Striking preemptively ahead of Apple’s rumoured mixed-reality headset announcement, Meta has officially unveiled the latest entry to its own VR hardware line-up, the Quest 3. The device is said to inherit some features from the brand’s higher-end Pro model, while at the same time coming in more powerful and lighter than its predecessor.
The Meta Quest 3 is shown to sport a new design, which is touted to be 40% slimmer and more comfortable than the Quest 2. In front of the visor are three vertical capsule-shaped bumps that house its numerous sensors, which allows for mixed reality and full-colour passthrough – much like the Pro model. As such, this provides the headset with the capability to blend augmented reality elements into the outside world for a more high-quality, immersive experience. During the product’s reveal, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the Quest 3 is the first mainstream headset of its kind to achieve this.
Under its hood, the company’s latest headset comes with an undisclosed “next-gen” Qualcomm chipset which is claimed to offer twice the graphics performance of the Quest 2. In case you’re not familiar, Meta’s Quest VR headsets (including the past models and the Pro) have been designed to work as standalone products, therefore a connection to an external device such as PCs is entirely optional. They are capable of running VR games and apps out of the box, hence the need for an internal chipset and storage capacity. In regards to the latter, Meta revealed that the starting configuration for the Quest 3 will come with 128GB.
Meanwhile, the headset’s accompanying controllers, known as Touch Plus, have also been upgraded; now featuring a more streamlined and ergonomic design which ditches its predecessor’s outer tracking rings. Like the Touch Pro controllers that come with Meta’s high-end model, the Quest 3 controllers come with TruTouch haptic feedback, as well as improved tracking technology. Additionally, hand tracking is supported out of the box, meaning that you can control certain features and even games without relying on the Touch Plus.
Last but not least, Meta confirmed that its latest headset will be backwards compatible with the Quest 1 and 2’s catalogue of over 500 VR games and apps. However, the company did not say whether it will come with the Quest Link or Air Link features which lets it function as a connected VR headset with your PC. On that note, the company says it will share even more details regarding the Quest 3 later on 27 September 2023 during its Connect conference.
The upcoming VR headset is set to be available “in all countries where Meta Quest is currently supported” this fall. The Quest 3 is confirmed to be offered at a starting price of US$499 (~RM2,284) for the 128GB option, which is US$200 more than its predecessor’s current retail value. Pricing for its other possible configurations, on the other hand, will only be revealed during the aforementioned event that’s happening later this year.
(Source: Meta [official blog])
