According to news on October 9, although Apple’s VisionPro and Meta’s Quest3 have not yet been released, the two companies have begun to develop subsequent iterations. A major focus of Apple is making its devices more comfortable to wear, which requires smaller, lighter designs. Due to its size and weight, Apple's first mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro, caused neck strain in users during testing, which may deter consumers who are already wary of mixed reality headsets.
access:
Apple Online Store (China)
It is reported that Quest3 will go on sale this month, and Apple is preparing to start selling VisionPro early next year.
As the showdown approaches, Apple is internally confident it will have a better product. Vision Pro will be equipped with a higher-resolution pass-through camera that allows users to see real-world components around them, as well as a powerful M2 chip and a clearer virtual reality screen.
At Apple, employees in software and operations are preparing for Vision Pro's debut. The hardware itself has been ready for several months, allowing the Vision Products Group to turn to work on the next generation of models. The company is considering a variety of options, including launching low-end models and more powerful models.
Work on the next Vision Pro is still in its early stages, but Apple hopes to make the device lighter and at least slightly smaller. It currently weighs around 453 grams, and testing has shown that it can feel too heavy for some users, even for short periods of time. Apple is considering installing an overhead strap on the first-generation product to address this issue, but making the hardware lighter is a better long-term solution.
Another challenge is making the headset easier to wear for people who wear glasses. During the development of the first-generation Vision Pro, Apple decided to slim down the device and no longer leave room for glasses. Instead, the company is working with Zeiss to sell eyeglass lenses that magnetically attach to the headset’s screen.
But as previously reported, the process of delivering thousands of different lens combinations has proven to be a huge headache for Apple’s operations team. Luckily, the company may have a solution, producing custom headsets with pre-installed lenses straight from the factory.
This may simplify the customer experience, but it can also create new problems. First, built-in prescription lenses might turn Apple into a healthcare provider of sorts, and the company might not want to deal with that. Additionally, this level of customization would make it harder for consumers to share or resell the headset. Of course, a user's vision prescription may change over time.
In the long term, many of these issues can be solved by moving from mixed reality to standalone augmented reality. On the surface, this seems a bit counterintuitive, but lightweight AR glasses will result in a better experience than a hybrid of AR and VR. Data will be overlaid on transparent lenses, rather than relying on bulky pass-through cameras and VR screens. Ideally, you can wear your glasses all day.
But developing real AR glasses is easier said than done. A year ago, Apple almost stopped developing standalone AR glasses because the technology was too difficult to crack. This is a major setback in particular for Apple CEO Tim Cook, who sees AR glasses as a key goal.
Meta, on the other hand, still sees products like this as its top priority. To realize this vision, the company is partnering with Ray-Ban this month to release its second generation of smart glasses. The glasses do not have AR functions, and the "smart" functions include taking photos, videos, making phone calls and listening to music.
It is reported that Meta does not plan to update the glasses hardware next year (it will only offer new color options), and a more dramatic change is expected to appear in 2025. By then, the company hopes to release glasses with AR screens. Meta is currently testing these screens internally, and they can display text information, map directions and information about currently playing music. But Meta hasn't finalized what products it will release.
Much like its strategy with the Quest headset, Meta hopes to eventually divide its glasses line into low-end and high-end models, which could be differentiated based on whether they have AR capabilities.
As for Apple, it is expected that the company may join the development of AR glasses again in the future, perhaps finally realizing Cook's long-delayed dream.