Meta’s series of challenging moves before the Apple event: Mark Zuckerberg changed his avatar, lowered the price of VR glasses

Just before Apple was due to introduce a new mixed reality headset, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta company launched its challenge to the opponent.

As the world’s eyes are on Apple’s WWDC developer conference on June 4th – most likely the event where Apple introduces its mixed reality glasses – company Meta as well as boss Mark Zuckerberg has a series of notable moves.

According to Meta’s announcement, starting June 4, Facebook’s parent company will reduce the price of its Quest 2 virtual reality headset. While the 128GB version is discounted from $399.99 to $299.99, the 256GB version is discounted from $429.99 to $349.99.

Not only dropping the price, Meta said they will release a new update for this virtual reality headset. In its announcement, Meta said that the new software update will add 26% CPU performance for Quest 2 and Quest Pro as well as 19% GPU performance for Quest 2, 11% GPU performance for Quest Pro . Of course, app developers also have to tweak their apps to take advantage of this performance boost.

Along with the price reduction of the older version of the device, Meta is also introducing a new mixed reality headset, the Quest 3, which starts at $499. According to Meta’s announcement, not only is it 40% thinner than the previous generation, Quest 3 also incorporates virtual reality and augmented reality (VR/AR) elements in this new product. Powered by the new Qualcomm chipset, Quest 3 will have twice the graphics performance of Quest 2.

In addition, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg also changed his profile picture on Facebook with an image of himself wearing the company’s new Quest 3 mixed reality glasses. This series of moves can be seen as Mark Zuckerberg’s challenge to Apple, when the iPhone maker is said to be about to launch mixed reality glasses at the upcoming WWDC event.

If before, the conflict between Apple and Meta only revolved around features that limited the ability to target ads on iOS as well as privacy statements, now, with Apple releasing the actual glasses. With its new mix, the two companies will become direct rivals on the smart glass front.

Previously, Apple’s mixed reality glasses were described by many technology reporters as “unusual” compared to most of the company’s other devices, but also had many features “beyond the competition”. competitors” – including Meta’s Quest line of virtual reality headsets. According to IDC estimates, Meta’s Quest 2 and Quest Pro devices currently account for nearly 80% of the market share of the 8.8 million VR headsets sold in 2022.

However, a detail that people see as the biggest drawback for Apple products is the price. Forecasted up to $ 3,000 –  many times more expensive than Meta’s products – as well as on par with the HoloLens augmented reality glasses introduced by Microsoft before. In return, although not yet released, Apple’s products already have loads of quality apps and games that come with them when taking advantage of apps built for the iPad.