More information on the attached battery pack for the Apple headset

Once again, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman is dispensing inside information regarding Apple’s impending mixed-reality headset. This time, Gurman provided fresh information regarding the contentious attached power pack design of the headgear in his weekly newsletter.

According to earlier claims from Gurman, supply chain analyst Ming Chi-Kuo, and The Information, Apple finally chose to move forward with a headset design that uses an external battery pack connected by a wire after significant internal discussion.

This is because some users would find the headset to be overly weighty and cumbersome if the battery were inside. Employees at Apple who opposed this strategy claimed that it made the headset awkward to wear, especially in public.

For the first time, we have some information on how this will actually look. The headset will have two ports, according to Gurman: a USB-C port and a brand-new proprietary power port. The proprietary port will be used for “a charging cable that goes into the headset with a spherical tip that enters magnetically,” while the USB-C port will only be used for data.

According to reports, a fully charged battery pack provides around two hours of use. Gurman theorizes that Apple may try to upsell customers to purchase more power packs for longer sessions.

On the one hand, two hours seems sufficient given that most people don’t enjoy spending a lot of time in VR, while the headset’s non-immersive AR elements might be more comfortable for prolonged sessions. The headset is also supposed to be smaller (and probably more comfortable) than other head-mounted displays we’ve seen so far, with a shape and dimensions that resemble ski masks.

A plethora of functions and applications will be available with the headgear, including the ability to utilize iPad apps like Books, FaceTime, and Maps in virtual reality as well as games developed by seasoned Apple Arcade developers, immersive fitness programs, and more. Apple even intends to provide consumers with a method to view a nearby MacBook’s display in virtual or augmented reality, indicating that it will be made with more long-term usage in mind.

Given this, it makes sense that Apple decided against including a battery in the headset. Power users will need to purchase numerous battery packs and switch them out every two hours in order to achieve daylong use.