While the Apple Vision Pro is undoubtedly a niche product, it seems that Meta is looking to compete against it with the potential release of a Meta Quest Pro 2. At least, according to a new report.
It's an exciting time to be a virtual reality enthusiast, with the war between the companies to release the best VR headset continuing. Considering that the Apple Vision Pro reportedly had 180,000 pre-orders ahead of its release, there's definitely some excitement around mixed reality, even if some of the orders were scalpers.
Despite Mark Zuckerberg releasing a video practically stating that the Quest 3 was better than the Vision Pro, Meta is eager to retaliate according to a new report. As spotted by UploadVR, South Korean news outlet, The Korea Economic Daily, cites numerous industry sources revealing that Zuckerberg is set to meet with the CEO of LG on Wednesday to finalize deals for a partnership.
This isn't the first time we've heard that LG is looking to work on a headset. Recently, we reported that LG was potentially working on an Apple Vision Pro rival, however, it seems likely that the potential headset is being worked on with Meta.
The report from The Korea Economic Daily also suggests that, while Meta is working on the software for the device, the operating system found within LG TVs (WebOS) could be incorporated. There's no clear answer to what this entails, but we imagine it would be a way to bring up a virtual LG TV that is visible in mixed reality, almost like a rival to Apple's partnership with Disney+ for 3D content.
This isn't the first time that Meta has partnered up with some consumer electronic companies for VR-related devices. Samsung, Lenovo, and Xiaomi all worked with Meta for the Gear VR, Oculus Rift S, and the Oculus Go respectively. In fact, Samsung is reportedly looking to ship its own XR headset later this year in partnership with Google. Sony is also eager to release an XR headset, which was announced during CES 2024.
The original Meta Quest Pro was released in 2022 to mixed reviews, with critics praising interesting features like face tracking and improved controllers, but calling the device expensive and impractical. However, it would be smart for Meta to continue the Quest Pro line, given how popular the Quest standalone VR headsets are.
There's no confirmation on the name, price, release date, or whether Meta's upcoming headset even actually exists. However, reports state that the headset will release in 2025.