Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s boss and Facebook’s founder, tried out Apple’s mixed reality gadget, Vision Pro. What does Zuckerberg have to say about the smart glasses?
In a post on Instagram on Monday (12/2), Zuckerberg provided a review of Vision Pro, a mixed reality headset, a new competitor to Meta Quest 3 made by his company.
“Alright, folks, so, I finally tried out Apple’s Vision Pro,” Zuckerberg began the video, uploaded to his Instagram, citing CNN.
“Previously, I assumed that Quest would be the better product for most people because it’s great and seven times cheaper,” he said again.
Quest 3, when it first launched, was priced at $500, much cheaper than the price of Apple Vision Pro, which was priced at $3,500.
“But after using it, I not only think that Quest has a better price, I think Quest is a better product, period,” he said.
Zuckerberg’s review video was recorded with Quest 3 – viewers essentially see what the person wearing the headset sees, through the camera on the outside of the device. This is a feature on both devices called “passthrough,” and one of the features most touted by Apple.
The video shows the headset user can see a large floating digital screen next to Zuckerberg. In the video, Zuckerberg also threw out some other jabs at Vision Pro in an effort to discuss his own product.
Apple has not responded to requests for comment on Zuckerberg’s review video.
“I know some fanboys get upset whenever someone dares to question whether Apple will be the leader in a new category,” said Zuckerberg.
He also criticized Apple’s “walled garden” approach to product development. This is the way Apple controls which apps users can access on their devices, and its products can mostly only be operated with each other.
“The fact is that every generation of computing has open and closed models, and yes, in the mobile world, Apple’s closed model wins,” he said.
“In the next generation, Meta will be the open model, and I really want to make sure that the open model will win again,” he continued.
Zuckerberg acknowledged some things are better done by Vision Pro, saying “Apple’s screen indeed has higher resolution” and “Apple’s eye tracking is very good.”
He added that Meta plans to bring back older eye-tracking technology for future Quest products.
