Bloomberg: Meta Quest 3 will be ‘significantly thinner and lighter’ than Quest 2
The upcoming Meta Quest 3 VR headset will have color cameras for passthrough video and will be “significantly lighter” than the current Quest 2, according to Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, who has had a hands-on with a Quest 3 prototype.
Mark Gurman writes in his Power On newsletter that the Meta Quest 3 is internally codenamed Eureka. According to the journalist, the headset is considerably lighter and thinner than its predecessor, which should improve wearing comfort. The headband should also be ‘stronger’ and uses fabric on the sides. The sides of the Quest 2 are made of plastic.
The headset gets a new design with more sensors. Three ‘vertical, pill-shaped’ sensor areas house two color cameras, two standard cameras and a depth sensor. According to Gurman, these color cameras are used for video passthrough, where the real world is displayed on the headset screens. The current Quest 2 only has black and white cameras and does not have a depth sensor. There are more tracking cameras on the bottom of the headset, in addition to a volume rocker and a wheel for adjusting the interpupillary distance. The power button and USB-C connection are still on the side.
The Quest 3’s VR displays “feel similar” to those of the Quest 2, Gurman writes. According to rumors, the resolution of the Quest 3 is slightly higher. The headset is expected to have a second generation of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 smartphones. The headset does not support eye tracking and therefore does not support foveated rendering, where the part that users are looking at is rendered at a higher resolution than the rest. The Quest Pro does offer eye tracking.
Meta has not yet determined a price for the Quest 3, according to Gurman. The VR headset is expected to be more expensive than the current Quest 2, which may remain available at a reduced price after the release of its successor. The headset will be cheaper than the Quest Pro, whose price was reduced from $1,500 to $1,000 earlier this year. According to previous reports, the Meta Quest 3 is planned for this year.
Previously leaked CAD files of the Meta Quest 3, showing the three ‘pill-shaped’ sensor areas. Source: Brad Lynch