Meta Sticks Two Fingers up to Apple with Quest 3 Announcement

Well, well, well, who saw that coming? Meta has taken the reports that Apple will be unveiling its new headset seriously and pipped them to the post. Yesterday, as if you couldn’t miss it, the Meta Quest 3 announcement dropped almost out of the blue. Ahead of the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase Mark Zuckerberg released the first official details. These include specification confirmations and a price, whilst noting that Quest 3 will be “Our most powerful headset yet”.

Meta Quest 3 reveal

The announcement has come as a bit of a shock considering Meta tends to save hardware announcements for its Connect event in September. And that’s still partially true, as this week wasn’t a full disclosure with more details coming on 27th September. Even so, the unveiling helps to put numerous rumours to bed regarding the design and features. An early hands-on report highlighted how mixed reality-focused Quest 3 actually is, with a first taster shown in the trailer.

Quest 3 and Quest 2
Quest 3 and Quest 2 side-by-side comparison.

Is Quest 3 coming soon?

Very much so, it’s coming this Autumn. Whilst no specific date has been given, considering Meta’s track record pre-orders will most likely go live during Connect on 27 September.

How much will Quest 3 cost?

The base price will be $499 USD (£499.99 GBP) for the 128GB model. Meta has said a larger storage option will be available, no price on that, however.

Meta Quest 3 Specifications

So what do we now know from the recent presentation? The first is that Quest 3 will be more powerful, running on Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon XR2+ chipset. It’ll have a new high-resolution display and pancake optics to make VR experiences look even better.

And thanks to those new optics, the Quest 3 is 40% slimmer than its predecessor. As for its mixed reality capabilities, the headset has dual 4MP RGB colour cameras, a depth sensor and 10x more pixels in Passthrough compared to Quest 2.

Followed by all-new Touch controllers. Redesigned without the tracking rings the controllers feature TruTouch haptics – from the Touch Pro controllers – for plenty of immersive feedback. They don’t feature any tracking cameras like Touch Pro, however.

Quest Gaming compatibility

Importantly, the Quest 3 will be compatible with all the current lineup of videogames and apps on the Quest Store. That’s over 500 titles and counting.

Meta prepares for its rivals

Possibly more interesting than the headset itself is Meta’s timing. The company dominates the VR market thanks to Quest 2 but it has got an interesting fight on its hands this year. Not only is there the widely praised PSVR 2 but you’ve also got Apple’s VR headset which is rumoured to be unveiled in a few days.

Reports suggest that while both the Quest 3 and Apple Reality Pro – the name isn’t official yet – will both be mixed reality devices, they’ll be worlds apart. As we now know, Quest 3 will retail for $499, a consumer-friendly price point for new hardware. Apple’s entry is supposedly going to be in the thousands – around $3,000 – which doesn’t exactly make it Amazon or BestBuy friendly.

The tech industry is super excited to find out what Apple’s been working on. But now it feels like Meta has diminished that somewhat, drawing a line in the sand to say “Come on, what have you got?”

Rivalries aside, it’s still a great time to be a VR enthusiast. At the very least Apple’s entry into the market will shine a light on VR like no other. The more the merrier we say.

What do you think of the Quest 3 announcement? Let us know in the comments below.