Meta finally showed off its Quest Pro virtual reality (VR) headset at its Connect event on Tuesday, revealing that the high-end device will sport the new Snapdragon XR2 Plus Gen 1 chip. Qualcomm says the chip offers 50 percent higher sustained power and 30 percent better thermal performance than the XR2 Gen 1 chip included in the Meta Quest 2.
The Quest Pro headset features 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and 10 high-res sensors distributed on both the inside and outside of the headset, with the XR2 Plus Gen 1 chip helping to enable face and eye tracking. This technology’s paired with the Snapdragon 662 chip in the Quest Touch Pro controllers that Meta and Qualcomm say “can self-track through multiple embedded positional cameras and offers ultra-low latency to the headset.” Combining the capabilities of both the headset and controllers is supposed to make users’ virtual avatars appear more lifelike.
Meta won’t be the only company that can use the Snapdragon XR2 Plus Gen 1 chip. Last month, Meta announced a multiyear agreement with Qualcomm to power the company’s “future roadmap of Quest devices,” as it relies on outside help from the chipmaker instead of custom-designed silicon like many recent products from Apple (for its iPhone and Mac lineup) or Google (with its recent Pixel phones and Tensor chips). Meta has bet big on the metaverse and even changed its name to signal its dedication. The company reported a $2.8 billion loss last quarter while investing heavily in Zuckerberg’s vision of a mixed reality future.
“This latest generation of innovative Snapdragon technology is bringing huge compute gains in our VR form factor, enabling us to power much richer experiences in Meta Quest Pro,” Mark Rabkin, the head of VR at Meta’s Reality Labs, said in a statement. “We believe VR and MR [mixed reality] will radically transform how we work, collaborate, and connect with each other, and we’re thrilled to be with Qualcomm Technologies on this journey.”
Correction October 11th, 2:06PM ET:A previous version of the article mistakenly stated the headset comes with 12GB of storage, when it’s actually 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. We regret the error.
