Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg Downplays Apple Vision Pro, Saying Its Vision Is Not The One He Wants

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is not all that impressed with Apple's new mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro.

Mark Zuckerberg demonstrating the Meta Quest 3. Credit: Mar Zuckerberg Instagram

The billionaire executive in a companywide meeting shared his opinion of the new device, which is expected to compete with Meta's own headsets when it hits the market next year.

"From what I’ve seen initially, I’d say the good news is that there’s no kind of magical solutions that they have to any of the constraints on laws of physics that our teams haven’t already explored and thought of," Zuckerberg told Meta employees on Thursday, 8 June.

He also pointed out that Apple's decision to include high-resolution displays, among other advanced tech, resulted in the Vision Pro costing seven times more than Meta's latest headset, the Quest 3, which was announced mere days before WWDC. The Vision Pro costs US$3,499, while the Quest 3 starts at US$499.

Apple unveiled the long-rumoured Vision Pro headset at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) earlier in the week.

Apple Vision Pro. Credit: Apple

The Quest 3 features a number of upgrades over its predecessor, the Quest, boasting higher-resolution displays, a slimmer design and up to twice the graphics performance. It's scheduled to hit store shelves in the fall of 2023.

"I think that their announcement really showcases the difference in the values and the vision that our companies bring to this in a way that I think is really important," said Zuckerberg. "We innovate to make sure that our products are as accessible and affordable to everyone as possible and that is a core part of what we do."

He further explains that Apple's vision for mixed reality and computing is different from his. "By contrast, every demo that they showed was a person sitting on a couch by themself," he said, referring to Apple's Vision Pro keynote at WWDC. "I mean, that could be the vision of the future of computing, but like, it’s not the one that I want."

Zuckerberg suggests that he wants to continue to market the social aspect of the headsets, which plays into his long-term plans to build his own metaverse platform. He said his vision for the Quest involves "people interacting in new ways and feeling closer" while also "about being active and doing things."

Even with the philosophical differences, however, the release of Apple's headset next year is sure to pose a major threat to Meta's line of Quest headsets.

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• Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is not all that impressed with Apple's new mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro.

• The billionaire executive in a companywide meeting shared his opinion of the new device, saying its vision is not the one he wants.

• "From what I’ve seen initially, I’d say the good news is that there’s no kind of magical solutions that they have to any of the constraints on laws of physics that our teams haven’t already explored and thought of," said Zuckerberg.

• Meta revealed its own mixed reality headset, the Quest 3, just days ahead of the reveal of Apple's Vision Pro.