Apple Vision Pro’s top strap might be sold separately
Apple could add a top strap to its upcoming Vision Pro mixed-reality headset — for a price.
That is according to the latest Power On newsletter from Bloomberg’s resident Apple expert Mark Gurman.
Gurman’s sources at the company have informed him that Apple expanded internal testing of the headset to thousands more employees following its public unveiling at WWDC 2023.
The testing seeks to iron out the remaining issues that consumers could have with the Vision Pro before it launches in early 2024.
While most of the shortcomings are currently related to incomplete or buggy software, one physical aspect of the headset is also proving to be an inconvenience for many of these testers — its weight.
Vision Pro headset
Unlike many other virtual reality and augmented reality headsets, which use lots of light plastic parts, the Vision Pro is made primarily from aluminium and glass.
While that gives it a more premium feel, it also puts more strain on the user’s head.
To address this issue, Apple has developed an additional strap that goes over the top of the user’s head.
It was briefly shown in part of Apple’s announcement of the Vision Pro.
However, Gurman said the company might not include the strap in the Vision Pro’s box and instead sell it as an additional accessory.
The Vision Pro already carries a rather hefty price tag of $3,499 (R65,511), so critics of such a decision might accuse Apple of being greedy.
It would also not be the first time the company created this impression by seeming to create a problem, then selling an accessory to solve it.
In 2019, it caused quite an upset and became the butt of many online jokers after it revealed its $4,999 Pro Display XDR monitor would not include a stand.
Apple Pro Stand for Pro Display XDR
Instead, customers had two main options for mounting the display: shell out $199 for a VESA mount adapter to fit it to a wall or a third-party stand, or pay an eye-watering $999 (R14,400 at that time) for the official magnetically-attached Pro Stand.
The company justified the price tag by explaining on its website that it had an intricately engineered arm that counter-balanced the display to make the screen feel “virtually weightless”.
The fact that it weighs 11.78kg — about the same as three PlayStation 5 consoles — at least adds some weight to Apple’s argument.
Some speculators have reckoned it probably costs Apple only about $200 to produce the stand.
While its raw materials cost much less than that, the fact that it’s a low-volume product means the design and tooling costs are spread across a small number of users.
Meme of the Apple Smart Mug poking fun at the Pro XDR Display Stand
At the time of publication, the Pro Stand was still $999 on Apple.com, showing Apple had held its ground against the endless jokes about the product.
If Apple does end up shipping the top strap for the Vision Pro separately, it will be interesting to see how much it charges for it.
The company has already suggested a lot of costly research and development went into the main strap that goes behind the user’s head and the material that fits around the eyes.
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