

July 21, 2023

It's currently not known what this means, specifically. The additional model numbers could reference batteries that need to be manufactured in accordance with other countries' standards.

It's also possible that the three models mean three different battery capacities.

Apple said at WWDC that the battery is not casually removable from the headset. There is a USB-C port on the battery for charging and directly powering the Apple Vision Pro.

The Vision Pro was announced at WWDC 2023, and is Apple's first foray into mixed-reality. The highly anticipated $3,500 device is set to release in 2024.





Apple has chosen to handle the development of the Vision Pro differently from its other projects. Instead of relying on various departments, they have established a dedicated division specifically for this task.

Read on AppleInsider

mayfly

"Apple said at WWDC that the battery is not casually removable from the headset. There is a USB-C port on the battery for charging and directly powering the Apple Vision Pro."

Just my uninformed opinion, but I think Apple missed an opportunity by attaching the battery this way. Better to put two USB-C ports on the headset, so users could just swap battery packs without it powering down. Weight gain would be marginal, and it would be easy to add a latch to prevent accidental detachment. Unless it's possible to attach a backup battery to the USB port on the battery. At this time, there's been no mention of that from Apple.

zimmie

mayfly said:

"Apple said at WWDC that the battery is not casually removable from the headset. There is a USB-C port on the battery for charging and directly powering the Apple Vision Pro."

Just my uninformed opinion, but I think Apple missed an opportunity by attaching the battery this way. Better to put two USB-C ports on the headset, so users could just swap battery packs without it powering down. Weight gain would be marginal, and it would be easy to add a latch to prevent accidental detachment. Unless it's possible to attach a backup battery to the USB port on the battery. At this time, there's been no mention of that from Apple.

USB power delivery is extremely janky. It isn’t suitable for anything without a built-in battery. Devices can abruptly lose their internal state for any number of reasons. The only possible safe response to this failure is to drop to the lowest supported voltage and current, which definitely isn’t enough to keep the Vision Pro running. It also flatly does not support seamless handoff between two power sources.

They could have done it with a sizable internal battery and USB power delivery, but then all this upcoming legislation mandating easily replaceable batteries would bite them. They would probably also need to change away from glass for the outer face to hit their target weight. Apple uses plastics for AirPods, the Magic Mouse, and all of their keycaps, but they haven’t done plastic in front of a display in a long time.

mayfly

zimmie said:

mayfly said:

"Apple said at WWDC that the battery is not casually removable from the headset. There is a USB-C port on the battery for charging and directly powering the Apple Vision Pro."

Just my uninformed opinion, but I think Apple missed an opportunity by attaching the battery this way. Better to put two USB-C ports on the headset, so users could just swap battery packs without it powering down. Weight gain would be marginal, and it would be easy to add a latch to prevent accidental detachment. Unless it's possible to attach a backup battery to the USB port on the battery. At this time, there's been no mention of that from Apple.

USB power delivery is extremely janky. It isn’t suitable for anything without a built-in battery. Devices can abruptly lose their internal state for any number of reasons. The only possible safe response to this failure is to drop to the lowest supported voltage and current, which definitely isn’t enough to keep the Vision Pro running. It also flatly does not support seamless handoff between two power sources.

They could have done it with a sizable internal battery and USB power delivery, but then all this upcoming legislation mandating easily replaceable batteries would bite them. They would probably also need to change away from glass for the outer face to hit their target weight. Apple uses plastics for AirPods, the Magic Mouse, and all of their keycaps, but they haven’t done plastic in front of a display in a long time.

I have two Leviton USB-C outlets with power delivery in my house. There is none of this "jank" of which you speak, and they charge every USB-C device we own (2 iPads, an M1 MacBook Air, and an M2 MacBook Pro), and fast. Yes, there is a port on the VP battery, and I mentioned it may be possible to attach a second battery or charger to it, but that would violate every page of the Apple Design Book. I'd guess the real reason there's no USB port on the VP is that Apple doesn't want anyone attaching any third party hardware to it. And there's plenty of historical precedent to back that up!

tht

We probably shouldn't assume the external battery is like an external USBC battery. It has a USBC port to charge it, but the connection from the battery to the headset may not be USBC. Moreover, there could be chips and DC/DC converters in the battery puck that aren't in USBC batteries.

Nobody has seen what this connecter to the headset looks like. I wouldn't be surprised if it is just 3 to 5 pins or contacts,

eriamjh

mayfly said:

"Apple said at WWDC that the battery is not casually removable from the headset. There is a USB-C port on the battery for charging and directly powering the Apple Vision Pro."

Just my uninformed opinion, but I think Apple missed an opportunity by attaching the battery this way. Better to put two USB-C ports on the headset, so users could just swap battery packs without it powering down. Weight gain would be marginal, and it would be easy to add a latch to prevent accidental detachment. Unless it's possible to attach a backup battery to the USB port on the battery. At this time, there's been no mention of that from Apple.

Go to 1:47:20 The battery sure looks like it simply disconnects by twist and pull from the headset as it appears to merely apply and twist to attach. I don’t know how that isn’t “casually detachable”. I think they mean it won’t fall off if gently pulled randomly. MagSafe it isn’t. Probably should be.

zimmie

mayfly said:

zimmie said:

mayfly said:

"Apple said at WWDC that the battery is not casually removable from the headset. There is a USB-C port on the battery for charging and directly powering the Apple Vision Pro."

Just my uninformed opinion, but I think Apple missed an opportunity by attaching the battery this way. Better to put two USB-C ports on the headset, so users could just swap battery packs without it powering down. Weight gain would be marginal, and it would be easy to add a latch to prevent accidental detachment. Unless it's possible to attach a backup battery to the USB port on the battery. At this time, there's been no mention of that from Apple.

USB power delivery is extremely janky. It isn’t suitable for anything without a built-in battery. Devices can abruptly lose their internal state for any number of reasons. The only possible safe response to this failure is to drop to the lowest supported voltage and current, which definitely isn’t enough to keep the Vision Pro running. It also flatly does not support seamless handoff between two power sources.

They could have done it with a sizable internal battery and USB power delivery, but then all this upcoming legislation mandating easily replaceable batteries would bite them. They would probably also need to change away from glass for the outer face to hit their target weight. Apple uses plastics for AirPods, the Magic Mouse, and all of their keycaps, but they haven’t done plastic in front of a display in a long time.

I have two Leviton USB-C outlets with power delivery in my house. There is none of this "jank" of which you speak, and they charge every USB-C device we own (2 iPads, an M1 MacBook Air, and an M2 MacBook Pro), and fast. Yes, there is a port on the VP battery, and I mentioned it may be possible to attach a second battery or charger to it, but that would violate every page of the Apple Design Book. I'd guess the real reason there's no USB port on the VP is that Apple doesn't want anyone attaching any third party hardware to it. And there's plenty of historical precedent to back that up!

They absolutely do have the jankiness I mentioned, you just don't notice it. iPads and MacBooks can tolerate the sudden drops to 5v@100mA because their internal batteries provide enough power to keep going. It only takes half a second or so to renegotiate the higher delivery, so even 1% charge is enough.

Without an internal battery, Vision Pro would just suddenly lose power. While that would be bad for any device, it is absolutely not tolerable for something covering your entire visual field. Further, the battery would need to be able to provide fairly high current. A capacitor bank could be used, but would take up a lot of volume, increasing the lever effect of the weight of other components (like the exterior glass) which have to be pushed further our from your face.

Part of the reason USB-PD is so bad is that it's built on USB 2, which is a nightmare of a protocol. Talk to anybody who has ever had to implement USB 2 at an electrical level. They will absolutely agree that USB-PD can't ever be remotely reliable enough for a battery-to-load connection.

mayfly

"They absolutely do have the jankiness I mentioned, you just don't notice it."

If you can't notice it, what't the difference? It's only used for charging/powering, not data transfer.

Xed

mayfly said:

"Apple said at WWDC that the battery is not casually removable from the headset. There is a USB-C port on the battery for charging and directly powering the Apple Vision Pro."

Just my uninformed opinion, but I think Apple missed an opportunity by attaching the battery this way. Better to put two USB-C ports on the headset, so users could just swap battery packs without it powering down. Weight gain would be marginal, and it would be easy to add a latch to prevent accidental detachment. Unless it's possible to attach a backup battery to the USB port on the battery. At this time, there's been no mention of that from Apple.

Why assume that will power down when you disconnect the entrant battery pack?

The 72° counter-clockwise turn to unlock the charging cable looks to be a very elegant design to keep excessive weight off the device.

mayfly

Xed said:

mayfly said:

"Apple said at WWDC that the battery is not casually removable from the headset. There is a USB-C port on the battery for charging and directly powering the Apple Vision Pro."

Just my uninformed opinion, but I think Apple missed an opportunity by attaching the battery this way. Better to put two USB-C ports on the headset, so users could just swap battery packs without it powering down. Weight gain would be marginal, and it would be easy to add a latch to prevent accidental detachment. Unless it's possible to attach a backup battery to the USB port on the battery. At this time, there's been no mention of that from Apple.

Why assume that will power down when you disconnect the entrant battery pack?

The 72° counter-clockwise turn to unlock the charging cable looks to be a very elegant design to keep excessive weight off the device.

I think it's functional. But elegant? Not at all. Why is a shutdown every time the battery dies or you unplug it better than having a spare battery? For comparison, say you're on vacation, having lunch in the town square of Siena, in Tuscany, with your iPhone, or better yet, your Canon digital SLR. The church doors open, and a newly married couple emerges the priest. Suddenly, a participant releases a flock of white doves which ascend into the sky. But your battery is dead, and you can't preserve the memory for your friends and family. And yes, that's exactly what happened to us, on our once in a lifetime vacation experience.

Proving once again Murphy's law that "whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time!" That's why it would be commodious to have a hot swappable battery.

Xed

mayfly said:

Xed said:

mayfly said:

"Apple said at WWDC that the battery is not casually removable from the headset. There is a USB-C port on the battery for charging and directly powering the Apple Vision Pro."

Just my uninformed opinion, but I think Apple missed an opportunity by attaching the battery this way. Better to put two USB-C ports on the headset, so users could just swap battery packs without it powering down. Weight gain would be marginal, and it would be easy to add a latch to prevent accidental detachment. Unless it's possible to attach a backup battery to the USB port on the battery. At this time, there's been no mention of that from Apple.

Why assume that will power down when you disconnect the entrant battery pack?

The 72° counter-clockwise turn to unlock the charging cable looks to be a very elegant design to keep excessive weight off the device.

I think it's functional. But elegant? Not at all. Why is a shutdown every time the battery dies or you unplug it better than having a spare battery? For comparison, say you're on vacation, having lunch in the town square of Siena, in Tuscany, with your iPhone, or better yet, your Canon digital SLR. The church doors open, and a newly married couple emerges the priest. Suddenly, a participant releases a flock of white doves which ascend into the sky. But your battery is dead, and you can't preserve the memory for your friends and family. And yes, that's exactly what happened to us, on our once in a lifetime vacation experience.

Proving once again Murphy's law that "whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time!" That's why it would be commodious to have a hot swappable battery.

Again, why are you assuming that the device will power down when you switch battery packs?

You don't have facts and yet you're complaining already. It sounds like you're inventing your own problems before they exist... which I suspect is what why you think taking the train is always a better solution than flying.

9secondkox2

Meh. Bring on M3 macs. 

mayfly

Xed said:

mayfly said:

Xed said:

mayfly said:

"Apple said at WWDC that the battery is not casually removable from the headset. There is a USB-C port on the battery for charging and directly powering the Apple Vision Pro."

Just my uninformed opinion, but I think Apple missed an opportunity by attaching the battery this way. Better to put two USB-C ports on the headset, so users could just swap battery packs without it powering down. Weight gain would be marginal, and it would be easy to add a latch to prevent accidental detachment. Unless it's possible to attach a backup battery to the USB port on the battery. At this time, there's been no mention of that from Apple.

Why assume that will power down when you disconnect the entrant battery pack?

The 72° counter-clockwise turn to unlock the charging cable looks to be a very elegant design to keep excessive weight off the device.

I think it's functional. But elegant? Not at all. Why is a shutdown every time the battery dies or you unplug it better than having a spare battery? For comparison, say you're on vacation, having lunch in the town square of Siena, in Tuscany, with your iPhone, or better yet, your Canon digital SLR. The church doors open, and a newly married couple emerges the priest. Suddenly, a participant releases a flock of white doves which ascend into the sky. But your battery is dead, and you can't preserve the memory for your friends and family. And yes, that's exactly what happened to us, on our once in a lifetime vacation experience.

Proving once again Murphy's law that "whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time!" That's why it would be commodious to have a hot swappable battery.

Again, why are you assuming that the device will power down when you switch battery packs?

You don't have facts and yet you're complaining already. It sounds like you're inventing your own problems before they exist... which I suspect is what why you think taking the train is always a better solution than flying.

Because it has no internal CMOS battery. Or at least, it's never been mentioned. With no power, what keeps it running?

Xed

mayfly said:

Xed said:

mayfly said:

Xed said:

mayfly said:

"Apple said at WWDC that the battery is not casually removable from the headset. There is a USB-C port on the battery for charging and directly powering the Apple Vision Pro."

Just my uninformed opinion, but I think Apple missed an opportunity by attaching the battery this way. Better to put two USB-C ports on the headset, so users could just swap battery packs without it powering down. Weight gain would be marginal, and it would be easy to add a latch to prevent accidental detachment. Unless it's possible to attach a backup battery to the USB port on the battery. At this time, there's been no mention of that from Apple.

Why assume that will power down when you disconnect the entrant battery pack?

The 72° counter-clockwise turn to unlock the charging cable looks to be a very elegant design to keep excessive weight off the device.

I think it's functional. But elegant? Not at all. Why is a shutdown every time the battery dies or you unplug it better than having a spare battery? For comparison, say you're on vacation, having lunch in the town square of Siena, in Tuscany, with your iPhone, or better yet, your Canon digital SLR. The church doors open, and a newly married couple emerges the priest. Suddenly, a participant releases a flock of white doves which ascend into the sky. But your battery is dead, and you can't preserve the memory for your friends and family. And yes, that's exactly what happened to us, on our once in a lifetime vacation experience.

Proving once again Murphy's law that "whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time!" That's why it would be commodious to have a hot swappable battery.

Again, why are you assuming that the device will power down when you switch battery packs?

You don't have facts and yet you're complaining already. It sounds like you're inventing your own problems before they exist... which I suspect is what why you think taking the train is always a better solution than flying.

Because it has no internal CMOS battery. Or at least, it's never been mentioned. With no power, what keeps it running?

Based on what I've seen with the pics of the battery, my hypothesis is that you'll be expected to keep the battery pack on while you connect directly to an AC outlet to allow for power-passthrough to the headset whilst charging the external battery pack. Hopefully they will allow for a second battery pack to be plugged into the first to allow for passthrough, but that seems less likely to me.

IOW, I feel that Apple would try to keep users from switching battery packs as this is already not a common setup with any Apple product and the battery pack being external seems to be done to keep weight done on the device.

My feeling aside or how I might approach this problem with my limited knowledge, at the very least I have to acknowledge that countless Apple engineers have been spent many years perfecting this device so crying foul on a product when all the evidence isn't in seems a tad foolish. I'll wait for the developers who get the first run of the device before I move the needle on how I feel about the upcoming product.

mayfly

Xed said:

My feeling aside or how I might approach this problem with my limited knowledge, at the very least I have to acknowledge that countless Apple engineers have been spent many years perfecting this device so crying foul on a product when all the evidence isn't in seems a tad foolish. I'll wait for the developers who get the first run of the device before I move the needle on how I feel about the upcoming product.

So leave it to the pros? Let's not get crazy!