Apple Vision Pro Weight Problems

Submission 1,146

Part of a series on Apple Vision Pro. [View Related Entries]

About

Apple Vision Pro Weight Problems refers to discourse, memes and debates surrounding Apple's mixed reality headset and its heavy mass compared to other virtual or augmented reality headsets after specs and reviews for the device began emerging online in mid-January 2024. According to journalists and reviewers doing early demos of the device, the Apple Vision Pro (reported to weigh between 1 to 1.5 pounds or 453 and 680 grams) weighed too much and made some feel uncomfortable or experience neck pain after extended durations wearing it.

Origin

On January 16th, 2024, Apple contacted several journalists and technology reviewers at publications like The Verge and Engadget to test out the headset and write reviews.^[1] This process was part of Apple's larger roll-out strategy ahead of the Apple Vision Pro's release on February 2nd, 2024, and preorder opening on January 19th.^[2]

Many of these early reviewers noted that the usage of the device led to headaches and neck aches, with Victoria Song in The Verge noting, "… by the end of my demo, I started to feel the weight of the headset bring me back to the real world. I’d been furrowing my brow, concentrating so hard, I felt the beginnings of a mild headache."^[3]

In general, numerous reviewers seemed to say that it was difficult to forget they were wearing the device because of its weight, which is around half a kilogram. The addition of a top strap as well as the standard horizontal one appeared to help alleviate the issue.

Prior to the January 16th articles, the device's weight had been brought up by previous demo users, such as Marques Brownlee, whose YouTube video (seen below) describing his "impressions" of the device earned over 17 million views in the seven months after he posted it on June 6th, 2023.^[7]

Marques Brownlee had another demo the week of January 16th and posted about his experience with the device again, sharing that it was still heavy, earning over 42,000 likes in the course of two days (seen below).^[6]

Spread

Following reports and reviews in mid-January 2024 noting the weight of the device and the discomfort some experienced, users on X / Twitter started to joke about the neck strain associated with the Apple Vision Pro. For example, on January 16th, 2024, X user @AndyManganelli posted (seen below, left) about neck issues that might be caused by the Vision Pro, earning over 5,100 likes in two days.^[4]

Also on January 16th, X user @PhillyD posted a series of neck-strengthening workout ideas in reference to them prepping for the headset, earning over 9,500 likes in a similar timeframe (seen below, right).^[5]