Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday that his company’s newest virtual reality headset, the Meta Quest Pro, will cost $1,500 and will go on sale on October 25.
The device was unveiled by Zuckerberg at Meta’s Connect conference for VR and augmented reality developers. The new headset is $1,100 more expensive than Meta’s Quest 2 headset and includes new technologies such as an advanced mobile Snapdragon computer chip developed in collaboration with Qualcomm.
This enables the device to produce more advanced graphics. The Quest Pro also has improved touch controllers with embedded sensors for better hand tracking, as well as new lenses for better reading experiences.
The new headset includes some mixed-reality features that can blend virtual and physical world elements. That, according to Zuckerberg, is an important feature in the development of the metaverse, which refers to digital worlds that people can access via VR and AR headsets.
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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also spoke at the online event, discussing a collaboration with Meta to bring some of his company’s work-collaboration apps to Quest VR devices.
People will be able to use a Quest device to access Microsoft apps such as the Team chat app, the Microsoft 365 suite of business software, and the company’s Xbox cloud gaming service.
“On Quest, you’ll be able to play 2D games with your Xbox controller projected on a massive screen,” Nadella explained. “We’re still in the early stages, but we’re excited about what’s to come.”
In midday trading, Meta shares were down about 4.5% to $127.85, indicating a muted reaction from investors to the new VR headset.
