Alongside the release date announcement of Vision Pro, Apple revealed a new headstrap that will ship with Vision Pro, alongside the originally revealed one.

Apple today revealed a new headstrap for Vision Pro which it’s calling the ‘Dual Loop’. Compared to the wide and cozy-looking headstrap that was originally shown with the headset, the Dual Loop looks more like a traditional VR headset strap, including a top strap.

Dual Loop Band | Image courtesy Apple

The new Dual Loop strap has a less wide rear strap that hangs a little lower under the back of the head, and replaces the tightening dial with what looks like a velcro approach.

Apple says the Dual Loop will ship with Vision Pro alongside the originally revealed headset (the ‘Solo Knit Band’), “giving users two options for the fit that works best for them.”

Solo Knit Band | Image courtesy Apple

As far as we know, it should be possible to combine the headset’s top strap with the Solo Knit Band if one desires.

It’s unclear if the inclusion of this new strap was always part of the company’s plan, or if this is the company reacting to feedback that Vision Pro is actually rather heavy and definitely benefits from a top strap.

Apple also confirmed today the Vision Pro release date and pre-order date.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."

  • With the way both of these solutions are designed, I don’t see how they’re actually taking weight off the front part of the headset, which is the part you want to be trying to take the weight off. A strap that comes from the backstrap and over your head to the front strame, like in the Quest 3, actually seems to make far more sense to me. But I guess we’ll hear soon enough how effective Apple’s two solutions are.

    • InsideOutTracker

      Totally what I thought, too. The new strap seems to not take any weight from the face!

    • Ben Lang

      Yup, side-to-side straps don’t make that much sense to me.

      • XRC

        It’s all about hair. Don’t want people with nice hair cuts messing up their hair. Front to rear straps don’t play nice with hair, see the big bunch on the Apple model in the image.

    • Juan Ritz

      It’s crazy to me that most of these companies keep fumbling the ergonomics when it’s such an important aspect of this tech. It makes a bit of sense with the Quest since they’re targeting affordability (though the elite strap still stinks), but for Apple to flub this on the vision pro is unacceptable. Don’t worry, I imagine that Apple will release an aluminum version of the Vive deluxe audio strap that’ll cost $999. Are their prototype engineers just afraid to speak up to the ghost of Steve Jobs?

      • ameba#23234 mdrea

        why elite strap stinks?

      • Adam Savage

        Exactly. Normal people will not want to wear such an uncomfortable device. Maybe I’ll wait for the titanium version, LOL.

      • Yes, it seems it is all about style over substance/comfort.

    • Jistuce

      But a front-to-back strap would be UGLY, and an Apple product can’t be UGLY even if it is to the benefit of anything that actually matters.

    • Arno van Wingerde

      Finally a strap solution that makes the Quest standard straps look somewhat less awful.. thank you Apple!
      I would rather have two knit bands: one at the back and one over the head…

  • Stealth Ico

    at the end of the day it does not matter because you bet your bottom dollar that some person on thingiverse will just make a vive deluxe audio strap adapter to make it comfortable

    • Andrew Jakobs

      I hear more and more that that one is still one of the best headstraps around. I own the vive pro amd must say it is a very comfortable headstrap.

      • Juan Ritz

        Every headset that I’ve owned aside from the Index has been modded to fit a DAS. I still have two more of them new in box to try and future proof the consistently bad ergonomics that these companies keep putting out. It’s still a great solution, a night and day difference over the Quest 3 Elite strap, both in comfort and obviously in audio performance. That said, I haven’t yet tried the bobovr strap that people seem to like.

  • Andrew Jakobs

    My guess is they did it because of the feedback, but with the profitmarging being regular Apple, it wouldn’t cost them much.

  • The one with the top strap seems to distribute better the weight, but still does not seem optimal to me

  • ameba#23234 mdrea

    Worrisome that there is no counterweight anywhere. I can’t imagine how any headset can be comfortable without balanced weight distribution on your hearts.

    Edit: head* but heart is important too lol

    • Arno van Wingerde

      Since the battery strap I got, I feel this balanced weight thing is somewhat overrated: If you carry a heavy shopping bag you are out of balance. Adding a second heavy bag solves that… but doubles the overall weight to carry. If you turn around as you hear a sound behind you, the weights take effort to be set in motion and stopped if you are in the desired position.
      A head set with batteries is more balanced, but also increases the overall weight on your neck and takes more effort to turn your head. Overall I feel a lighter head set would be better… ymmv!

    • Adam Savage

      I guess Apple doesn’t have any physicists on staff. I just can’t understand how these companies think putting 99.9% of the weight in the front, right on the face and forehead, is an acceptable ergonomic solution.

  • Adam Savage

    While this thing may be a few steps better than the Quest 3, it’s the same, clunky design. The BIG problem with VR…err, “spatial computing”, in Apple-speak, LOL, is that these headsets are a burden to wear. I tried a Quest 3, and it felt like strapping a small brick to my face. Some people will say, “buy a better strap”, but that won’t fix the fundamental problem that all the weight is on the front. You need a counterweight, and even then, these things are just clunky. I don’t care how good the screens are, or how powerful the processor is. If it’s uncomfortable, I will dread wearing it.