Apple Vision Pro vs Meta Quest 3: What’s the difference?

BESIDES a $3,000 (£2,390) price gap – what is the difference between the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3 virtual reality (VR) goggles?

Mark Zuckerberg, the man behind Meta, unsurprisingly thinks you get more bang for your buck with his offering – so let’s break it down.

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Availability

The Apple Vision Pro, which was first unveiled last year, is currently only available in the US.

So for folks in the UK and elsewhere, availability is a huge difference between the Vision Pro and the Meta Quest 3.

Price

There is also a whopping $3,000 price difference.

While no one expected Apple’s attempt at VR goggles to be cheap – the cost limits the point of entry for many consumers.

Whereas the Meta Quest 3 is far more affordable – in the realms on VR technology – at (£479.99) $500 a piece.

Graphics

The Vision Pro boasts dual 3,680 x 3,140-pixel, micro-OLED displays.

This tops the Quest 3 dual LCD panels with 2,064 x 2,208-pixel resolution.

So the Vision Pro will offer slightly better graphics quality compared to the Quest 3.

Although the Meta headsets have a wider field of view at 110degrees, compared with the 100degrees of the Vision Pro.

Meanwhile, both support ‘passthrough’ vision, which is when you can see the real world with the headset on.

Audio

In terms of audio, the two speakers on the Vision Pro located on the arms of the device support immersive spatial audio.

The Apple goggles are also compatible with AirPods and Bluetooth headphones, and have a USB-C port that can be use as an earphones jack.

Meta’s headset have spatial audio through near-field speakers also in the arms of the headset.

They can also connect with earbuds using the 3.5mm jack on the side, or pair some with Bluetooth.

Available Apps

According to Apple, there are more than 600 new apps that were made just for the Vision Pro.

Many have been carried over from Apple’s ecosystem, such as Messages, Notes, Safari, and the App Store.

However, some very popular apps aren’t yet accessible – namely Netflix.

The Meta Quest 3 has over 1,000 games and apps in the Meta Quest Store – and Netflix – but users say streaming comes in at a low resolution.

Storage Size

The storage space available on the Apple Vision Pro is considerably larger than the Meta Quest 3.

Vision Pro users can enjoy either 215GB/512GB/1TB worth of storage.

While Meta Quest 3 fans can use up to 128GB/512GB.

Battery Life

Now, with the ability to have your very own home cinema behind some goggles – you’ll need a pretty decent battery life.

The Vision Pro can last up to two hours with general use, but up to 2.5 hours while watching a video.

Meanwhile the Meta Quest 3’s battery life lasts up to two hours.

This is fine for most movies.

But it doesn’t bode well for those that are close to the three hour mark – unless you want to have them on charge while you’re viewing.

Meta Quest 3: Pros & Cons

With a (£479.99) $500 price tag, let's take a look at the general pros and cons of the third iteration of Meta Quest:

Pros

• Much less expensive than the Apple Vision Pro
• Good mixture of productivity and gaming
• Modern features like camera passthrough for mixed reality experiences

Cons

• Not as technologically impressive as the Vision Pro
• Cameras for passthrough have poor low light performance

Apple Vision Pro: Pros & Cons

At the eyewatering price of $3,499, let's breakdown the pros and cons of Apple's VR goggles:

Pros

• Visually very appealing
• Good for entertainment and productivity
• Features like 360-video which are perfect for home cinema experiences

Cons

• Incredibly expensive
• Gaming may be harder with controls
• Less app compatibility