Apple Vision Pro vs. Meta Quest Pro: What’s the Difference?

The headset wars are heating up: Apple lastly revealed its Imaginative and prescient Professional machine this week, with the combined actuality headset offering each augmented actuality (AR) and digital actuality (VR) capabilities. It’s a high-end, cutting-edge machine with a lavish worth level to match.

And when it lands in early 2024, it’ll face competitors from one other “Professional” headset that’s already available on the market from a rival tech big: Meta’s Quest Professional, a extra superior riff on its in style (and way more reasonably priced) Quest 2 machine.

The 2 Professional units share some frequent options and capabilities, however they’re additionally far aside in some methods, particularly relating to worth, energy, and high-end options. Right here’s a have a look at how the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional and Meta Quest Professional evaluate—and if you happen to missed it, you should definitely learn our head-to-head look on the Imaginative and prescient Professional and upcoming Meta Quest 3.

Value and availability

Apple’s Imaginative and prescient Professional will roll out early subsequent yr in america at a startling worth of $3,499. For instance, that’s dramatically dearer than a MacBook that includes the identical processor and much more expensive than the present crop of consumer-focused AR and VR headsets.

The Meta Quest Professional appeared expensive in comparison with earlier Quest headsets when it debuted at $1,500 final fall—however following a muted response and combined evaluations, Meta dropped the value level to $1,000. That’s greater than thrice the value of the entry-level Quest 2, however nonetheless a fraction of Apple’s ask.

Design and {hardware}

The distinction right here is way the identical as you’d discover in evaluating a high-end “flagship” smartphone with a finances mannequin. The Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional is heavy on smooth metallic and glass, all curvy and slim.

In the meantime, the Meta Quest Professional is a bit bigger, boxier, and dominated by black plastic. We don’t have precise dimensions or weight but for the Imaginative and prescient Professional, however the Quest Professional weighs in at 722g—about 44% heavier than the bottom stage Quest 2 mannequin.

The Quest Professional comes with a pair of bodily movement controllers and a charging dock for the headset and controllers alike. In the meantime, the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional doesn’t depend on controllers, as an alternative studying finger and hand actions by way of the cameras and sensors. It should help Bluetooth gamepads for video video games, although.

Show

Apple has gone critically high-end with the screens within the Imaginative and prescient Professional, with a pair of shows that it claims to offer a better-than-4K decision picture for every eye, packing in over 23 million pixels between them. Early hands-on reviews counsel that the view may be very clear and higher than different headsets available on the market.

And there’s one other show—one on the skin of the headset that reveals a view of the wearer’s eyes by way of an inner digital camera. That’s meant to allow extra pure interactions with individuals round you, so that you don’t really feel like you’ll want to pull off the headset to carry a dialog.

In the meantime, the Meta Quest Professional delivers a decision of 1,920 x 1,800 per eye, which yields about 7 million complete pixels. In different phrases, it’s a big distinction—a denser display sometimes means crisper textual content and sharper graphics—and the Quest Professional has no exterior show to share a have a look at the wearer from contained in the headset.

Energy and battery

As with our earlier match-up between the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional and the Meta Quest Professional, this compares a robust laptop and a strong smartphone. The Imaginative and prescient Professional packs the identical M2 processor utilized in Apple’s newest class-leading laptops and a separate chip designed particularly to interpret digital camera and sensor information.

In the meantime, the Quest Professional makes use of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ chip—a processor constructed for headsets however finally primarily based on its widely-used smartphone tech. The Quest Professional pushes out solidly spectacular 3D experiences, however the Imaginative and prescient Professional is probably going able to way more immersive apps and video games.

When it comes to battery life, nevertheless, they’re in the identical ballpark: Apple guarantees as much as two hours of use with the Imaginative and prescient Professional, whereas Meta gives a 1-2 hour estimate for the Quest Professional. Meta’s headset has the battery constructed into the headset itself, whereas Apple opted for a battery pack that connects by way of a twine and might sit in your pocket or close by. Each headsets will also be used indefinitely whereas plugged right into a wall.

Content material

Apple confirmed a big selection of potential use circumstances on the WWDC presentation. Because of floating home windows, internet browsers, and apps, you should use the Imaginative and prescient Professional for productiveness wants. You may also watch motion pictures and different content material by way of floating screens, whether or not set in opposition to your real-world environment or in varied absolutely digital digital settings.

The Imaginative and prescient Professional can be utilized for video calls by way of FaceTime and different apps, with the opposite individual seeing a digital recreation of the wearer that reacts in actual time. The headset can snap and look at 3D pictures and movies and run immersive apps and video games—though Apple solely confirmed ported iOS video games from its Apple Arcade subscription, which run in floating home windows.

Primarily based on the preliminary have a look at the machine, the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional advantages from Apple’s huge ecosystem of current apps, video games, and providers. Meta doesn’t have fairly the identical array of apps and options that we’re used to utilizing in different contexts, but it surely has constructed up a library of VR apps and video games over the previous few years.

When it comes to gaming and leisure, that doubtlessly provides Meta a giant leg up within the quick time period, particularly since Apple largely glossed over the Imaginative and prescient Professional’s gaming performance. However broadly, when accessing content material and apps from iPhones, iPads, and Macs, Apple probably has a a lot bigger trove of stuff for early customers to entry and mess around with.

Verdict

Because the names counsel, the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional and Meta Quest Professional are each focused at skilled customers and early adopters. And the value factors match that vibe. Meta’s higher-end various to the entry-level ($300) Quest 2 is arguably out of attain to the typical client at $1,000, however Apple’s headset takes that premise to an excessive at $3,499.

Whether or not the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional expertise justifies that huge worth distinction stays to be seen, however some obvious benefits are already within the combine. From energy and display high quality to cutting-edge perks and compatibility with current iOS and Mac providers, Apple’s headset seems to high Meta’s providing in some basic methods.

However, the Meta Quest Professional does among the similar core issues because the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional at a fraction of the value. We will not make a name right here till the Imaginative and prescient Professional launches, and we see the ultimate product and obtainable apps and options at launch.

However even when Apple’s machine is dramatically higher than Meta’s headset, will there be sufficient of an viewers prepared to shell out $3,499 to hitch the spatial computing revolution? That’s a giant “TBD” for now.