Meta Quest 3 introduced, coming later this 12 months for $499

After months of rumors and hypothesis, the Meta Quest 3 VR headset was unofficially unveiled right now with a $499 price ticket and an anticipated launch this fall.

Specs on the brand new unit have not been shared but, however Meta stated the Quest 3 will probably be “40% thinner and extra comfy” than earlier items, with “higher shows and determination,” and “2x the graphics efficiency.” It should even be totally backwards-compatible with the Meta Quest 2 headset, so any video games that work on Quest 2 will work on Quest 3.

“Quest 3 combines our highest decision show but and pancake optics to verify content material seems higher than ever,” Meta stated in a weblog submit. “To energy these additional pixels, this would be the first headset to function a next-generation Snapdragon chipset developed in collaboration with Qualcomm Applied sciences.”

The Quest 3 additionally helps “Meta Actuality” expertise, which Meta stated surpasses present blended actuality expertise “by intelligently understanding and responding to things in your bodily area and permitting you to navigate that area in pure, intuitive ways in which have been almost unattainable earlier than.”

And whereas it was not included within the official announcement, govt editor Tyler Wilde additionally made this essential commentary:

Hey, he isn’t fallacious.

Meta additionally revealed the brand new Quest 3 Contact Plus controllers right now, which eradicate the outer monitoring rings of earlier controllers so that they “really feel like a extra pure extension of your arms and take up much less area,” Meta stated. The Quest 3 headset may also assist hand monitoring “out of the field,” which means you’ll use your arms to work together with digital objects even when you do not have controllers.

With the brand new Quest 3 headset now formally on the horizon, Meta can also be decreasing the worth of the Quest 2: Efficient June 4, the 128GB unit will probably be lowered to $299, whereas the 256GB model will drop to $349. It is smart, given the proximity of recent and higher {hardware}, however I solely give Meta half some extent for the change: The worth discount comes simply seven months after Meta elevated the worth of the Quest 2 headset by the identical quantity.

We’ll presumably get a extra detailed have a look at the Quest 3 headset a bit later right now through the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase, which is ready to start at 10 am PT/1 pm ET.