Meta Quest 3 features surface as Apple Vision Pro availability remains mystery

Augmented and virtual reality enthusiasts have known VR headsets for years, but it wasn’t before big brands like Apple and Facebook (via its acquisition of Oculus) took over, that the AR/VR space started turning some heads. A good example of that was seen earlier this year during Apple’s WWDC 2023 event, where the brand announced its Vision Pro mixed reality (MR) headset.

Not soon after, Meta stepped up with its newest competitor in the space – the Meta Quest 3. At its annual Connect conference, we witnessed all the new capabilities of the Quest 3 including higher-res displays, better passthrough technology, and more. Here’s everything you need to know about the new Meta Quest 3 ahead of availability in December this year.

Meta Quest 3 top features

The Quest 3 is a mixed reality headset just like the Apple Vision Pro. Built by Meta, the product builds on the years of experience that Oculus has in this space, along with Meta’s key focus on the very social concept of the Metaverse.

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Building on its predecessors in the Quest series, the Meta Quest 3 is powered by a new Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset. This silicon lets the headset fit in a 110-degree field of view, while also powering the new full-colour passthrough tech that has ten times as many pixels as older headsets.

The new headset is also powered by next-gen Meta software, which now lets users use a virtual screen that they can pull up pretty much anywhere, and of course, it can be resized and adjusted to your liking. This means just like the Vision Pro, the Quest 3 will let you open up a virtual 100-inch display panel and place it in your verandah.

That’s not all though. The Quest 3 also promises to be a boon for gamers chasing immersiveness. With support for Roblox and Xbox Cloud Gaming, the Meta Quest 3 is an instant tool to VR gaming, complete with optional hand triggers. Whether it will rival the Sony PS VR2 in this space, however, remains to be seen.

Meta Quest 3 price and availability

The Meta Quest 3 is priced at $499 (about Rs 41,495) and will be available from December this year in select markets. Unfortunately, India is unlikely to be in this list. But if you are living in one of the supported regions, you can head to the Meta Quest 3 website to pre-book your Quest 3 right now.