As Apple prepares to launch its own rumored virtual reality product, Mark Zuckerberg today revealed the Quest 3, a VR headset that arrives this fall starting at only $499.
In a video showing off the product, the Meta CEO says the Quest 3 is the company’s “most powerful headset yet.” It stands out by incorporating several exterior lenses to enable “full color passthrough” for a “high-res color mixed reality.” This means you’ll be able to view your real-world surroundings, despite strapping on the headgear.
The previous Quest models have also included passthrough, but images can be restricted to black and white, along with grainy textures. The Quest 3, on the other hand, promises to take the image quality to the next level, paving the way for augmented reality experiences that can overlay VR objects on your real-world sight.
Other enhancements include a higher resolution screen inside the VR headset, which is 40% thinner than the Quest 2, which should make the new device more comfortable to wear.
The silicon inside the VR headset has also been upgraded with a “next gen” chip from Qualcomm designed to offer "twice the graphical performance as the previous generation Snapdragon GPU in Quest 2."
"We also completely redesigned Quest 3’s Touch Plus controllers with a more streamlined and ergonomic form factor," the company added in a blog post. "Thanks to our advances in tracking technology, we’ve dropped the outer tracking rings so the controllers feel like a more natural extension of your hands and take up less space."
Zuckerberg made no mention of Apple. But he’s likely trying to steal the spotlight from the iPhone maker, which is expected to reveal its own VR headset during next week’s WWDC. According to Bloomberg, Apple’s rival product will also boast some cutting-edge augmented reality tech, but it’ll cost about $3,000, putting it out of reach for most consumers.
Meta itself has also tried to sell a premium VR headset with the Quest Pro, which originally retailed for $1,499. But the company has since cut the price down to $999 in a sign that the public has little appetite for expensive VR gear.
In contrast, the Quest 3 tries to keep the pricing affordable to mainstream consumers, although the Quest 2 originally launched at $299 before a price hike brought it to $399. Zuckerberg plans on revealing more about the device during the Meta Connect conference on Sept. 27. Stay tuned for our coverage.
In the meantime, Meta says it's going to lower the Quest 2 back to the original $299 starting price on June 4. The company added: "In an upcoming software update, we’re updating the Quest 2 and Quest Pro GPU and CPU. Quest 2 and Pro will see an up-to 26% CPU performance increase with an up-to 19% GPU speed increase for Quest 2 and 11% for Quest Pro."