Meta Quest 3: Price, release window, features - everything you need to know
Meta Quest 3 is the successor to the world's most successful VR headset. Here is everything we know about the device so far.
Meta has sold nearly 20 million Quest headsets since May 2019, with the Meta Quest 2 accounting for the lion's share. That's many times more than any other headset.
Meta Quest 3 is the next-gen successor to Quest 2 and was officially announced with a teaser on June 1, 2023.
This article summarizes what we know about Meta Quest 3.
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When will Meta Quest 3 be released?
According to Meta, the device will be released in the fall of 2023.
The headset will be fully unveiled with its specifications at the upcoming Meta Connect, Meta's developer conference, which takes place on September 27-28, 2023.
Meta typically releases new VR hardware shortly after Meta Connect.
How much does Meta Quest 3 cost?
The price for the standard 128 gigabyte model is $499. A model with more storage will be announced later this year.
Due to better and newer technology, Meta Quest 3 will be more expensive than Meta Quest 2, which currently starts at $299. For this reason, Quest 2 will not be replaced by Quest 3 for the time being and will continue to be sold after its release.
Quest 3's housing (right) has a much thinner profile thanks to the new pancake lenses. | Image: Meta
Presumably, Meta's headset portfolio will be segmented into three price points:
- Meta Quest 2 starting from $299
- Meta Quest 3 starting from $499
- Meta Quest Pro for $999
The Quest 2 may not be discontinued until 2024. According to a leaked hardware roadmap, Meta plans to launch a more affordable headset (codenamed Ventura) next year. If it launches, it will likely be a stripped down Meta Quest 3.
What are the improvements that Meta Quest 3 will bring?
From the video teaser and Meta's official information, the following improvements can be deduced:
- Meta Quest 3 will feature the highest resolution display of any Meta headset, as well as custom pancake lenses for a 40 percent sharper image. Meta has not yet announced the exact resolution of the display, but an early web store listing and strings in the Quest firmware suggest that the Quest 3 will offer a single LC display with a resolution of 2,064 by 2,208 pixels per eye (almost 30 percent more pixels than the Quest 2).
- A next-generation Snapdragon chip co-developed with Qualcomm promises to more than double the GPU performance of the Quest 2's Snapdragon XR2, and a new cooling solution should unlock even more performance.
- The Meta Quest 3's housing has a 40 percent thinner profile than the Quest 2, resulting in a sleeker look and improved comfort.
- Meta Quest 3 features a new sensor architecture housed in three pill-shaped bumps. The left and right pills each house a 4-megapixel RGB sensor and a tracking camera. The new RBG sensors enable color pass-through and ten times the pass-through resolution of Quest 2. The center pill houses a depth sensor for enhanced mixed reality and automated room scanning, making the device more convenient to use in VR.
- A stepless IPD adjustment may improve viewing comfort for some people. The amount of adjustable lens distance is not yet known.
- Meta Quest 3 comes with redesigned VR controllers, the Touch Plus controllers, which will probably use replaceable batteries. They are more ergonomic and come without tracking rings. The new controllers support the enhanced TruTouch haptics. This was first used in the Touch Pro controllers, which are also sold separately and will be compatible with Meta Quest 3.
- Contacts for a charging station can be seen in the teaser. Quest 2 could only be charged via cable.
The battery life will be about the same as Quest 2, so about two hours, according to Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth. The same goes for the Quest 3's field of view, which has not improved significantly. You can still wear glasses with Meta Quest 3.
The new Touch Plus controllers of Meta Quest 3. | Image: Meta
Quest 3 offers better passthrough quality than Quest Pro, but unlike the latter, it does not support eye and face tracking.
Meta Quest 3 has an emphasis on mixed reality. Why is that?
Virtual reality remains important, but in terms of technology and content, Meta will seek to unlock the potential of mixed reality.
There are many reasons for this: Meta wants to pave the way for AR glasses and expects the mixed reality focus to create a more accessible headset that is more compatible with everyday use, as well as another application mainstay beyond pure gaming and fitness.
In addition, Meta's biggest competitor, Apple, is following a similar with the Vision Pro, by emphasizing augmented reality rather than pure virtual reality.
What software will Meta Quest 3 support?
Meta Quest 3 is fully backwards compatible with Quest 2, which means that all the software from the older VR headset will work with Meta Quest 3. That would be more than 500 VR apps and games as of today.
The Verge reported that Meta has 41 new apps and games up its sleeve for the new VR headset, including mixed reality experiences that take advantage of the new hardware's strengths.
Sooner or later, VR games exclusive to Quest 3 could follow. This was the case with Meta Quest 2.
Upcoming in-house productions such as Asgard's Wrath 2 will also run on Meta Quest 2, but will be optimized for the more powerful hardware of Meta Quest 3.
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