Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg demonstrates an Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) headset and Oculus Touch controllers during the Oculus Connect 3 event in San Jose, California, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared his opinion of Apple’s new mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, in a video posted to Instagram where he called Meta’s Quest 3 headset “the better value” and “the better product, period.”
While it’s obvious Zuckerberg would promote his company’s product, his decision to post a video about the differences between the Quest 3 and Vision Pro shows the increasing competition between Apple and Meta. Both companies are trying to sell consumers on the benefit of mixed-reality headsets that overlay digital content over the real world or provide immersive virtual reality experiences. Meta has taken a lower-cost approach while Apple has focused on sharper screens, more powerful processors and higher-end materials.
Zuckerberg, in the video posted Tuesday, said he thinks the Quest headset is “a lot more comfortable,” its immersive content library is deeper, its field of view is wider, its hand tracking is more accurate and its screen is brighter compared with the Vision Pro. However, he noted that Apple’s screen has a higher resolution and that its eye tracking is “really nice.”
“It seems like there are a lot of people who just assumed that Vision Pro would be higher quality because it’s Apple and it costs $3,000 more, but honestly, I’m pretty surprised that Quest is so much better for the vast majority of things that people use these headsets for, with that price differential,” Zuckerberg said.
Apple officially launched its Vision Pro in the U.S. on Feb 2. The $3,500 headset is the first new product category the company has released since the Apple Watch in 2015. At an event to celebrate the launch in New York, Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC’s Jim Cramer that the headset is “tomorrow’s technology today.”
Meta introduced its Quest 3 headset in September, and the devices started shipping the following month. The Quest 3 starts at $500, which is $200 more expensive than Meta’s previous headset. The defining feature of Meta’s new headset is its “passthrough” mode, which is the ability to quickly see the world outside the headset. Apple’s headset offers similar functionality.
In the video, Zuckerberg said he knows some “fanboys” get upset when people question whether Apple will dominate in a new category, but he said he thinks Meta’s open model for its headsets will win.
“The future is not yet written,” he said.
Apple did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
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