Meta Quest 3 officially unveiled, will ship this fall for $499.99

Today Mark Zuckerberg officially unveiled the Meta Quest 3 virtual and mixed reality headset. It will become available "in all countries where Meta Quest is currently supported" this fall for $499.99.

The timing of the announcement might seem strange, considering we're months away from the release. That is, until you remember that Apple's WWDC is next week and rumor has it the company will finally introduce its long-awaited headset on that occasion. So, this is probably a case of Meta wanting to steal a little bit of Apple's thunder while it still can.

So let's see if such ambitions are warranted, shall we? The Meta Quest 3 is higher resolution than the Quest 2, and is powered by "a next-generation Snapdragon chipset" which will deliver "more than twice the graphical performance as the previous generation Snapdragon GPU in Quest 2", Meta says. There's also support for full-color passthrough for high-res color mixed reality use cases.

The new headset has a "40% slimmer optic profile" compared to its predecessor, and comes with completely redesigned Touch Plus controllers. Thanks to advances in tracking technology, the outer tracking rings aren't required anymore, so the controllers now feel "like a more natural extension of your hands". TruTouch haptics, first seen in the Touch Pro, are also in - and speaking of that, you can use the Touch Pro controllers with the Quest 3 if you purchase them separately.

Hand tracking is supported out of the box too. The Quest 3 is going to be compatible with the Quest 2's catalog of over 500 VR games, apps, and experiences. If you're interested in more information about the Quest 3, you can go to the official website to register your details.

Alternatively, you can buy a Quest 2, which starting on June 4 will cost $299.99 for the 128GB SKU and $349.99 for the 256GB SKU. And, in an upcoming software update, the GPU and CPU of both the Quest 2 and the Quest Pro will be updated. Afterwards, you'll get up to 26% CPU performance increase on both and up to 19% GPU speed increase for the Quest 2, as well as an 11% faster GPU on the Quest Pro. Dynamic Resolution Scaling is coming to both of the older models too. The Quest 2 and Pro will remain on sale even after the Quest 3 becomes available.

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