Mark Zuckerberg is ruining Apple’s party, or is doing his utmost to do so. On Instagram, he released details about the Meta Quest 3 glasses, which will probably be much cheaper than the long-awaited glasses that Apple wants to introduce on Monday.
This Monday at 7 p.m. is the moment that Apple fans have been waiting for years: then CEO Tim Cook takes the stage to launch a completely new product category for the first time since the Apple Watch from 2015. Or at least that’s what Apple watchers assume. It will be ‘mixed reality’ glasses: VR glasses that can also show the real world via built-in cameras and that can combine real and virtual images (augmented reality or AR).
But Meta already has two such glasses on the market, including the successful Quest 2, the best-selling VR glasses ever (which is not saying much, because VR glasses have never really broken through). And for the past two years, Meta has been trying to reposition itself as the pioneer of the ‘metaverse’, a 3D world that you visit through such glasses.
On Thursday afternoon, Mark Zuckerberg posted a short video on his personal Instagram introducing the Quest 3. We don’t get to know many technical details, except that it will be 40 percent thinner than its predecessor, will have a more powerful processor and will be able to run all the hundreds of apps that already exist for the Quest 2. And while the Quest 2 from the outside world can only transmit grainy black and white images, the Quest 3 promises ‘mixed reality’ in color. More details will not be revealed by Meta until its own event on September 27. The device would be for sale in the fall.
Affordable
Apple has also been working on this technology for years, but in the greatest secrecy. CEO Tim Cook has been happy to talk about his great expectations for augmented reality for years. The glasses that Apple is expected to show on Monday would cost about $ 3,000, according to Apple watchers. The device would therefore be intended for a very limited audience: demanding professional applications and software developers who want to create apps for future VR glasses aimed at the general public.
Meta is now sending the signal that they already have such an affordable model for everyone. With software. The Quest 3 will cost $500, the company announced Thursday, or $100 more than the current Quest 2. And, if the rumors are true, six times cheaper than the Apple glasses.
On a technical level, the Apple glasses will probably leave the Quest 3 far behind, with an even sharper image and a number of advanced gadgets. The company also has a solid reputation for design and for coming up with just the right application to get the public excited about a new technology.
2023-06-01 15:28:29
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