Meta announces new Quest 3 VR headset as Apple competition looms

Published

2 years ago

September 27, 2023

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Meta announced Quest 3, a sequel to the bestselling VR headset of all time, on Wednesday.

The device, starting at $499, is more expensive than its predecessor by $200, but it includes a more powerful chip from Qualcomm, better screens and an ability called “passthrough” which is expected to be one of the key features on Apple’s competing Vision Pro headset.

Preorders open on Wednesday and it ships on Oct. 10.

The defining feature of the Quest 3 headset is the ability to quickly see the world outside the headset, which will make the device less isolating and thus more comfortable to use for long periods. When in an app on the Quest 3, double-tapping any part of the headset brings you out of a virtual world and into “passthrough” mode.

Other improvements include “pancake lenses,” a kind of optic first used on Meta’s $1,499 Quest Pro that make images sharper and allows for higher resolution.

The release of Meta’s latest VR headset comes as a battle looms with Apple in virtual reality. Many in the technology industry believe Apple’s entrance could expand the total market and create new winners, similar to how the iPhone jump-started the smartphone market.

So far Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, has a head start. Its Quest 2 is by far the bestselling VR headset, with nearly 10 million units sold last year, slightly down from a pandemic peak, according to an industry estimate. Apple’s Vision Pro headset won’t go on sale until next year, and costs significantly more than Meta’s headsets, starting at $3,499.

But despite Meta’s current success in sales, it’s not clear just how many Quest 2 owners use it on a daily or weekly basis, and the killer app or must-have scenario for VR remains elusive. Meta has invested over $21 billion to date in its Reality Labs division, which develops headsets and VR software.

Passthrough

CNBC was able to try out the Quest 3 for about an hourlong demo ahead of its launch Wednesday that included game playing and being walked through a few programs that showed off the company’s hardware.

The hardware has been significantly updated, with a new headband strap and a slimmer headset shape. The headband splits the top strap into two to better distribute weight. The whole headset, though, is a hair heavier than its predecessor at 515 grams. The speakers on the device also have been improved, and provide a quality audio experience.

Meta has also updated the two necessary controllers with better haptic feedback. It uses Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chip, which is Arm-based and closer in power and energy drain to a mobile processor than a PC processor.

The extra power on the chip is used to power displays at 2,064 x 2,208 resolution per eye, higher than the Quest 2’s 1,832 x 1,920 resolution per eye. The additional pixels will make it easier to read text inside the headset. Users can expect about two hours and 12 minutes of battery life, Meta says.

During the demo, I tried out Samba de Amigo, a $30 game from Sega that is like Dance Dance Revolution or Rock Band with maracas (in real life, the Quest 3 controllers). I enjoyed it, and even sweated a little bit.

The biggest improvement to usability is that the Quest 3 emphasizes passthrough, which means the cameras outside the device can show live video on the displays inside the headset, working somewhat like a transparent pair of glasses that can also show computer windows and other graphics. The Quest 3 can also scan the room around you so apps can warn you when you’re about to bump into your surroundings.

Passthrough, while a core component of mixed-reality experiences which integrate computer graphics with the real world, for now is a nice-to-have usability feature. In practice, it means that users can stop their game or experience inside the Quest 3 without taking the headset off. During the demo, I was able to chat with Meta officials while wearing the headset, a major improvement over the last version.

Meta’s launch of the Quest 3 will be compared to Apple’s more expensive Vision Pro headset. But while Apple packed as much pricey technology into its headset as possible to enable its own passthrough mode it calls “spatial computing,” Meta is seeking to match many of its features, or at least an approximation of them, at a fraction of the price. Meta’s $1,499 Quest Pro is a lower-volume product.

But if there’s one major difference between Meta and Apple at this point, it’s that the former envisions the Quest mainly as a gaming device, while Apple frames its device as a computer. Meta says it’s lined up 500 games and apps for the headset, including a Ghostbusters title, an Assassin’s Creed game, and a Stranger Things experience developed in conjunction with Netflix.

Technology

CrowdStrike shares drop on weak revenue guidance

Published

8 hours ago

June 3, 2025

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CrowdStrike shares drop on weak revenue guidance

George Kurtz, chief executive officer of Crowdstrike Inc., speaks during the Montgomery Summit in Santa Monica, California, U.S., on Wednesday, March 4, 2020.

Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

CrowdStrike shares fell 7% in extended trading on Tuesday after the security software maker issued a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast.

Here’s how the company did against LSEG consensus:

Earnings per share: 73 cents, adjusted vs. 65 cents expected

Revenue: $1.10 billion vs. $1.10 billion expected

Revenue increased by nearly 20% in the fiscal first quarter, which ended on April 30, according to a statement. The company registered a net loss of $110.2 million, or 44 cents per share, compared with net income of $42.8 million, or 17 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

Costs rose in sales and marketing as well as in research and development and administration, partly because of a broad software outage last summer.

For the current quarter, CrowdStrike called for 82 cents to 84 cents in adjusted earnings per share on $1.14 billion to $1.15 million in revenue. Analysts polled by LSEG were expecting 81 cents per share and $1.16 billion in revenue.

CrowdStrike bumped up its guidance for full-year earnings but maintained its expectation for revenue. The company now sees $3.44 to $3.56 in adjusted earnings per share, with $4.74 billion to $4.81 billion in revenue. The LSEG consensus was $3.43 per share and $4.77 billion in revenue. The earnings guidance provided in March was $3.33 to $3.45 in adjusted earnings per share.

Also on Tuesday, CrowdStrike said it had earmarked $1 billion for share buybacks.

“Today’s announced share repurchase reflects our confidence in CrowdStrike’s future and unwavering mission of stopping breaches,” CEO George Kurtz said in the statement.

As of Tuesday’s close, the stock was up 43% so far in 2025, while the S&P 500 index had gained less than 2%.

Executives will discuss the results on a conference call with analysts starting at 5 p.m. ET.

WATCH: Trade Tracker: Malcolm Ethridge buys more CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, Spotify and Oracle

Technology

Nvidia tops Microsoft, regains most valuable company title for first time since January

Published

9 hours ago

June 3, 2025

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Nvidia tops Microsoft, regains most valuable company title for first time since January

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks as he visits Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to announce a U.S. supercomputer to be powered by Nvidia’s forthcoming Vera Rubin chips, in Berkeley, California, U.S., May 29, 2025.

Manuel Orbegozo | Reuters

Nvidia passed Microsoft in market cap on Tuesday, once again becoming the most valuable publicly traded company in the world.

Shares of the artificial intelligence chipmaker rose about 3% on Tuesday to $141.40, and the stock has surged nearly 24% in the past month as Nvidia’s growth has persisted even through export control and tariff concerns.

The company now has a $3.45 trillion market cap. Microsoft closed Tuesday with a $3.44 trillion market cap.

Nvidia has been trading places with Apple and Microsoft at the top of the market cap ranks since last June. The last time Nvidia was the most-valuable company was on Jan. 24.

Nvidia and other chip named boosted markets Tuesday. Broadcom rose by 3%, and Micron Technology gained 4%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF, which tracks a basket of chip stocks, gained 2%.

Nvidia’s Jensen Huang says Nintendo Switch 2 has dedicated AI processors

Published

11 hours ago

June 3, 2025

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Nvidia's Jensen Huang says Nintendo Switch 2 has dedicated AI processors

An attendee wearing a cow costume while playing Mario Kart World by Nintendo Switch 2 during the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience at the Excel London international exhibition and convention centre in London on April 11, 2025.

Isabel Infantes | Reuters

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Tuesday talked up the capabilities of Nintendo‘s new Switch 2, days before the long-awaited console is set to hit store shelves.

In a video posted by Nintendo, Huang called the chip inside the Switch 2 “unlike anything we’ve built before.”

“It brings together three breakthroughs: The most advanced graphics ever in a mobile device, full hardware ray tracing, high dynamic range for brighter highlights and deeper shadows, and an architecture that supports backward compatibility,” Huang said.

He added that the console has dedicated artificial intelligence processors to “sharpen, animate and enhance gameplay in real time.”