Apple Vision Pro vs Meta Quest 3: Price, battery life and more compared

After years of development, the Apple Vision Pro has finally launched in the US. While those in the UK still have a while to wait to get their hands on the company’s first-ever mixed-reality headset, footage of the device has been plastered all over the internet, with people being captured wearing it in really inappropriate places.

Delighting those across the pond, the Apple Vision Pro will set consumers back an eye-watering $3,499 (£2,758). That’s in vast contrast to the recently launched Meta Quest 3, which is seven times cheaper. The Apple Vision Pro is clearly aimed at a different kind of clientele. But how much better is it? 

While we’ve only had a chance to play with the device once last year, and there’s no UK release date just yet, we know everything about its specs, design and features. We’ve pitted the Apple Vision Pro ($3,499, Apple.com) against the Meta Quest 3 (£479, Amazon.co.uk), to see whether its price tag is justified. 

Apple Vision Pro vs Meta Quest 3: Design

All virtual reality headsets look broadly the same – big bulky goggles that fit over your head and cover your eyes. While both the Meta Quest 3 and the Apple Vision Pro follow this same philosophy, they look fairly different in terms of design.

The Meta Quest 3 is made out of plastic but has a fairly slim profile, thanks to the reduction in size of the lenses. There are big pill-shaped camera sensors on the front, making it look a little bit futuristic and alien, and there’s an adjustable IPD wheel on the bottom, as well as volume buttons. You control the device using the redesigned touch pro controllers, which feature haptics, though you can also use your hands to control the device and play games.

The Apple Vision Pro has a more refined, premium design. It’s built of magnesium and carbon fibre, with an aluminium glass frame. That makes it roughly 100g heavier than the Meta Quest 3, but also sleeker and better looking. There’s no white canvas with three alien eyes on the front, which you get with the Meta Quest 3, and the controls are more familiar. There’s an Apple Watch-like digital crown that lets you control both the volume and the amount of virtual reality immersion and a second button for spatial videos and 3D photos.

There’s an actual display on the front that shows your eyes to the outside world, something Apple hopes will make the product less isolating. Early reviews have called it uncanny, however, because of the dimness and reflectiveness of the screen. We don’t know if this is any better than other people not being able to see your eyes.

Ahead of its launch, a number of people commented on the sheer heft of the Apple Vision Pro. The device comes with two headbands – a solo loop and a dual loop – with the latter making the Vision Pro more comfortable and evenly spread out over your head. The Meta Quest 3 learnt from the design mistakes of the Quest 2, and the components sit closer to the face, making it feel a lot lighter. It’s also generally lighter than the Vision Pro.

The Meta Quest’s headband also acts as a good counterweight to the heft on the front. The Vision Pro, however, is reported to be front-heavy, and it has to be tethered to a battery pack when in use. The Meta Quest 3 can be charged and used as a standalone device, without having to be connected to a battery pack.

There are quirks to each of the headsets. The Vision Pro looks nicer than the Meta Quest 3, hiding all the sensors and cameras under the front cover, so you don’t even see them there, but it’s heavier, and you always have to be plugged into a battery pack.

Apple Vision Pro vs Meta Quest 3: Displays and audio

On specs alone, the Apple Vision Pro’s displays blow the Meta Quest 3’s out of the water, but the latter does take the lead when it comes to things such as field of view. The Apple Vision Pro features micro-OLED displays, packing 23 million pixels into two displays, which are each the size of a postage stamp, according to Apple. The company also says the Vision Pro has a wide colour gamut and high dynamic range, and it can be used with optical inserts if you wear corrective vision lenses.

While Apple hasn’t stated how many pixels per eye there are, it’s estimated the Vision Pro has a resolution of about 3,660 x 3,142px. The displays are where all the tech is, and is presumably a big reason for the headset’s expense.

The Meta Quest 3 features 4K LCD displays with a resolution of 2,064 x 2,208px per eye. On paper, it means it’s not as sharp, not as bright and not as colourful as the Apple Vision Pro. You’ll struggle to use your phone while wearing the Meta Quest 3, you won’t with the Vision Pro.

That said, the Meta Quest 3 has a bigger field of view. The Quest 3 features a 110-degree field of view, while the Apple Vision Pro is estimated to have a field of view of around 100 degrees, with some reviewers commenting on black borders around the image presented inside the headset. The Meta Quest 3 field of view is pretty wide and is thinner than the Quest 2 thanks to pancake lenses, especially when you press it up against your face, though it isn’t super sharp.

In terms of the display variable refresh rate, the Meta Quest 3 offers more options, which is helpful for gaming. It adjusts automatically between 72Hz, 80Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz, while the Vision Pro has a variable refresh rate of 90Hz, 96Hz, and 100Hz. This makes everything look liquid smooth. The IPD range is also pretty similar, with Apple offering 51mm to 75mm, and Meta offering a range between 53mm to 75mm. Adjusting the IPD is done using the digital crown on the Vision Pro or the IPD wheel on the Quest 3.

In terms of audio, the two speakers on the Vision Pro are located on the arms of the device. They support spatial audio, immersing you in the centre of the sound. You can also connect a pair of AirPods or Bluetooth headphones if you prefer something that doesn’t leak, and the USB-C port can also act as a headphone jack.

Meta’s near-field speakers also rest in the arms of the headset. The spatial audio was pretty impressive during our tests, too, and we could connect a pair of earbuds using the 3.5mm jack on the side, or pair some with Bluetooth.

Ultimately, you’ll get a better, sharper, more vibrant visual experience with the Apple Vision Pro, but your field of view won’t be as big or as wide as the Meta Quest 3.

Apple Vision Pro vs Meta Quest 3: Cameras

There’s a huge number of cameras and sensors in the Apple Vision Pro – it’s a true marvel that the company has managed to pack it all into the device and hide it under the front cover. Both devices feature passthrough cameras, letting you see the virtual environment implanted onto the top of the real one.

Compared with the Meta Quest 3, the Apple Vision Pro has double the number of cameras, with the high-resolution front cameras capturing video and streaming it back into the headset. There are six world-tracking cameras, four eye-tracking cameras, as well as a TrueDepth camera and that stereoscopic 3D camera for spatial videos.

On top of that (yes, there’s more), you’ve got five sensors. There’s a LiDAR scanner, four inertial measurement units (IMUs), which help to orient the device in a 3D space, a flicker sensor, and an ambient light sensor. Phew.

That’s in big contrast to the Meta Quest 3’s six-camera system. The cameras and sensors aren’t tucked away behind the glass like the Vision Pro but are proudly displayed in three vertical bars on the front. Two cameras are used for spatial tracking, two are used for full-colour passthrough and there are a further two on the bottom for full-body tracking. The middle pill houses depth sensors.

The sheer number of cameras and sensors on the Vision Pro are difficult for the Meta Quest 3 to compete with. You can adjust the level of passthrough coming through the cameras on the Vision Pro, but you can only go full VR or full passthrough with the Meta Quest 3.

Apple Vision Pro vs Meta Quest 3: Performance, processors and software

Both the Apple Vision Pro and the Meta Quest 3 are powerhouses in their own right – although, you get more with the pricier Apple Vision Pro.

The Meta Quest 3 runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor, featuring twice as much graphics performance as the Quest 2 and includes six cores and 8GB of RAM. That means it loads a whole lot faster, and is just much more snappier than the Meta Quest 2. The chip is also responsible for delivering that full-colour passthrough and keeping your Quest running without getting too hot and bothered. Basically, it’s the most powerful standalone VR headset out right now.

The Apple Vision Pro runs on Apple’s proprietary M2 chip – the same used in Apple’s higher-end MacBook Air laptops. The M2 processor has a 10-core GPU, an 8-core CPU, a 16-core neural engine and 16GB of unified memory – that’s more RAM than the Meta Quest 3, with significantly more horsepower. The Vision Pro also features a brand-new R1 chip that’s dedicated to processing input from the cameras, sensors and microphones. Apple says it can stream images to the displays within 12 milliseconds. It’s ultimately a much more powerful, faster and more capable machine than Meta’s headset.

In terms of software, those who are already in Apple’s ecosystem will be very familiar with the layout of the Vision Pro. It’ll feel like a seamless extension of your iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad when you’re using it. It runs on VisionOS, with an iPhone-like user interface, and you use gestures to control the device and move things around. Apple says there are more than 600 new apps that were made just for the Vision Pro, while others have been redesigned and repurposed from iPhone apps.

Apple is touting the Vision Pro as more of a productivity augmented reality device, where the digital world is laid on top of the real one. You can do anything you’d ordinarily do on your iPad, such as browse the web, use the mail app, send texts on Messages or Slack and much more.

The Independent’s Andrew Griffin raved about the spatial video feature in his review and was almost brought to tears after watching a spatial video memory of a birthday party. “In front of me was a coffee table with a birthday cake on it, and beyond that a sofa with children celebrating,” he said. “There was real and convincing depth there, enough to make you feel like you were almost there. But the almost is key: there was just enough separation to make you feel at a slight distance, which made me well up with a feeling, something like nostalgia or grief.”

The Meta Quest 3 is more of a gaming device, so they’re both targeting different audiences – Apple has barely mentioned gaming in any of its coverage of the headset. The Quest 3 runs on the Quest OS, an operating system based on Android. To us, it runs a bit like a Fire TV stick – you get similar rectangular tiles and menus to a streaming device. It’s easier to use than the Meta Quest 2, featuring auto-boundary detections when you first set up the machine, but there’s no instant understanding of how to move around the user interface that Apple folk would have when wearing the Vision Pro.

There are more than 1,000 apps on the Meta Quest Store. Obviously, that can’t compete with Apple’s vast library of iPhone and iPad apps built up over the years, but these apps are fully optimised for the Meta Quest 3, rather than ports. You’ve got multiplayer VR games, social experiences, live VR shows, instructor-led workouts, entertainment apps such as YouTube VR and Netflix, and more. Some of our favourite VR games on the Quest include Asgard’s Wrath, Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR and Resident Evil 4.

You can also control your Meta Quest 3 using your hands or the controllers, though the hand tracking is a little janky at times. It’s a tidy bit of software, and there’s a tutorial in space that teaches you how to use the device.

Apple Vision Pro vs Meta Quest 3: Battery life

The Apple Vision Pro and the Meta Quest 3 have a comparable battery life. Apple says you’ll get two hours of battery life with the Vision Pro with general use and two and a half hours when watching video. You can also connect the Vision Pro to a power outlet on the wall and use it for hours on end.

The most annoying (and embarrassing) thing about the Vision Pro is it uses a silly-looking external battery pack, rather than an in-built battery. We get why – people are already complaining about the heft of the device. That means you’ve always got a cable dangling from your head, whether you’re plugged into the external battery pack or the wall.

The Meta Quest 3 lasts two hours on a single charge. There’s an internal battery pack, so it’s completely standalone – just a device and no snaking cable. You can also plug the device into the wall and use it while charging if you want more than a couple of hours of use.

Apple Vision Pro vs Meta Quest 3: Price

The Apple Vision Pro is a much more powerful mixed-reality headset than the Meta Quest 3 and is made with heavier, more premium materials and better components. So, it’s no surprise it costs a whole lot more.

The lowest price you’ll pay for the Vision Pro is $3,499 (£2,758) for the 256GB version. The 512GB model costs $3,699 (£2,916), and the 1TB version costs $3,899 (£3,074). We’ll know more about UK pricing when it launches in the near future. If you have corrective vision, non-prescription reader lenses cost $99 (£78), while prescription vision inserts cost $149 (£117). Want some accessories? The hard travel case to protect your gear will cost you $199 (£156), while a spare Vision Pro battery will cost a further $199 (£156).

There are two different storage sizes for the Meta Quest 3. The 128GB model costs £479, while the 512GB model costs £619.99. The prescription and non-prescription reader lenses are also cheaper than the Vision Pro. You’ll pay £49.99 for prescription lenses and £29.99 for non-prescription reader lenses. A more comfortable elite strap costs £69.99, the carry case costs £69.99, and an optional charging dock (if you’d prefer not to plug your headset in) will cost you £129.99.

In total, you’ll pay less than £1,000 for a 512GB Meta Quest 3 with prescription lenses, a charging dock, an elite head strap and a charging case, or less than £800 for the same accessories and a 128GB model.

Apple Vision Pro vs Meta Quest 3: Specifications

The verdict: Apple Vision Pro vs Meta Quest 3

With all that said, what exactly do you get for seven times the price? While we’ve yet to get our hands on the Apple Vision Pro, on paper, it’s clear it is far and away the more powerful headset. The Vision Pro has more processing power, better displays and graphics, better capabilities, a more premium design and a more cohesive user interface.

But it’s also much more expensive. The Meta Quest 3, while not as powerful or as good-looking or as sharp, is still a capable VR headset. It’s the most powerful standalone VR device out right now. It’s fast, with plenty of games and experiences available in the Quest Store. It also has a bigger field of view than the Apple Vision Pro, and you don’t need to be constantly tethered to an external battery pack to use it. The Meta Quest 3 is a gaming device first and foremost, the Vision Pro isn’t. More importantly, though, it’s just £479.99. For some, that could be all the difference they need.

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