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Meta Quest 3 release date, price & specs

Everything we know so far about the Meta Quest 3 release date, specs, and pricing

Updated: Sep 28, 2023 1:47 pm
Meta Quest 3 release date, price & specs

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Not long after the announcement of the Meta Quest Pro at Meta Connect 2022, we started hearing rumors about a potential Meta Quest 3. And now we bring you the Meta Quest 3 release date and all the information we know so far about it, even though we thought the Quest Pro was going to be the Quest 3. Meta Quest, previously known as Oculus Quest, is an industry leading device in the VR space.

Anyway, now we’ve established that the Meta Quest 3 is not the Meta Quest Pro, we can start talking about everything we know so far. This is particularly exciting as we’ve slowly discovered that the Meta Quest Pro isn’t really for gaming, as it has a stronger focus on other uses in business and education, and we fully expect the Meta Quest 3 to be all about gaming. With the upcoming Meta Connect coming on September 27, as announced by Meta themselves, there is plenty to tuck in to right now!

We’ve quickly closed in on the Meta Quest 3 release date, so it’s already time to check out the Meta Quest 3 where to buy & pre order details so far – where it’s currently up on pre-order from big retailers like Amazon and Best Buy.

Meta Quest 3 release date

In months gone by, we had assumed that 2022 was far too early to release the Meta Quest 3, and were proven right by the Meta Quest Pro’s arrival, however, there was always talk that Meta was developing two VR devices concurrently. We got an announcement from the Zuck himself on Instagram showing that the Meta Quest 3 launch is coming in Fall 2023, or Autumn 2023 if you prefer. This has further been pinned down to a launch date of September 27 – announced in this Meta Quest tweet, while now it as been officially announced for availability starting October 10.

meta quest 3 pre order release date
Source: MetaQuestVR on Twitter

The previously released trailer video gave us a good look the new VR headset from Meta, but now, all is much clearer following launch. Be sure to check out our Meta Quest 3 vs Meta Quest 2 comparison for more insight.

Meta Quest 3 price

In the trailer above, we also do get the confirmation of the price. The Meta Quest 3 comes with a price of $499 at a minimum. That’s for the 128GB model, and we now know that the 512GB model is $649.99.

This is fantastic news for those who were shocked at the inaccessible pricing of the Meta Quest Pro, as this is far more in line with the Meta Quest 2 pricing, though it will probably and understandably be priced at a premium above the Meta Quest 2. This news comes at a great time for those who might not be sure if the Meta Quest Pro is worth it.

This release does also mean the price of the Quest 2 will go down, due to the compatibility of games with the new one. But from June 4th Quest 2 will be starting at $299.99 for 128GB, and $349.99 for the 256GB.

Meta Quest 3 price
Meta Quest 3 coming in at $499, source: Meta

Meta Quest 3 features

When we start to consider the potential features, we see where the price starts to make sense too, as the Meta Quest 3 features will be angled more toward a stripped-back Quest Pro with more of a gaming focus. So, hopefully, the Meta Quest 3 will borrow just enough of the innovations from the Quest Pro, without increasing the price to more than what Zuckerberg said it would be.

As ever, Brad Lynch has provided his two cents on the Meta Quest 3, and his thoughts mirror our own regarding the shift to AR over purely VR and reduced overall cost. And we have seen the pass-through offering a full-color array from the cameras and with an expected double the power from the new Snapdragon processor over the Quest 2.

Meta Quest 3 specs

John Bradley (@SadlyItsBradly on Twitter) gave the first look at what you could expect from the Meta Quest 3. And now with the announcement The Meta Quest 3, codenamed ‘Stinson’ appears to have a design more similar to the Meta Quest 2, and the overall specs and capabilities are going to fall somewhere in between that of the Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro.

This tallies up with something else that Mark Zuckerberg said in the aforementioned interview where he said that the high price and advanced tech of the Meta Quest Pro would help create a ‘development ecosystem’, which would then allow a more consumer-accessible device down the line, which would be the Meta Quest 3. But the GPU in the VR headset is expected to reach 2x the performance of the Meta Quest 2.

As we’ve seen in Meta’s official introduction to the headset, they are now taking a next-gen Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset on board to double the GPU processing power of the Quest 2 chip.

Cameras & tracking

Front and center on the headset we can see 3 oval-ish shapes. Where the tracking and passthrough cameras are nested. With a large vertical height and a large spread of them, there should be a much better field of view for them. This is good news as the headset needs to ‘see’ the controllers to track their movements, and the Meta Quest 2 was notorious for losing vision on the controllers when they were moved too high above the head or too low below the waist.

Additionally, the fact that there are 3 camera cutouts spread across the front of the headset probably means that the horizontal FOV will be pretty good too, but again, this is still speculation at this point. Also, the trailer shows good depth perception as the user plays some form of D&D.

From hands-on, the Bloomberg experience informs us that the design is lighter and adds new sensors. With four cameras nestled in the pills split left and right and two in-depth sensors that should really improve the AR functionality. Making the headset more of a mixed reality device than strictly a virtual reality headset.

Meta Quest 3 design

With Meta officially giving us a first look at the Meta Quest 3, we can talk all about the design so far. They say that the design is ‘Reimagined and redesigned’ in their reveal trailer, and this can be seen immediately with the change in the front panel. As you can see below, these are the new passthrough cameras which provide high-fidelity color passthrough for AR experiences with ‘natural depth perception’.

This opens up a new avenue for AR gaming, alongside the already improved gaming performance and existing library. Definitely a direction Meta needed to explore given the recent announcement of the Apple Vision Pro, which offers impressive mixed reality.

meta quest 3 reimagined and redesigned
Image source: Meta

Meta go on to point out that the Quest 3 is 40% slimmer compared to its predecessor (excluding the facial interfaces). Aside from the headset itself, the controllers have also seen a redesign. They will now feature TruTouch haptics for much better feedback. Exactly what you want from a virtual reality experience, really. Haptic feedback improves what you’re already used to, such as controller vibration.

Meta Quest 3 FAQs

Is there a Meta Quest 3 coming out?

Yes. It has finally got a trailer, release date, and pre-orders are now live.

How much will the Meta Quest 3 be?

The Meta Quest 3 will have a starting price of $499.99 for the 128GB model. With the likelihood of larger storage options available for more when released.

is Meta and Oculus the same?

Oculus was purchased by Meta. After this, any subsequent VR headsets were known as ‘Meta’ headsets, instead of Oculus.


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