Image: Meta
The Quest Pro professional VR/AR headset will not be prosecuted. Meta wants to focus on the more affordable Quest platform headsets.
Meta launched the Pro Quest last year as a professional XR headset. And it had some merits. These included a semi-open design for mixed reality apps, great Touch Pro controllers, and most importantly, the best lenses in a VR/AR helmet to date.
However, compromises in other areas meant the helmet was more of a “mixed bag” than a high-end helmet. For example, the colorful but shoddy pass-through and rather uncomfortable head support of the heavy XR headset were problematic. Also, the starting price was around $1,500.
A few months later, Meta lowered the price from $500 to $1000. Shortly after, the Quest 3 was announced, promising significant improvements. It was predictable that the Quest Pro wouldn’t have a long lifespan.
Quest Pro probably won’t have a successor
According to The Information, Meta told its suppliers earlier this year that it would not be ordering any new components for the Quest Pro. As a result, manufacturer Goertek will only build Quest Pro headsets as long as the current hardware supply allows.
This means the Quest Pro will be discontinued.
The report also states that Meta has likely shut down the entire Pro line. “Meta has also suspended development of a second-generation Quest Pro,” reads The Information. Apparently Meta wants to focus on the cheaper headsets of the Quest series, which will get its next release with the Quest 3 in October. In March, a roadmap leak suggested that a Quest Pro successor might support realistic codec avatars in the distant future.
Discontinuing the Quest Pro is reasonable compared to the Quest 3 and therefore a logical decision. The Quest 3 will have a higher resolution of 2,064 x 2,208 pixels per eye than the Quest Pro (1,800 x 1,920), two 4-megapixel RGB cameras compared to one on the Pro, and a depth sensor that was cut from the Pro.
Apparently Quest 3 will also have the super lenses of the Quest Pro. All of this makes the Quest 3 a much better XR headset, assuming Meta doesn’t skimp on components and uses inferior pancake lenses instead.
Is Meta abandoning high-end VR?
However, the fact that Meta may be completely out of the premium market is a cause for concern. Meta’s focused but expensive research into new VR/AR headsets was and is a beacon of hope in the tech world for virtual reality passionate. Other builders continue to retreat or do not match the quality of Meta’s VR headsets.
However, it is debatable whether a high-end series would make sense. The Quest Pro, as a prototype of such a series, has already shown that what’s delivered isn’t enough to justify high prices. Apple, for example, is trying to enter the high-end market directly with the VisionPro. Early reports indicate that many known issues have not been resolved despite the expensive product – for example, wearing comfort or external power source.
Maybe Meta just doesn’t want to compete with Apple at a high price. So far, the strength of the Quest platform has been the development of a well-balanced and relatively powerful VR headset at an affordable price. The Quest 3 will deliver significant improvements – at least if we’re going by the numbers on paper. A Quest Pro is simply no longer necessary.
It remains to be seen what impact this will have on Meta’s research on better VR/AR headsetssuch as a headset with varifocal display and retinal resolution.
Note: Links to online stores in articles may be so-called affiliate links. If you buy through this link, MIXED receives a commission from the supplier. For you, the price does not change.
