Meta Quest 3: Specifications, release window and CAD renders leak for cheaper alternative to upcoming Quest Pro VR headset
Later this month, Meta will host this year's Connect conference, where it is expected to unveil the Quest Pro. Scheduled for October 11, Meta Connect 2022 will be the first conference since the company re-branded the Quest 2. However, Bradley Lynch believes that the Meta Quest 2 will remain on the market for a while yet, with the Quest 3 not due until sometime next year.
Although Lynch has not shared a release date for the Quest 3, he has leaked numerous specifications and CAD renders of the unreleased VR headset. Talking in a recent YouTube video, Lynch claims that the Quest 3, codenamed Stinson, will be a scaled-down Quest Pro that remains within a US$400 price bracket. Hence, the Quest 3 will offer fewer features than the Quest Pro, which is rumoured to cost more than US$1,000.
Specifically, the Quest 3 will not support eye or face tracking, unlike the upcoming PlayStation VR 2 headset. Seemingly, such technology is too expensive for Meta to include in a US$400 headset. Instead, the Quest 3 will have a quad-camera array and a depth sensor for 6 DoF tracking. Additionally, the former will utilise two LCD panels, not OLED variants expected in the Quest Pro and the PlayStation VR 2.
Purportedly, the Quest 3 will be compatible with the Quest Pro's charging dock though, as well as the Quest Pro's advanced controllers. Lynch reports that the latter is not guaranteed, though. Still, he claims that the Quest 3 will contain pancake lenses, possibly even the same lenses from the Quest Pro. If that is the case, then Meta may have counter-rotated these lenses by 21° for improved field of view (FoV).
Incidentally, the Quest 3 should see the return of an Inter-Pupillary Distance (IPD) scroll wheel, which Oculus failed to implement on the Quest 2. Conversely, the Quest 3 will retain its predecessor's soft strap, albeit with 3.5 mm and USB Type-C ports built-in. Similarly, the Quest 3 will launch with a single fan design, only two physical buttons and what may be larger speaker drivers than the Quest 2 has.
Furthermore, Lynch asserts that Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 will power the Quest 3. Assigned the model number SXR2230P, the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 will be more advanced than the SoC that will ship in the Quest Pro. Meanwhile, Lynch claims that Meta will offer the Quest 3 with up to 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage, presumably with a lower-tier SKU too. Unfortunately, it is unclear when in 2023 the Quest 3 will arrive or whether we will have to wait until next year's Meta Connect.
Source(s)
SadlyItsBradley (1) (2) via UploadVR & Road to VR
