A First Look at the Headset That Could Be Apple’s Biggest Competition

Gunnar Larson g at xny.io
Sun May 28 14:30:33 PDT 2023


A First Look at the Headset That Could Be Apple’s Biggest Competition
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-05-28/meta-quest-3-real-life-hands-on-how-it-compares-to-apple-mixed-reality-headset-li7h3suy


This week, I go hands-on with Meta’s yet-to-be-announced Quest 3 and
explain how it may be the biggest challenger to Apple’s new headset. Also:
The first major iOS 17 details emerge, Apple extends its supply agreement
with Broadcom, and a tap-to-pay executive departs.

Last week in Power On: A look at the key Apple executives responsible for
the company’s upcoming headset.

The Starters

Meta Quest 2, the current model, demonstrated at an event.
Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg
The launch of Apple Inc.’s headset is undoubtedly going to be the biggest
news in the mixed-reality realm this year. But Apple won’t have the market
to itself. Meta Platforms Inc. is the current leader in XR, which blends
augmented and virtual reality, and it continues to update its devices.

That will set up a war between the companies over headsets, and it could
play out in a similar way as Apple’s 15-year fight with Google’s Android in
the smartphone industry. The iPhone rules the top of the market, with
higher prices and a closed ecosystem. Android dominates the lower end with
a more open platform.

With headsets, Apple will immediately own the upscale market — headsets
that cost more than $2,000 — but Meta will remain dominant in the cheaper
segment. Meta may even benefit from Apple helping popularize XR, using that
buzz to serve consumers who can’t afford a top-of-the-line model.

This showdown will take shape in the next few months, with Apple set to
unveil its headset on June 5 and Meta planning to announce its latest model
in October. And though Apple’s device remains under wraps, I have gotten a
chance to test out Meta’s upcoming model, the Quest 3.

I went hands-on with a prototype version of the headset, trying to get a
sense of how it may stack up against Apple’s device. I tried out the Quest
3’s interface, video pass-through mode, software features and gaming
capability.

The device, codenamed Eureka, feels far lighter and thinner than the
existing Quest 2 from 2020. The strap to place it on your head seems a bit
stronger, and it uses fabric on the sides instead of the Quest 2’s plastic.

The front of the device is new. Instead of a bland-looking gray face, it
has three vertical pill-shaped sensor areas across the front. The left and
right pills each include one color video pass-through camera (the part that
lets you see the world around you) as well as a standard camera. That means
it has two color cameras versus only non-color cameras on the Quest 2. The
middle pill includes a depth sensor, a first for a Quest.

The front lower sides of the headset each include one tracking camera,
while the bottom has a volume rocker and a wheel to adjust the headset’s
IPD — the distance between your pupils. That’s a big improvement over the
Quest 2, which requires you to take off the headset and manually move the
VR displays inside of the device. The power button and USB-C port remain on
the side of the headset.

The actual clarity and VR displays within the Quest 3 feel similar to those
in the Quest 2 — despite the resolution being rumored to be slightly
higher. But there are two areas where I saw major improvements: video
pass-through for mixed reality and the device’s speedier performance.

Video pass-through is the heart of mixed reality. It relies on external
cameras to let headset wearers see a live video feed of the real world,
creating an augmented reality effect without the use of clear lenses. While
I don’t believe the Quest 3’s video pass-through performance will come
close to that of the Apple device (which will have about a dozen cameras),
it is a night-and-day improvement over the Quest 2.

Due to the dual RGB color cameras, video pass-through on the Quest 3
presented colors more accurately and offered an almost lifelike rendering
of the real world. I was even able to use my phone while wearing the
headset, something that often feels impossible on a Quest 2.

The speed of navigating through the device’s interface, launching apps and
playing games also felt much improved over the Quest 2. That’s because the
headset includes a second-generation version of Qualcomm Inc.’s Snapdragon
XR2 chip.

Though Meta hasn’t yet found the “killer app” for its headsets, the company
does have a several-year advantage over Apple in top-flight games built for
VR. Apple will attempt to challenge that by offering access to hundreds of
thousands of iPad apps and rolling out tools that can easily convert iOS
and iPadOS software into xrOS titles.

Like the current Quest, the upcoming model is controlled by left and right
hand remotes and in-air hand tracking. Unlike the Apple device and the
higher-end Quest Pro, the Quest 3 lacks face and eye tracking. That also
means it doesn’t have so-called eye-tracked foveated rendering, which
allows the system to more precisely focus its resources on where a user is
looking.

The Quest 3’s hand controllers are redesigned and look similar to the
remotes included with the Quest Pro. These components — which are gray to
match the color of the headset — lose the large rings on top of the Quest 2
versions. They also lack the cameras found on the Quest Pro controllers.
That means the new remotes may have a difficult time determining where they
are in space, which could hinder some games. Meta is looking to offset that
with various other tracking improvements.

The depth sensor on the headset powers what is known as environment
meshing. That allows the device to automatically identify surrounding walls
so, for example, you can play a game where you shoot objects off a wall or
cover your environment in a digital skin. More importantly, you won’t have
to manually establish where each wall is in your house — the approach used
on the current Quest.

Meta hasn’t yet settled on pricing for the device, but people involved in
its development believe it may come in higher than the Quest 2’s $400.
There is also a belief that the Quest 2 could stick around at a lower
price. But there probably won’t be a second-generation Quest Pro anytime
soon since the first version bombed.

Overall, I came away impressed with the mixed-reality focus of the Quest 3,
the much-improved video pass-through capabilities, the faster performance
and the large content library. Assuming the device costs about $500, it
would be about a fifth as much as the Apple headset — while being more than
a fifth as compelling. With that in mind, I think the Quest 3 could make
some noise this holiday season, especially as XR is top of mind for
consumers.


The Bench

The iPhone 14 Pro.
Photographer: Bloomberg
A preview of what’s coming in iOS 17. The mixed-reality headset is expected
to be the star of this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June, so
it’s easy to forget that Apple is unveiling new software updates for its
other platforms: iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14 and watchOS 10. This past
week, I wrote about some of the major new features coming in iOS 17.

Here’s a breakdown of what to expect:

A new smart display-like mode for the iPhone when the device is locked and
placed in landscape mode. This feature will include an interface for
showing upcoming calendar appointments and other snippets of information,
in addition to notifications.
A journaling app to take notes and update your friends on activities such
as a bike ride. The app will let people keep a log of their mood and
emotions, and it should tap deeply into location services on the iPhone.
The Wallet app will get an upgrade as the company pushes deeper into
financial services.
SharePlay will get enhancements related to the Apple headset. And AirPlay
will make it easier to beam content to TVs and speakers you don’t own, such
as in hotels.
Updates in the Health app include options for logging moods and managing
vision problems. The app will also come to the iPad for the first time.
And, as usual, there will be performance enhancements and bug fixes across
the board.
Stay tuned for more news on iOS 17 and other Apple software in the coming
days. But overall, hardware will get more attention than software at this
year’s WWDC. One exception may be the Apple Watch platform. That software
will get key enhancements, including a new focus on widgets, as well as
major updates across many core apps.


Broadcom’s headquarters.
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Apple extends Broadcom deal to ensure it gets enough supplies — for now.
This past week, Apple announced a new multibillion-dollar agreement with
Broadcom Inc. to get radio frequency components and other parts of the
iPhone that help link it to 5G networks. The pact is actually an extension
of one signed in 2020 that ran until 2023. So of course the two companies
had to come back to the negotiating table as Apple has no replacement for
Broadcom parts … yet.

While Apple will use Broadcom for the foreseeable future, it is undoubtedly
just holding out until it can make its own RF parts and other components.
You will see this play out over the next few years with Qualcomm as well.
They too reached a supply agreement, but Apple is building an in-house
version of the chipmaker’s modem component.

Apple has offices in the US and Europe working on next-generation wireless
parts, including in Southern California near Broadcom and Qualcomm
facilities. Eventually, the company hopes to make a combined Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth and modem chip that could replace both suppliers in one fell
swoop.

Roster Changes

The tap-to-pay feature on the iPhone.
Source: Apple
Apple executive overseeing tap-to-pay feature departs. Apple’s services
group had another notable exit this past week, I’m told, as Eric Hoffman
leaves the iPhone maker after eight years. He has been the company’s
director of Apple Pay business development, overseeing partnerships with
banks and other financial institutions for the Americas.

He also led the business side of the tap-to-pay system, the Apple Wallet
feature that allows consumers to purchase items from vendors by placing
their card or phone near the business’s iPhone. The company also recently
rolled out new savings accounts and “buy now, pay later” features. Though
not as high-ranking, Hoffman joins services Vice President Peter Stern,
video head Pete Distad and cloud services chief Mike Abbott in leaving the
services division this year.

The Schedule

Apple’s WWDC event invite.
Source: Bloomberg
WWDC 2023: June 5 to June 9. The next Worldwide Developers Conference will
kick off in-person at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The
first day will be the big keynote address, followed by developer sessions
online throughout the week. Apple is planning to debut its new headset at
the event, alongside the accompanying xrOS software and fresh MacBooks.
There also will be updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS.

Post Game Q&A
Q: Why are there vastly different estimates on how many Apple headsets the
company will sell?
Q: Why is Apple increasing the size of the iPhone next year?
Q: What are the new features coming in iOS 16.6?
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