Ahead of Apple WWDC, $500 Meta Quest 3 headset launched

Photo Credit: Meta

 In a very soft launch, Meta Platforms chief Mark Zuckerberg has launched the company's latest headset called Meta Quest 3. This has been done just days ahead of the Apple WWDC 2023 event where Apple is expected to launch its very own mixed reality headset referred to as the AR/VR headset.

Photo Credit: Meta

Comparisons between both were instant and the thing that caught the eye was the Meta Quest 3 price. It has been rolled out priced at $500. In contrast, Apple AR/VR headset is expected to cost anywhere north of $3000.

Photo Credit: Meta

In effect, the Quest mixed-reality headset is a lower-cost alternative to the device that Apple is expected to unveil, reports Bloomberg.

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The new Meta Quest 3 headset will ship in the fall. Even as the new product is slated to hit the market, Meta said that it will continue to sell the Quest 2 model at an even lower price.

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Meta Quest 2 is priced at $300 and the company says that this is to help “even more people access the magic of VR.”

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How effectively Meta can fight off the Apple challenge in the mixed reality headsets segment is still unclear. However, Meta products have been slow to take off.

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With Apple likely to charge a bomb for its headset, expectations are that it will also offer standout features. And price is something that Apple does not have to bother too much about.

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Apple will likely launch its headset on Monday. Notably, the headset is its first product category in a decade. The last one was the Apple Watch.

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Having said that, Meta currently dominates the market for VR headsets.

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Meta sees its headset as key to its vision of the metaverse — interlocking online worlds where people live, work and play, reports Bloomberg.

Photo Credit: Meta

Things have not really taken off as Meta cut prices of its Quest Pro model earlier this year after demand was lower than expected.