In comparison to Meta’s previous efforts, its next Quest VR headset could be decidedly more…professional.
As Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, the company formerly known as Facebook plans to call its next high-end headset the “Meta Quest Pro.” This is based on code found in the Oculus iPhone app. According to Gurman, we may receive official confirmation of the name and release date later this year.
According to Gurman’s sources, Quest Pro is expected to cost $1,000, a far cry from the $300 price tag for Quest 2. Of course, there’s a reason for that: Its graphics processing power, screen resolution, controllers, and onboard storage will all be upgraded from the Quest 2. It will also include eye tracking and external cameras for seeing the world outside the headset in color for AR applications.
Mark gives us a preview of Project Cambria and its mixed reality capabilities 👀 pic.twitter.com/iCMGwcaIim
— Meta Quest (@MetaQuestVR) May 12, 2022
This Quest Pro would be the headset that was announced last year with the codename Project Cambria. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently appeared in a video showing off the headset behind a blanket of pixels, so it definitely exists. The video also confirms that it’s a free-standing headset without the need to connect via wire to a gaming PC, true to the Quest moniker.
The VR business of Meta has so far operated without serious competition from other big tech companies and, barring any major surprises, that should continue until the end of the year when we learn more about the Quest Pro. One of the worst kept secrets in tech is that Apple is developing its own mixed-reality headset that does both augmented reality and virtual reality. Due to the fact that we haven’t heard anything about it yet, it may not launch in 2022 as originally reported, but it may launch next year, putting a dent in Zuck’s dominance.
Or it could just be its own thing entirely. According to another Gurman report from January, Apple has no interest in similar metaverse applications. That’s a shame, as we’d all really like to go virtual surfing with Tim Cook after work meetings.