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Meta Debuts $500 Quest 3 as Apple Prepares to Launch $3,500 Vision Pro Headset Next Year
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I will admit, after seeing the specs and the first real 3rd party reviews of the Quest 3, I have to congratulate Meta on a job very well done getting all that it's offering in a single package at a dam good price point.
One important thing I feel some here need to remember is that, based upon rumours with the Vision Pro and a slightly cheaper version for the general public (let's say $1999 as opposed to the current $3499)
By the suggested time this cheaper? version comes out from Apple we'll probably be looking at a Quest 4 by then, which will be really interesting in comparison.
Of course many on this forum are going to hate this Meta product simply because it's not from Apple.
Though I will suggest The Quest 3 is probably the device Apple should have launched for their 1st VR/AR product, and built up from there.
One important thing I feel some here need to remember is that, based upon rumours with the Vision Pro and a slightly cheaper version for the general public (let's say $1999 as opposed to the current $3499)
By the suggested time this cheaper? version comes out from Apple we'll probably be looking at a Quest 4 by then, which will be really interesting in comparison.
Of course many on this forum are going to hate this Meta product simply because it's not from Apple.
Though I will suggest The Quest 3 is probably the device Apple should have launched for their 1st VR/AR product, and built up from there.
You get what you pay for
With Apple’s long tradition of integrating software and hardware I know which one I’d back
Facebook and anything it’s associated with is as far as I’m concerned something to avoid at all costs
With Apple’s long tradition of integrating software and hardware I know which one I’d back
Facebook and anything it’s associated with is as far as I’m concerned something to avoid at all costs
I seriously don't get why this is being compared to the Apple Vision. The most obvious comparison is to the PSVR2.
“is a Nintendo” lol what? Try making an actual point.
In the demo today, Meta showed apps which are persistently in your physical space. They’re very clearly trying to copy the “spatial computing” concept. What makes AVP that much different?
What can AVP do that MQ3 can’t? AVP just seems like a higher-end MQ3 that runs iOS
It’s basically iPadOS vs Android, but for your eyes.
Apple VisionPro could have some interesting possibilities in the education space. It could revolutionize how difficult concepts are taught. Unfortunately, I also hoped the iPad would revolutionize textbooks by making them highly interactive. The problem isn't price. It's Apple's suicidal not invented here mentality. It almost killed them during the 90s. Apple makes incredible hardware and software, but they can't fulfill all the needs of their customers.
Developing software for Apple's ecosystem is an act of faith. To fully exploit its power, you must adopt their APIs as well as their developer tools and languages. Apple also nails down their hardware, making it difficult to interface with unless you buy into to their MFI program.
In contrast, there are tons of hardware and software products available for Android and Windows, such as USB-based OBD-II readers, Oscilloscopes, DROs, CNC controllers Signal generators, etc. Any developer can access the Android or Windows API to build anything imaginable.
This puts Apple in a precarious position. What if a hot new product becomes the next killer application on Android or Windows to the extent it drives sales away from Apple because it's too restrictive? It's certainly possible. AAA game developers have been complaining for years about Apple's restrictive ecosystem.
Developing software for Apple's ecosystem is an act of faith. To fully exploit its power, you must adopt their APIs as well as their developer tools and languages. Apple also nails down their hardware, making it difficult to interface with unless you buy into to their MFI program.
In contrast, there are tons of hardware and software products available for Android and Windows, such as USB-based OBD-II readers, Oscilloscopes, DROs, CNC controllers Signal generators, etc. Any developer can access the Android or Windows API to build anything imaginable.
This puts Apple in a precarious position. What if a hot new product becomes the next killer application on Android or Windows to the extent it drives sales away from Apple because it's too restrictive? It's certainly possible. AAA game developers have been complaining for years about Apple's restrictive ecosystem.
Uhh.
- AVP and MQ3 are both standalone headsets with similar feature sets, whereas PSVR2 requires a PS5 to do anything.
- PSVR is only for gaming, whereas AVP and MQ3 are essentially iOS and Android overlayed over your vision. They’re both spatial computers.
- PSVR doesn’t have hand tracking
- PSVR requires Sony’s approval to be in their store, so limited app/game selection. AVP and MQ3 have their own existing ecosystems, and can run iPad apps (on AVP) or Android apps (on MQ3)
- PSVR doesnt have color passthrough.
Yeah it looks like it. Looks like it was fully redesigned in about two weeks after Apple's last keynote.
Why do you say that? Its OS is literally Android, and you can install Android apps. It also has a very powerful chip which might not size up to the M2, but you’re really exaggerating this comparison lol.
It’s literally a high-end Android computer for your face.
It was revealed before the keynote but ok.
It’s hard to estimate how many times better the AVP is, because it’s a yes/no situation. It seems clear that for an acceptable AR experience you need some unavoidable factors: natural and realistic passthrough, perfect eye tracking, gesture detection, perfect rendering and anchoring… if any of those points is just slightly underwhelming, it won’t feel like reality and the whole experience will be ruined. Think about the OG iPhone: how many times better than old smartphones was it? If scroll friction or display accuracy hadn’t been so perfect, it wouldn’t have felt right.
Based on early impressions (and Apple’s history), it seems like the AVP delivers that. Of course, achieving it is very expensive, but there’s basically no competition. VR/AR headsets are not going to take off until they provide a good reality experience, regardless of price.
… They do, though.
I get your point but the user I was replying to was saying that MQ3 should be compared to PSVR instead of AVP and I really don’t see the logic behind that.
Quest 3 and Vision Pro are certainly the same category of product, with many common features/abilities.
Whatever it is that makes Vision Pro 7x more expensive, that is something Apple hasn't translated clearly to the public. And the ones willing to put all their faith in Apple are praying hard that Vision Pro will be worth it and not end up as the Peloton of VR/AR headgear.
The original iPhone was priced very competitively. This is clearly, niche. Perhaps version 2 of it rumored for 2027.
Unfortunately coming at a time when semi conductor progress is slowing down. iPhone benefited with orders of magnitude of compute increases. Unlikely to happen here. It is already too big and needs too much power. Will need more than the 15% increase the iPhone 15 got.
Suspect that is why Apple will wait several years to update this. They need a lot of time for tech to improve.
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Yes as Steve Balmer thinking has aged well. Was $499, the next version was $199 with carrier deals. Blackberries were as much as $750.
Guy… All I did was say that MQ3 has more in common with AVP than PSVR.
Your post basically says “they do the same things but Apple’s is better in every way,” and I agree with that — but you can’t say “MQ3 is closer to PSVR than AVP, because gaming.”
You can’t do any of these things with PSVR, aside from listening to music or watching 2D video.
And you can do all of these things on Android. You’re just proving my point while telling me I’m wrong lol.
I never denied that AVP will be a much nicer experience in nearly every way, but you’re acting like I said the opposite.
The resolution is still much too low for 3D rendered text, compared to text on a 2D 4K display. Some of those who demoed the Vision Pro confirmed that text for example in a floating Safari window looked grainy and not as sharp as on a 2D display.
That aside, the Vision Pro has a fixed focal plane of about 6 feet, which just won't be comfortable for hours of serious work. And then there's the (front-)heaviness of the headset itself.
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Take the cost out of it, it works great with the Apple ecosystem and has one of the best displays out there. And thats why I am going to buy one. Who needs a killer feature, what must have killer feature do any of these other headsets have? I can't think of a single one.
There are actually some really cool Quest painting programs. So far all we have from Apple are floating iPads.
Apple will have advantages at 7x the cost, but fundamentally they have the same capabilities and use very similar tech.
Apple eye tracking impressive, but no controllers is also a big limitation. They should have done both.
But could they illustrate better with it than an iPad and Apple pencil?