The Apple Vision Pro Is Heavy. Here’s How to Fix That

Within the two weeks it has spent on the faces of keen patrons, the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional has been subjected to its share of criticism. As reported by The Verge and elsewhere, some clients are making a present of returning their Imaginative and prescient Professional headsets earlier than Apple’s commonplace 14-day return window on new purchases closes. Some headset house owners have lodged complaints across social media concerning the machine’s weight, saying carrying the Imaginative and prescient Professional for prolonged durations of time causes nice discomfort, and the odd allegedly-related burst blood vessel.

Apple isn’t one to scrimp on the feel and appear of its merchandise, and the Imaginative and prescient Professional has a characteristically slick aesthetic. Sadly, the premium supplies that make up the headset—primarily the aluminum chassis and glass optics—are a lot heavier than the plastic and different light-weight elements present in competing mixed-reality headsets. There’s additionally an exterior battery pack that reduces the headset’s portability. The majority, weight, and awkwardness of carrying a pc in your face make for a clunky expertise which hardly appears to lend itself to the sorts of actions Apple is suggesting Imaginative and prescient Professional house owners use it for: kicking again and watching a feature-length film in VR, doing workplace work, or dancing round your kitchen whereas building a surfboard.

Eduardo Umaña, a {hardware} designer, says the truth that it’s uncomfortable is much less concerning the supplies and extra concerning the measurement and dimensions of the machine. “When you’ve gotten weight (the aluminum body) appearing a distance from an anchor level (the person’s face), it creates virtually a lever impact that, though minimal, will disturb the person’s expertise,” Umaña writes in an e mail to WIRED.

Examine that to a standard pair of glasses, which relaxation straight on the nostril and sit very near the face, lowering that leverage. Regular glasses clearly require far fewer supplies than the Imaginative and prescient Professional, however Umaña says their design can provide a lesson in the best way to higher hug a face. “If Apple needs to make the machine extra comfy and wearable, this distance must be decreased considerably. Or not less than, the heavier supplies ought to be nearer to the person’s face, like in a ski masks.”

Apple didn’t reply to requests for remark.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg weighed in on the Imaginative and prescient Professional by evaluating the headset unfavorably to his firm’s Meta Quest headset in a video posted on Instagram. “Quest is healthier for the overwhelming majority of issues that individuals use blended actuality for,” he says.

Biased although he clearly is, Zuck could also be proper. As a result of the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional shouldn’t be meant to really attraction to everybody. Jitesh Ubrani, a analysis supervisor on the tech analyst agency IDC, says the Imaginative and prescient Professional is certain to trigger friction as a result of it’s a product supposed as a developer equipment, slightly than one thing really meant for the common client.

“I feel Apple realizes there can be this type of backlash, however it’s the form of backlash they’d be prepared to simply accept as collateral injury,” Ubrani says. “Actually they’re making an attempt to make inroads with the builders proper now.”